UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

Form 10-K

 

☒  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019

 

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

  

For the transition period from              to             

 

Commission file number: 001-39159

 

CIIG MERGER CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware		84-3142564
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

 

40 West 57th Street 29th Floor New York, NY		10019
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number: (212) 796-4796

 

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

 

Title of Each Class		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A Common Stock and one-half of one Warrant		CIICU		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share		CIIC		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Warrants to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock		CIICW		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ☐    No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. 

Yes  ☐    No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☒   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒   No ☐  

 

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

 

Large accelerated filer   ☐	Accelerated filer   ☐
Non-accelerated filer     ☒	Smaller reporting company ☒
	Emerging growth company ☒

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes   ☒  No  ☐  

 

As of June 30, 2019, the last day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the registrant’s securities were not publicly traded. The registrant’s units began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on December 13, 2019 and the registrant’s shares of Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market on February 3. 2020. The aggregate market value of the Class A common stock outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing sales price for the Class A common stock on March  23, 2020, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market, was approximately $241,931,250.

 

As of March 23, 2020, there were 25,875,000 shares of Class A common stock and 6,468,750 shares of Class B common stock of the registrant issued and outstanding. 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  

		PAGE
PART I
Item 1.	Business	1
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	13
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	34
Item 2.	Properties	34
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	34
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	34
PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	35
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	35
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	36
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	39
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	39
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	39
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	39
Item 9B.	Other Information	39
PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	40
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	44
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	44
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	46
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	48
PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	49
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	49

  

 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This report, including, without limitation, statements under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including, but not limited to: 

 

➤

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses in the TMT industries;

 

➤

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

our pool of prospective target businesses in the TMT industries;

 

➤

risks associated with acquiring an operating company or business in the TMT industries;

 

➤

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

 

➤

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

➤

the lack of a market for our securities;

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

our financial performance following this offering.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Future developments affecting us may not be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. These risks and others described under “Risk Factors” may not be exhaustive.

 

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this report. In addition, even if our results or operations, financial condition and liquidity, and developments in the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this report, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.

 

 

Unless otherwise stated in this report, or the context otherwise requires, references to:

 

●

“anchor investors” are to the direct anchor investors and the indirect anchor investors, collectively;

 

●

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

 

●

“direct anchor investors” are to Blackrock Credit Alpha Master Fund L.P, and HC NCBR Fund, subsidiaries or affiliates of Blackrock, Inc.

 

●

“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof as described herein;

 

●

“indirect anchor investors” are to certain investment funds and accounts managed by Magnetar Financial LLC and certain investment funds and accounts managed by Atalaya Capital Management LP (each of which is a member of the sponsor);

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

“public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market) and to any private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers or executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees) following the consummation of our initial business combination;

 

●

“sponsor” are to CIIG Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

 

●

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

 

●

“we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to CIIG Merger Corp.

 

 

PART I

 

Item 1.

Business.

 

Overview

 

We are an early stage, blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Report as our initial business combination. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any stage of its corporate evolution or in any industry or sector, we have concentrated our search in the technology, media and telecommunications (“TMT”) industries. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we will not generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.

 

Our management team

 

Each member of our management team brings, on average, 32 years of operating and transactional expertise as well as a broad industry network that encompasses a wide array of subsectors within the TMT industries. Each member of the team has value creation credentials across a variety of sectors and has track records of senior leadership success in diverse organizations and situations. Our management team’s relationships and experience create a powerful foundation that extends globally across various TMT sectors. Our management team has demonstrated its capabilities in providing creative solutions for complex transactions using the complementary skill sets of its members and its multi-disciplinary approach to investment opportunities. Our management team has a long term professional relationship with one another, and is active with deal sourcing, evaluating targets and facilitating transactions. We believe this integrated platform affords our management team the ability to identify sizable investment opportunities ahead of several leading private equity funds, strategic companies and investment bankers.

 

Our management team combines a broad array of resources and backgrounds, including experience in the following:

 

➤

sourcing, structuring, acquiring and selling businesses;

 

➤

operating companies as executives and active board members, and setting clear and effective business strategies for companies in TMT and other industries;

 

➤

strategic insight from mergers and acquisitions and capital structure capabilities based on debt and equity capital executions;

 

➤

delivering stockholder value over an extended time period in the top quartile of equity investment returns;

 

➤

deploying a broad value creation toolkit including identifying value enhancements and delivering operating efficiency; and

 

➤

accessing the capital markets across various business cycles, including financing businesses and assisting companies with the transition to public ownership.

 

This experience is supplemented with an in-depth network of relationships that extend to strategic companies across various TMT verticals as well as to private equity sponsors including bulge-bracket and TMT sector focused funds. Our management team also has contacts with leading institutional investors including pension and sovereign wealth funds.

 

International Investment Group Holdings

 

IIG Holdings, a global co-investment firm co-founded by Michael Minnick, our Chief Investment Officer, in 2014, focuses on sourcing unique opportunities within the TMT industries. IIG Holdings was established to join accomplished individuals with extensive operational, financial, and deal-making experience across the TMT landscape. F. Peter Cuneo, David Flowers and Chris Rogers currently serve as Senior Advisors of IIG Holdings. These individuals, represented in part by our management team, have a demonstrated track record of success through individual and collective accomplishments.

 

IIG Holdings is a sourcing engine with an ability to identify potential strategic targets. Since its formation, IIG Holdings has sourced more than $93 billion of acquisition and investment opportunities in 24 companies across the TMT space globally. Many of the transactions were greater than $1 billion, sourced on a proprietary basis, and were opportunities we believe to be overlooked or misidentified by the market. Along with IIG Holdings’ extensive pipeline, these opportunities confirm IIG Holdings’ ability to source creative and actionable deal opportunities for us. The deal generation structure at IIG Holdings is leveraged to utilize idea flow and high caliber relationships to pursue actionable opportunities. Targeted transactions are sourced by bringing creative financial structuring solutions led by strategic dialogue and operational expertise to key decision-makers of leading companies through IIG Holdings’ extensive network of relationships.

 

The past performance of our management team, IIG Holdings, or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. No member of our management team has had management experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team’s or IIG Holding’s or their respective affiliates’ performance as indicative of our future performance.

 

 

Market opportunity

 

Our focus is on the TMT sector. Each member of our management team has expertise, relationships and connectivity in the TMT sector. Additionally, the TMT sector benefits from positive macroeconomic trends and substantial actionable targets of meaningful scale that fit our acquisition criteria. We believe changes occurring within the TMT sector are propelling this strategic activity. For instance, technology advancements and over-the-top content providers have caused what we believe are massive shifts in the media sector as key players look to consolidate and scale in order to compete. Similarly, new technologies have reduced barriers to entry, introducing increased, low-cost competition, and the need for strategic actions to address growing structural challenges. Additionally, the telecommunications industry is facing significant consolidation and increased spending as the next generation of wireless and broadband technology nears. These critical themes in TMT, among many, provide what we believe is a strong environment for sourcing a differentiated opportunity and consummating a business combination.

 

Business strategy

 

We seek to identify TMT companies that demonstrate significant growth potential and/or value creation opportunities. Identified target companies may demonstrate the characteristics set out under “Acquisition Criteria” below. Our experience in identifying and capitalizing on previously underappreciated macroeconomic trends and market dislocations, in addition to our high caliber industry relationships, provides a competitive advantage in identifying these potential targets.

 

We conduct diligence on targets, establishing the intrinsic worth of the business while providing for our ability to effect change to unlock value. While our approach focuses on industries where we have differentiated insights, we can also help businesses implement change through a comprehensive value creation framework. We favor opportunities with strong fundamental platforms that can provide downside protection while our efforts focus on improving the risk-reward investment profile by accelerating the target’s growth initiatives.

 

To achieve a successful initial business combination, our management team deploys a proactive sourcing strategy and expects to create value in the public markets after the initial combination by serving as active owners/ directors of the acquired business. We believe the combination of our management team’s experience in and ability to maneuver through industry cycles, sub-verticals and across geographies within the TMT sector, proprietary deal flow, and professional relationships will allow us to identify an attractive acquisition target. Then through our operational experience, by working closely with the target business, we will act as a catalyst to enhance its growth potential and value in order to realize an attractive risk-adjusted return to our stockholders.

 

Acquisition criteria

 

We seek to identify companies that have compelling growth potential and a combination of the following characteristics. We use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire companies or assets that we believe have the following attributes:

 

➤

are in the TMT sectors where we can utilize our management team’s global network of contacts to effect necessary change;

 

➤

are at an inflection point, requiring additional management expertise to reinvigorate operations, facilitate growth, improve financial performance and optimize capital structure;

 

➤

are fundamentally sound, with strong underlying free cash flow, an experienced management team and which demonstrate strong or improving growth prospects and the potential to scale via organic growth and strategic action, or are underperforming what we believe to be their potential;

 

➤

exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics, desirable returns on capital, and a need for capital to achieve the company’s growth strategy, that we believe have been misevaluated by the marketplace based on our analysis and due diligence review;

 

➤

will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our stockholders, provide potential upside from incremental growth and offer an improved capital structure, all of which will be weighed against any identified downside risks;

 

➤

have been materially impacted by market dislocations and would benefit from capital markets access;

 

➤

can benefit from product extensions and/or geographic expansion;

 

➤

maintain competitive market positions while exhibiting operational inefficiencies relative to industry peers; and

 

➤

that offer scope for operational improvement, scale economics, sector convergence opportunities, new growth avenues and margin expansion efficiencies.

 

 

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

 

Initial business combination

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.

 

We may, at our option, pursue an acquisition opportunity jointly with members of our management team (or their affiliates), which we refer to as an “Affiliated Joint Acquisition.” Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this Report.

 

The amount and other terms and conditions of any such specified future issuance would be determined at the time thereof. We are not obligated to make any specified future issuance and may determine not to do so. This is not an offer for any specified future issuance. Pursuant to the anti-dilution provisions of our Class B common stock, any such specified future issuance would result in an adjustment to the conversion ratio such that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees, if any, would retain their aggregate percentage ownership at 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding plus all shares issued in the specified future issuance (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued or issuable to any seller in the initial business combination) unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding shares of Class B common stock agreed to waive such adjustment with respect to the specified future issuance at the time thereof. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any such specified future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. If such adjustment is not waived, the specified future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of our public stockholders. If such adjustment is waived, the specified future issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock.

 

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, including an Affiliated Joint Acquisition as described above. However, we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires an interest in the target or assets sufficient for the post-transaction company not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the 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 transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

 

Our acquisition process

 

We believe that conducting comprehensive due diligence on prospective investments is particularly important within the TMT industries. We utilize the diligence, rigor, and expertise of our management team to evaluate potential targets’ strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to identify the relative risk and return profile of any potential target for our initial business combination. Given our management team’s extensive tenure investing in the TMT industries, we are often familiar with the prospective target’s end-market, competitive landscape and business model.

 

 

In evaluating a prospective initial business combination, we conduct a thorough diligence review that encompasses, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities and financial analyses as well as a review of other information that will be made available to us.

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, our officers, or our directors, subject to certain approvals and consents. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to us from a financial point of view. Currently, we are not aware of an affiliate of such parties that would make a suitable target for our initial business combination.

 

Our officers have agreed not to become an officer or director of any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021.

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. In addition, we may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with an entity to which an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance to any such entity.

 

Status as a public company

 

We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

 

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

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

 

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

 

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

 

 

Financial position

 

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $249,834,120 as of December 31, 2019, after payment of $9,056,250 of deferred underwriting fees, in each case before fees and expenses associated with our initial business combination, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

 

Effecting our initial business combination

 

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until we consummate our initial business combination. We intend to complete our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

 

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

 

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination (which may include a specified future issuance), and we may complete our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately, including pursuant to any specified future issuance, or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

 

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

 

Sources of target businesses

 

We expect to receive of proprietary transaction opportunities to originate as a result of the business relationships, direct outreach, and deal sourcing activities of our management team. In addition to the proprietary deal flow, business candidates are brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms, private equity groups, large business enterprises, and other market participants. These sources also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read our public filings and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our management team, as well as some of their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate. In no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is), except that at the closing of our initial business combination, we may pay a customary financial consulting fee to IIG Holdings, or another affiliate of our sponsor, which will not be made from the proceeds of our initial public offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination. We may pay such financial consulting fee in the event such party or parties provide us with specific target company, industry, financial or market expertise, as well as insights, relationships, services or resources that we believe are necessary in order to assess, negotiate and consummate an initial business combination. The amount of any such financial consulting fee we pay will be based upon the prevailing market for similar services for comparable transactions at such time, and will be subject to the review of our audit committee pursuant to the audit committee’s policies and procedures relating to transactions that may present conflicts of interest.

 

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Any such entity may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance to any such entity.

 

Lack of business diversification

 

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team

 

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

 

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

 

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination

 

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

 

Type of Transaction		Whether Stockholder Approval is Required
Purchase of assets		No
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company		No
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company		No
Merger of the company with a target		Yes

  

 

Proposed business

 

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

Permitted purchases of our securities

 

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares in such transactions. They will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

 

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

 

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

 

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against the business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

 

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act.

 

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

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination.

 

 

Manner of conducting redemptions

 

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. If we structure a business combination transaction with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed business combination. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.

 

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

Upon the public announcement of our business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act. In the event that we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

 

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

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

 

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our sponsor, officers and directors will count toward this quorum and have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As a result, in addition to our sponsor, officers and directors’ founder shares, we would need 9,028,125, or 40.1%, of the 22,500,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) or 1,982,813, or 8.8% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved. In addition, as a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investors may hold (directly or indirectly), they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our sponsor, officers and directors, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

 

Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek stockholder approval

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination.

 

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

 

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

 

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

 

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

 

 

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public stockholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.

 

If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target by December 17, 2021.

 

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only until December 17, 2021 to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our business combination by December 17, 2021, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.

 

Our sponsor, officers, directors and the direct anchor investors have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021. However, if our sponsor, officers, directors or anchor investors acquired shares in or after our initial public offering they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted 24-month time period.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above) we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares.

 

We expect to use the amounts held outside the trust account ($1,586,330 as of December 31, 2019) to pay for all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

 

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

 

Although we seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest and claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Grant Thornton LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, nor will the underwriters of our initial public offering.

 

 

In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Our sponsor 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 discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims We have not independently verified whether our sponsor, which is a newly formed entity, has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. 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 will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.

 

We seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We may have access to use the amounts held outside the trust accounts ($1,586,330 as of December 31, 2019) to pay any such potential claims but these amounts may spent on expenses incurred as a result of being a public company or due diligence expenses on prospective business combination candidates. In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.

 

Under the 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 business combination by December 17, 2021 may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

  

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our business combination by December 17, 2021, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our business combination by December 17, 2021, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24^th month and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

  

 

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

 

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

 

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only on the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to 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 by December 17, 2021 or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination by December 17, 2021, subject to applicable law. Stockholders who do not exercise their rights to the funds in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still have rights to the funds in connection with a subsequent business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights as described above.

 

Competition

 

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

 

 

Facilities

 

Employees

 

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

 

Periodic reporting and financial information

 

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

 

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP. We cannot assure you that any particular target business selected by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with GAAP. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

 

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2020 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

Item 1A.

Risk Factors.

 

You should carefully consider all of the following risk factors and all other information contained in this Report including the financial statements. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risk factors described below are not necessarily exhaustive and you are encouraged to perform your own 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.

 

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has and is continuing to spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” On January 31, 2020, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the U.S. healthcare community in responding to COVID-19, and on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic”. A significant outbreak of COVID-19 and 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 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."

 

We are a recently formed early stage company with limited operating history and no revenues, and you have little basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

We are a recently formed early stage company with limited operating results. Because we lack a significant operating history, you have little basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We may be unable to complete our business combination. If we fail to complete our business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

 

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

 

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the initial business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons. Except as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our public shares do not approve of the initial business combination we complete.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, after approval by our board, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased our initial public offering, in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our founder shares, we would need 10,350,001, or 40.0%, of the 25,875,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering to be voted in favor of a transaction (assuming all outstanding shares are voted) in order to have our initial business combination approved. In addition, as a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investors may hold (directly or indirectly), they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders. Our Sponsor own shares representing 18.0% of our outstanding shares of common stock. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, after approval by our board, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our sponsor, officers and directors agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

   

 

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the initial business combination.

 

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

 

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

 

We may seek to enter into an initial business combination agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the initial business combination. Furthermore, we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into an initial business combination with us.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our 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 by December 17, 2021. 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.

 

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive 10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we must complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination by such date. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not completed our initial business combination by such date, 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), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances based on the balance of our trust account (as of December 31, 2019), and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares 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. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

 

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to 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 business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

 

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.

 

 

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

 

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to 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 by December 17, 2021 or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (c) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination by December 17, 2021, subject to applicable law. Stockholders who do not exercise their rights to the funds in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still have rights to the funds in connection with a subsequent business combination. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. 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.

 

Our security is currently listed on Nasdaq. However, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round lot holders (with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding securities with a market value of at least $2,500) of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

 

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

 

➤

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

➤

reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

➤

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

 

➤

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

➤

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

 

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

 

Our stockholders will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of some other blank check companies.

 

Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 and filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units are immediately tradable and we have a longer period of time to complete our business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.

 

An investment in our securities may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

 

An investment in our securities may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we issued in our initial public offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the share of Class A common stock and the one-half of one redeemable warrant included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or the courts. In addition, if we are determined to be a personal holding company for U.S. federal income tax purposes our taxable income would be subjected to an additional 20% federal income tax, which would reduce the net after-tax amount of interest income earned on the funds placed in our trust account. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of warrants included in the units we issued in our initial public offering and of a redemption of warrants for Class A common stock are unclear under current law. Finally, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our shares suspend the running of a U.S. holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A common stock is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividends” for federal income tax purposes. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposing of our securities.

 

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

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our 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 business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

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

 

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, 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 greater technical, human and other resources 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 our 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, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. This may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

If funds available to us outside of the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search for a business combination, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

 

As of December 31, 2019, we had $1,586,330 held outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate, or we may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into 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 expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share, based on the balance of our trust account (as of December 31, 2019).

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we have sought and will continue to seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue. Grant Thornton LLP our independent registered public accounting firm will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, nor will the underwriters of our initial public offering.

 

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 business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor, which is a recently formed entity, has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations. 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 will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

 

Our independent 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 public share or (ii) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.

 

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

 

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

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

 

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

 

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

 

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 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 business combination.

 

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

 

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registration as an investment company;

  

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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.

  

 

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 total 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 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. Our securities are not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our primary business objective, which is a business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021; or (iii) absent a business combination, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public stockholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. Stockholders who do not exercise their rights to the funds in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still have rights to the funds in connection with a subsequent business combination. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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

 

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 by December 17, 2021 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 24^th month from the closing of our initial public offering in the event we do not complete our 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 by December 17, 2021 is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.

 

 

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

 

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq (or until December 31, 2020). Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

 

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

 

We have not registered the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we will use our reasonable best efforts to file, and within 60 business days following our initial business combination to have declared effective, a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and 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 issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will be required to use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to sell the common stock underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying common stock. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants.

 

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

 

Pursuant to the agreement entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in our initial public offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register their founder shares, after those shares convert to our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, 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 exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders 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 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 not limited to a particular industry, sector or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’ operations.

 

Although we expect to focus our search for a target business in the TMT industries, we may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we are not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, permitted to complete our business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

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

 

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with our management team and their respective affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. Our officers and directors have not had management experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team and their respective affiliates’ performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. In addition, an investment in us is not an investment in any entities affiliated with our management team. Furthermore, our sponsor is a recently formed entity formed for the sole purpose of holding securities of our company with no operational or historical record.

 

Members of our management team are now and may in the future be involved in governmental investigations and civil litigation relating to the business affairs of companies with which they are, were, or may in the future be, affiliated. This may negatively affect our ability to consummate an initial business combination.

 

During the course of their careers, members of our management team have been employed by, served as board members of, and assisted many companies going through turnarounds, as well as companies in special situations, financial distress, restructuring and companies suffering from mismanagement, in attempts to rectify such problems. As a result of their involvement with companies in these situations, they are now, and may in the future be, involved in governmental investigations and civil litigation relating to the business affairs of such companies. Any such investigations or litigations may divert our management team’s attention and resources away from searching for an initial business combination, may be detrimental to our reputation, and thus may negatively affect our ability to complete an initial business combination.

 

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

 

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition 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 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 our initial public offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained herein regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

 

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

 

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares.

 

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

 

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

 

We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

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

 

We may issue additional common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our 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 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 10,000,000 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. Currently, there are 74,125,000 and ,531,250 authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account the shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of any outstanding warrants or the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock. There are currently no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination.

  

 

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we may not issue securities that can vote with common stockholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the warrants as described herein 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. Our Class B common stock shall only be convertible at the time of our initial business combination. 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 of: capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. The restriction on issuing additional shares of capital stock described in the prior sentence will expire upon consummation of our initial business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock, may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

The investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments requires substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares.

 

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

 

Our ability to successfully complete our business combination is dependent upon the efforts of members of our management team. The role of members of our management team in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some members of our management team may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

 

In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure 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. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

 

Members of our management team may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our 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.

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post combination business. The role of an 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 officers and directors 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.

 

None of our officers or directors is required to commit his or her 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, including other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Our independent directors also serve as officers or board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs, which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us (and they may also participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, another special purpose acquisition company) and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business, although our officers may not participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, another special purpose acquisition company until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021.

 

Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities in the future to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.

 

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

 

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact (subject to certain approvals and consents) we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so, or we may acquire a target business through an Affiliated Joint Acquisition. We do not have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

 

 

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

 

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor (or its affiliates), officers or directors or otherwise acquire a business that later becomes affiliated with our sponsor (or its affiliates) or otherwise carry out non-arm’s length transactions with any of such parties. Our directors 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 business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company and the public stockholders from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the initial business combination may not be as advantageous to our company and our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

Moreover, we may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition with an entity affiliated with a member of our management team. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance to any such parties.

 

Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

 

Our sponsor owns 5,821,875 founder shares and subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. own an aggregate of 646,875 founder shares. In addition, our sponsor and subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. own an aggregate of 7,175,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable for one share of our Class A common stock own at $11.50 per share, for a purchase price of approximately $7,175,000, or $1.00 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete a business combination. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors and the direct anchor investors have agreed not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from our sponsor, affiliates of our sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the 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 the date of this Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following our initial public offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

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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 security is payable on demand;

 

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

 

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our inability to pay dividends on our 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 common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund 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;

 

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

 

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other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

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

 

Our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, up to $258,750,000 will be available to complete our business combination and pay related fees and expenses (which includes up to approximately $9,056,250 for the payment of deferred underwriting commissions.

 

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

 

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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 developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our business combination.

 

We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our 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 acquisition strategy, we may seek to complete 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 be able to 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 a 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 an interest in the target sufficient for the post-transaction company not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

 

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

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our 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 business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

 

In order to complete our initial business combination, we may seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or other governing instruments, including our warrant agreement, in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination but that our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.

 

In order to complete a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreement. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, changed industry focus and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or other governing instruments or change our industry focus in order to complete 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 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

 

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions requires the approval of between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. 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 our initial public offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or in our initial business combination. The restriction on issuing additional securities described in the prior sentence will expire upon consummation of our initial business combination. Our Sponsor , owns 18.0% of our common stock upon the closing of our initial public offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in the open market), 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 blank check 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 sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a letter agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by December 17, 2021, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our stockholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our stockholders would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

 

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

 

Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (and not previously released to us to pay our taxes) on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.00 per share on the liquidation of our trust account, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

 

Our initial stockholders own shares representing 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units or shares in the open market). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial stockholders purchase any additional shares of common stock or units in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by certain of our initial stockholders, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the initial business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our initial stockholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our 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 our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

 

Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 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, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

 

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

 

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. 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 (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us (except as described herein) so long as they are held by the sponsor, the direct anchor investors or their permitted transferees.

 

In addition, we may redeem your warrants after they become exercisable for $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A common stock. We would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay fair market value to the warrant holders. In particular, it would allow us to quickly redeem the warrants for Class A common stock, without having to negotiate a redemption price with the warrant holders, which in some situations, may allow us to more quickly and easily close a business combination. We can also redeem the warrants for common stock when the Class A common stock is trading at a price starting at $10, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with fair market value in the form of shares of Class A common stock. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the Class A common stock is trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of Class A common stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of Class A common stock if and when the Class A common stock trades at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when the warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the Class A common stock had your warrants remained outstanding. Finally, this redemption feature provides a ceiling to the value of your warrants since it locks in the redemption price in the number of Class A common stock to be received if we choose to redeem the warrants for common stock.

 

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

 

We issued warrants to purchase 12,937,500 shares of Class A common stock as part of the units sold in our initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued private placement warrants to purchase an aggregate of 7,175,000 shares of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share as part of the private placement warrants. The founder shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein. In addition, if our sponsor makes any working capital loans, 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.

 

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

 

The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor, the direct anchor investors or their permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us (except for a number of shares of Class A common stock as described herein, (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis. The private placement warrants will not vote on any amendments to the warrant agreement discussed elsewhere in this Report.

 

 

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 blank check companies. Because, pursuant to the warrant agreement, the warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares, only a whole units include one share of common stock and one-half a warrant to purchase one whole share. We 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 third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included a warrant to purchase one whole share report.

 

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

 

Unlike some other blank check companies, if

 

➤

we issue additional shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and

 

➤

the Market Value is below $9.20 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like),

 

then the exercise price of each warrant will be adjusted such that the effective exercise price per full share will be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

 

A market for our securities may not develop, 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. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be fully 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 a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include target historical and/or 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, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial 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 and smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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, 2020. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target company with which we seek to complete our 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 acquisition.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) any action arising under the Securities Act, as to which the Court of Chancery and the federal district court for the District of Delaware shall have concurrent jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may make it more costly for a stockholder to bring a claim, and it may also limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders cannot waive our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

 

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

 

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

 

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

➤

complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

➤

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

 

➤

tariffs and trade barriers;

 

➤

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

➤

longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

➤

tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

 

➤

currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

➤

rates of inflation;

 

➤

cultural and language differences;

 

➤

employment regulations;

 

➤

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

 

➤

deterioration of political relations with the United States; and

 

➤

government appropriations of assets.

 

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

 

We may face risks related to businesses in the TMT industries.

 

Business combinations with businesses in the TMT industries entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with such a target business, we may be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:

 

➤

if we do not develop successful new products or improve existing ones, our business will suffer;

 

➤

we may invest in new lines of business that could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue;

 

➤

we will face significant competition and if we are not able to maintain or improve our market share, our business could suffer;

 

➤

the loss of one or more members of our management team, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could seriously harm our business;

 

 

➤

if our security is compromised or if our platform is subjected to attacks that frustrate or thwart our users’ ability to access our products and services, our users, advertisers, and partners may cut back on or stop using our products and services altogether, which could seriously harm our business;

 

➤

mobile malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, spamming, and improper or illegal use of our products could seriously harm our business and reputation;

 

➤

if we are unable to successfully grow our user base and further monetize our products, our business will suffer;

 

➤

if we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be seriously harmed;

 

➤

we may be subject to regulatory investigations and proceedings in the future, which could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a way that could seriously harm our business;

 

➤

components used in our products may fail as a result of a manufacturing, design, or other defect over which we have no control, and render our devices inoperable;

 

➤

an inability to manage rapid change, increasing consumer expectations and growth;

 

➤

an inability to build strong brand identity and improve subscriber or customer satisfaction and loyalty;

 

➤

an inability to deal with our subscribers’ or customers’ privacy concerns;

 

➤

an inability to license or enforce intellectual property rights on which our business may depend;

 

➤

an inability by us, or a refusal by third parties, to license content to us upon acceptable terms;

 

➤

potential liability for negligence, copyright, or trademark infringement or other claims based on the nature and content of materials that we may distribute;

 

➤

competition for the leisure and entertainment time and discretionary spending of subscribers or customers, which may intensify in part due to advances in technology and changes in consumer expectations and behavior; and

 

➤

disruption or failure of our networks, systems or technology as a result of misappropriation of data or other malfeasance, as well as outages, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, accidental releases of information or similar events.

 

Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to the TMT industries. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks we will be subject to risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, which may or may not be different than those risks listed above.

 

Item 1B.

Unresolved Staff Comments.

 

None.

 

Item 2.

Properties.

 

We do not own any real estate or other physical properties materially important to our operation. We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 40 West 57^th Street, 29^th Floor, New York, NY 10019. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per-month aggregate fee our sponsor charges us for general 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.

 

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings.

 

To the knowledge of our management, there is no litigation currently pending against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.

 

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures.

 

Not applicable.

 

 

 

PART II

 

Item 5.

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

 

Market Information

 

Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are each traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols “CIICU,” “CIIC” and “CIICW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on December 13, 2019, and our Class A common stock and warrants commenced separate public trading on February 3, 2020.

 

Holders

 

On March 20, 2020, there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A common stock and four holders of record of our warrants.

 

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 

None.

 

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

 

None.

 

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

 

None. 

  

Item 6.

Selected Financial Data.

 

Not required for smaller reporting companies.

 

Item 7.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

 

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

 

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10-K including, without limitation, statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this Form 10-K, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or the Company’s management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company’s management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC.

 

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on September 19, 2019 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any specific business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any business combination target. We intend to complete our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

 

The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a Business Combination:

 

	●	may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock;
	●	may subordinate the rights of holders of our common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;
	●	could cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;
	●	may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and
	●	may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or warrants.

 

Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant indebtedness, it could result in:

 

	●	default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
	●	acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
	●	our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;
	●	our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;
	●	our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;
	●	using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund other general corporate purposes;
	●	limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
	●	increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation;
	●	limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and
	●	other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

We are incurring significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a Business Combination will be successful. 

 

Results of Operations

 

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below, and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our Business Combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held after the Initial Public Offering. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

 

For the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019, we had net income of $31,091, which consists of interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $140,370, offset by operating costs of $91,779 and a provision for income taxes of $17,500.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

On December 17, 2019, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 25,875,000 units, which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,375,000 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $258,750,000. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 7,175,000 Placement Warrants to our initial stockholders at a price of $1.00 per warrant, generating gross proceeds of $7,175,000.

 

Following the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Warrants, a total of $258,750,000 was placed in the Trust Account. We incurred $14,711,394 in transaction costs, consisting of $5,175,000 of underwriting fees, $9,065,250 of deferred underwriting fees and $480,144 of other offering costs.

 

As of December 31, 2019, we had marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $258,890,370 (including approximately $140,000 of interest income consisting of U.S. treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less. Interest income on the balance in the Trust Account may be used by us to pay taxes. Through December 31, 2019, we did not withdraw any interest earned on the Trust Account to pay for our tax obligations.  

 

For the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019, cash used in operating activities was $1,026. Net income $31,091 was offset by interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Account of $140,370. Changes in operating assets and liabilities provided $108,253 of cash from operating activities.

 

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 income taxes payable and deferred underwriting commissions), to complete our Business Combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our 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 a Business Combination.

 

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a Business Combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that a 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 identical to the Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.

 

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 a 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 Business Combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to complete our Business Combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our 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 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 did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2019.

 

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 an affiliate of the Sponsor a monthly fee of $10,000 for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support to the Company. We began incurring these fees on December 13, 2019 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the Business Combination and the Company’s liquidation.

 

The underwriters are entitled to deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $9,056,250 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 a 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 identified the following critical accounting policies:

 

Common stock subject to possible redemption

 

We account for our common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.

 

Net loss per common share

 

We apply the two-class method in calculating earnings per share. Net income per common share, basic and diluted for Class A redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Account, net of applicable franchise and income taxes, by the weighted average number of Class A redeemable common stock outstanding for the period. Net loss per common share, basic and diluted for Class B non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the net income, less income attributable to Class A redeemable common stock, by the weighted average number of Class B non-redeemable common stock outstanding for the period.

 

Recent accounting standards

 

In July 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-11, Earnings per Share (Topic 260), Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480) and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Part I. Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Down Round Features; Part II. Replacement of the Indefinite Deferral for Mandatorily Redeemable Financial Instruments of Certain Nonpublic Entities and Certain Mandatorily Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests with a Scope Exception. Part I of this update addresses the complexity of accounting for certain financial instruments with down round features. Down round features are features of certain equity-linked instruments (or embedded features) that result in the strike price being reduced on the basis of the pricing of future equity offerings. Also, entities must adjust their basic Earnings per Share (“EPS”) calculation for the effect of the down round provision when triggered (that is, when the exercise price of the related equity-linked financial instrument is adjusted downward because of the down round feature). That effect is treated as a dividend and as a reduction of income available to common shareholders in basic EPS. An entity will also recognize the effect of the trigger within equity. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted this guidance as of December 31, 2019. The adoption of this guidance enabled the Company to record the warrants as equity instruments and is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, cash flows or disclosures moving forward until a trigger event occurs. Part II of this update addresses the difficulty of navigating Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, because of the existence of extensive pending content in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. This pending content is the result of the indefinite deferral of accounting requirements about mandatorily redeemable financial instruments of certain nonpublic entities and certain mandatorily redeemable noncontrolling interests. The amendments in Part II of this update are not expected to have an impact on the Company.

 

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.

 

 

Item 7A.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

 

As of December 31, 2019, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. Following the consummation of our Initial Public Offering, the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering, including amounts in the Trust Account, have been invested in U.S. government treasury bills, notes or bonds with a maturity of 180 days or less or in certain money market funds that invest solely in U.S. treasuries. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

Item 8.

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

 

This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.

 

Item 9.

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

 

None.

 

Item 9A.

Controls and Procedures.

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2019, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officers concluded that, as of December 31, 2019, 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.

 

Item 9B.

Other Information.

 

None.

 

 

PART III

 

Item 10.

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.

 

Name		Age		Position
F. Peter Cuneo		75		Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
Gavin Cuneo		43		Chief Operating Officer and Director
Michael Minnick		53		Chief Investment Officer and Director
David Flowers		64		Director
Kenneth P. West		61		Director
Kristen M. O’Hara		49		Director
Chris Rogers		61		Director

 

F. Peter Cuneo, has been our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of our Board of Directors since inception. Mr. Cuneo has served as Chairman of the Board at Iconix Brand Group (Nasdaq: ICON), a brand management company and owner of a portfolio of global consumer brands, since January 2019. Mr. Cuneo previously served as Executive Chairman of Iconix’s Board of Directors from January 2018 to May 2018 and from April 2016 through December 2016. From 2015 to 2018, and while not serving as Executive Chairman, Mr. Cuneo served as Chairman of the Board of Iconix. He also served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Iconix from May to October 2018 and 2015 until 2016. Mr. Cuneo currently serves as Chairman of BeyondView LLC, a virtual reality technology company, since 2017. Mr. Cuneo has also been the Managing Principal of Cuneo & Company, LLC, a private investment and management company, since 2010. He is a recognized leader in corporate value creation and has reshaped the operations of seven distressed companies in the global media and consumer products sectors in the past 35 years. Business Insider called Mr. Cuneo one of the best turnaround CEOs. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Cuneo was first President and Chief Executive Officer and then Vice Chairman of the Board of Marvel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:MVL). His tenure ended with Marvel’s more than $4 billion sale to Disney at the end of 2009. From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Cuneo was President and Chief Executive Officer of Remington Products Company. Previously, Mr. Cuneo has also served as President of the Security Hardware Group of the Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE: SWK), President of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s (NYSE: BMY) Pharmaceutical Group in Canada and President of the Clairol Personal Care Division. Mr. Cuneo received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from Alfred University. Mr. Cuneo served two tours as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War. He is Gavin Cuneo’s father. We believe Mr. Cuneo is well qualified to serve as our Chairman due to his deep operating experience, acquired as a member of various public and private boards of directors and over the course of his career operating companies in senior leadership capacity.

 

Gavin M. Cuneo, has been our Chief Operating Officer and a member of our Board of Directors since inception. From 2010 to present, Mr. Cuneo has been a partner of Cuneo & Company, a private venture investment company focused on early stage media, entertainment and consumer growth businesses. Mr. Cuneo has served and currently serves on the board of a number of private companies. From 2011 to 2018, Mr. Cuneo was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Valiant Entertainment LLC. Cuneo & Company initially capitalized the dormant comic book publisher to relaunch the business as an IP-centric multimedia company. Under this new management, Valiant grew into one of the leading print and digital publishers in comics, established a marquee licensing business and built a film and television division including a multi-picture partnership with Sony Pictures. Valiant was sold to DMG Entertainment in 2018. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Cuneo was an investment banker in the consumer industry coverage group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and its predecessor Merrill Lynch & Co. where he executed debt and equity financings and advised on mergers and acquisitions for leading companies in the consumer and retail industries. From 1998 to 2004, Mr. Cuneo held a number of positions at U.S. Trust Company (now a division of Bank of America), including as an Assistant Vice President in Equity Research, functioning as an equity analyst and associate portfolio manager, and as an Assistant Vice President of corporate strategy. Mr. Cuneo holds an M.B.A. from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, graduated with a B.A. in Economics and Business from Lafayette College and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He is Peter Cuneo’s son. We believe Mr. Cuneo is well qualified to serve as our Chief Operating Officer due to his diverse career experience as a business operator and investor as well as a financial professional.

 

Michael Minnick, our Chief Investment Officer and a member of our Board of Directors since inception, is a co-founder and has been a Managing Partner at IIG Holdings since 2014. Prior to forming IIG Holdings, he was a co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Interlink Investment Group, from 2012 to 2014 Mr. Minnick has experience in more than $185 billion in transaction volume, including advisory and debt and equity capital executions at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS), or RBS. Mr. Minnick served in various capacities at RBS, from 2004 to 2011, culminating in his service as a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Finance in the Telecom, Media & Technology Group. From 2003 to 2004, Mr. Minnick was the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Traffic Networks, a startup that developed mobile and online real-time traffic information for the New York Metropolitan markets. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Minnick served in different positions within Investment Banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co. including the Telecom, Media & Technology Group and the Global Syndicated Finance Group. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mr. Minnick was an Associate at The Bank of Nova Scotia in the Corporate Finance and Syndications division from 1994 to 1996. Mr. Minnick began his career at AT&T (NYSE:T) where he served in several analyst capacities from 1989 to 1992, including as a Financial Analyst in the Market Analysis & Forecasting Division for Business Communications Services within the Chief Financial Officer division. From 2012 to 2019, he served as a Director of Paystar Inc., a privately-held FinTech company. Mr. Minnick received a M.B.A. from Cornell University and a B.A. from The University of St. Thomas. We believe Mr. Minnick is well qualified to serve as a director due to his experience in strategy and investing acquired over the course of his career spent working in private equity, as a senior investment/financial officer and as an investment banker.

 

 

David Flowers has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2019. Mr. Flowers is currently the Founder and Chairman of Clean Water Innovations LLC, a wastewater technology company. Mr. Flowers has over 40 years of experience in the media industry and in corporate finance and served as a Board Member for several companies including ILG Inc. (Nasdaq:ILG), a provider of professionally delivered vacation experiences, from 2008 until 2018, and Digital Globe Services Ltd., a provider of online customer acquisition solutions for large, consumer-facing organizations, from 2015 until 2016. Until 2017, he was a Board Member of Blinker Inc., an app-based purchase, sale and finance tool for automobile ownership. Before his retirement in 2014, Mr. Flowers served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Alternative Investments at Liberty Media as well as other roles at Liberty Media since 1995 including Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer at Liberty Capital Group and Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Principal Financial Officer at Liberty Interactive. During his tenure as an executive officer at Liberty Media, Mr. Flowers was responsible for the financing of all the Liberty Media entities. Prior to Liberty Media, Mr. Flowers worked in the Media and Telecommunications Group in the Investment Banking Division of Toronto Dominion Bank. Mr. Flowers received a B.S.A. from Carleton University in Canada. Mr. Flowers is also a Chartered Financial Analyst. We believe Mr. Flowers is well qualified to serve as a director due to his investing and financing experience, particularly in the media and communications space, acquired over the course of his career spent working as a senior investment/financial officer and as an investment banker.

 

Kenneth P. West has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2019. From 2017 until his retirement in June 2019, Mr. West served as Chief Financial Officer of Fareportal Inc., one of the largest online travel technology companies powering a next generation travel concierge service whose brands include CheapOair, OneTravel and Travelong. Mr. West served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE:MSO) from 2011 to 2015. Mr. West previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Marvel Entertainment Inc., (NYSE:MVL) a brand-driven licensing and media company from 2002 to 2010. From 2010 to 2011, he served as an independent consultant to media and entertainment companies. Prior to 2002, Mr. West, a certified public accountant, was Chief Financial Officer of two middle-market, privately held companies, and spent over 15 years with the Stamford, Connecticut office of Ernst & Young LLP, principally in the auditing division. Mr. West received a B.S from Carnegie Mellon University. We believe Mr. West is well qualified to serve as a director due to his operating and finance experience in the travel and media industries.

 

Kristen M. O’Hara has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2019. Ms. O’Hara is a strategic marketing professional who has worked for several global enterprises in the media industry. Ms. O'Hara has served as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Hearst Magazines since January 2020. Ms. O’Hara served as VP Business Solutions of Snap Inc. (NYSE: SNAP) from September 2018 to October 2018, and prior to that, served as Chief Marketing Officer, Global Media for Time Warner Inc. (now Warner Media, LLC), a position she held since 2011. Earlier executive roles with Time Warner Inc.’s Global Media Group include Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Client Partnerships, and from 2002 to 2004, Ms. O’Hara was the Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Sales Strategy for the Time Inc. division of Time Warner Inc. From 1993 to 2002, Ms. O’Hara served in several positions at global marketing communications firm Young & Rubicam Inc., driving business development and brand strategy for blue chip advertisers. Ms. O’Hara is currently a member of the board of directors of MDC Partners Inc. (Nasdaq:MDCA), an advertising and marketing holding company. She has been a member of the board of trustees of the Signature Theatre Company since 2012. She was formerly a member of the boards of directors of Iconix Brand Group, Inc.(Nasdaq: ICON) from 2016 to 2018, and the Data & Marketing Association. Ms. O’Hara received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross. We believe Ms. O’Hara is well qualified to serve as a director due to her extensive marketing and strategy experience within the technology, media and telecom industry including a high level of expertise in data, social and digital media.

 

Chris Rogers has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2019. Mr. Rogers has over 30 years of operating and investing experience and has served in his current capacity as Partner at Lumia Capital LLC since 2013. He co-founded Nextel Communications in 1987, which later sold to Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) in 2005. Mr. Rogers served as Senior Vice President at Nextel, implementing numerous strategies and campaigns. Mr. Rogers moved to Sprint in 2005 after Nextel was acquired, where he served as a Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Spectrum until 2012. He oversaw mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, equity investments and joint ventures in the role and was also responsible for management and oversight of wireless spectrum licenses and Sprint’s portfolio of emerging technology investments. Mr. Rogers received his B.A. from Tufts University and his J.D. from the Catholic University of America. We believe Mr. Rogers is well qualified to serve as a director due to his experience in strategy and investing acquired over the course of his career spent working as a senior leader overseeing corporate strategy, development and investment.

 

Number and terms of office of officers and directors

 

We have seven directors. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mr. West and Rogers, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Flowers and Ms. O’Hara, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Cuneo, Cuneo and Minnick, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.

 

 

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

 

Committees of the board of directors

 

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

 

Audit committee

 

We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. West, Flowers and Rogers serve as members of our audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to certain phase-in provisions. Messrs. West, Flowers and Rogers meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.

 

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

 

We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

➤

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

 

➤

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

 

➤

reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

 

➤

setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors;

 

➤

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 auditors describing (i) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;

 

➤

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

 

Compensation committee

 

We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Mr. Rogers and Ms. O’Hara serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent, subject to certain phase-in provisions. Mr. Rogers and Ms. O’Hara meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq listing standards applicable to members 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, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;

 

➤

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the compensation of all of our other officers;

 

➤

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

 

 

➤

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

 

➤

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

 

➤

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

 

➤

if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

 

➤

reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $10,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to complete the consummation of a business combination, except that at the closing of our initial business combination, we may pay a customary financial consulting fee to IIG Holdings, or another affiliate of our sponsor, which will not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination. We may pay such financial consulting fee in the event such party or parties provide us with specific target company, industry, financial or market expertise, as well as insights, relationships, services or resources that we believe are necessary in order to assess, negotiate and consummate an initial business combination. The amount of any such financial consulting fee we pay will be based upon the prevailing market for similar services for comparable transactions at such time, and will be subject to the review of our audit committee pursuant to the audit committee’s policies and procedures relating to transactions that may present conflicts of interest. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

 

The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.

 

Director nominations

 

We do not have a standing nominating committee. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the Nasdaq Rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

 

The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to our board of directors should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws. We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, our board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

 

Compensation committee interlocks and insider participation

 

None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year have not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.

 

Code of ethics

 

We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit and compensation committee charters as exhibits to our registration statement on Form S-1, originally filed with the SEC on November 22, 2019, as amended. You are able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us.

 

 

Compliance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act

 

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our common stock and other equity securities. These executive officers, directors, and greater than 10% beneficial owners are required by SEC regulation to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms filed by such reporting persons. Based solely on our review of such forms furnished to us and written representations from certain reporting persons, we believe that all reports applicable to our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were filed in a timely manner in accordance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.

 

Availability of Documents

 

We have filed a copy of our form of Code of Ethics, our audit committee charter, our nominating committee charter and compensation committee charter as exhibits to the registration statement filed in connection with our initial public offering. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Item 11.

Executive Compensation.

 

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

 

None of our officers has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. We pay our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. No compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals are 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. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than audit committee review of such payments, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.

 

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

 

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

 

Item 12.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.

 

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 23, 2020 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of shares 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 executive officers and directors that beneficially owns shares of our common stock; and
	●	all our executive 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. Unless otherwise indicated, the address for each of the below individuals and entities is C/O CIIG Merger Corp, 40 West 57^th street, 29^th Floor, New York, New York 10019.

 

 

		Class A Common Stock								Class B Common Stock (1)
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner		Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				% of Class				Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				% of Class
Directors and Officers
F. Peter Cuneo (2)											5,821,875				100	%
Gavin Cuneo (2)											5,821,875				100	%
Michael Minnick (2)											5,821,875				100	%
David Flowers (3)
Kenneth West (3)
Kristen O’Hara (3)
Chris Rogers (3)
All Executive Officers and Directors as a Group (7 Individuals)											5,821,875				100	%
5% or More Shareholders
CIIG Management LLC (2)											5,821,875				100	%
Magnetar Financial LLC (4)			1,940,625				7.50	%
Blackrock, Inc. (5)			1,940,625				7.50	%			181,125
UBS O’Connor LLC (6)			1,800,000				6.96	%
ACM Alamosa (Cayman) Holdco LP (7)			1,940,625				7.50	%
Integrated Core Strategies (US) LLC (8)			1,865,119				7.21	%

 

(1)	Such shares are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment.

(2)

The holder of record of the Company’s Class B Common Stock, which are automatically convertible into shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock at the time of the initial business combination is CIIG Management LLC (the “Sponsor”). F. Peter Cuneo, Gavin Cuneo and Michael Minnick are managing members of the Sponsor. As such, they may be deemed to have or share voting and dispositive power of the Class B Common Stock held directly by the Sponsor.

(3)	Each of these individuals holds an interest in our sponsor. Each such person disclaims any beneficial ownership of the reported shares other than to the extent of any pecuniary interest they may have therein, directly or indirectly.

(4)

Pursuant to a Schedule 13G filed by Magnetar Financial LLC on February 13, 2020, the shares relate to the units held for Magnetar Constellation Master Fund, Ltd (“Constellation Master Fund”), Magnetar Constellation Fund II, Ltd (“Constellation Fund”), Magnetar Xing He Master Fund Ltd (“Xing He Master Fund”), Magnetar SC Fund Ltd (“SC Fund”), and Magnetar Structured Credit Fund, LP (“Structured Credit Fund”), all Cayman Islands exempted companies except for Structured Credit Fund which is a Delaware limited partnership (collectively, the “Magnetar Funds”).   Magnetar Financial serves as the investment adviser to the Magnetar Funds, and as such, Magnetar Financial exercises voting and investment power over the Units held for the Magnetar Funds’ accounts. Magnetar Capital Partners serves as the sole member and parent holding company of Magnetar Financial. Supernova Management is the general partner of Magnetar Capital Partners. The manager of Supernova Management is Mr. Alec N. Litowitz. The business address of each of the entities and individuals named herein is: 1603 Orrington Avenue, 13th Floor, Evanston, Illinois 60201.

(5)	Pursuant to a Schedule 13G filed by Blackrock, Inc. (“Blackrock”) with the SEC on February 10, 2020, Blackrock has the sole voting and sole dispositive power over the shares reported therein. The business address of Blackrock is 55 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10055.

(6)

Pursuant to a Schedule 13G filed by UBS O’Conner LLC (“UBS”) with the SEC on February 13, 2020, UBS serves as the investment manager to (i) Nineteen77 Global Multi-Strategy Alpha Master Limited (“GLEA”) and (ii) Nineteen77 Global Merger Arbitrage Master Limited (“OGMA”). In such capacity, UBS exercises voting and investment power over the shares of Common Stock held for the account of GLEA and OGMA. The Reporting Person is a registered investment adviser under Section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. As a result, UBS may be deemed to have beneficial ownership (as determined under Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) of the shares of Common Stock held for the account of GLEA and OGMA. The principle business address of the individuals and entities named herein is One North Wacker Drive, 32nd Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

(7)	Pursuant to a Schedule 13G filed by ACM Alamosa (Cayman) Holdco LP (“ACM”) with the SEC on December 20, 2019, ACM has the sole power to vote or to direct the vote of the shares. ACM’s business address is 780 Third Avenue, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10017.

 

 

(8)

Pursuant to a Schedule 13G filed by Integrated Core Strategies (US) LLC (“Integrated”) with the SEC on December 19, 2019, as of December 18, 2019, Integrated beneficially own 290,119 shares of the Issuer’s Class A Common Stock; Riverview Group LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Riverview Group”), beneficially owned 900,000 shares of the Issuer’s Class A Common Stock; ICS Opportunities, Ltd., an exempted company organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands (“ICS Opportunities”), beneficially owned 675,000 shares of the Issuer’s Class A Common Stock.  Millennium International Management LP, a Delaware limited partnership (“Millennium International Management”), is the investment manager to ICS Opportunities and may be deemed to have shared voting control and investment discretion over securities owned by ICS Opportunities.   Millennium Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Millennium Management”), is the general partner of the managing member of Integrated and Riverview Group and may be deemed to have shared voting control and investment discretion over securities owned by Integrated and Riverview Group. Millennium Management is also the general partner of the 100% owner of ICS Opportunities and may also be deemed to have shared voting control and investment discretion over securities owned by ICS Opportunities.  Millennium Group Management LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Millennium Group Management”), is the managing member of Millennium Management and may also be deemed to have shared voting control and investment discretion over securities owned by Integrated and Riverview Group. Millennium Group Management is also the general partner of Millennium International Management and may also be deemed to have shared voting control and investment discretion over securities owned by ICS Opportunities.  The managing member of Millennium Group Management is a trust of which Israel A. Englander, a United States citizen (“Mr. Englander”), currently serves as the sole voting trustee. Therefore, Mr. Englander may also be deemed to have shared voting control and investment discretion over securities owned by Integrated, Riverview Group and ICS Opportunities. The business address of each of the individuals and entities named herein is 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10103.

 

The table above does not include the shares of common stock underlying the private placement warrants or forward purchase securities held or to be held by our sponsor because these securities are not exercisable within 60 days of this report.

 

Changes in Control

 

Not applicable.

 

Item 13.

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.

 

In September 2019, our sponsor acquired 5,750,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. In November 2019, we effected a stock dividend for 0.125 share for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 6,468,750 founder shares. In November 2019, our sponsor forfeited 646,875 founder shares and the direct anchor investors purchased 646,875 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2,500, or approximately $0.004 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of this offering. The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

 

Our sponsor and the direct anchor investors purchased an aggregate of 7,175,000 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering. Among the private placement warrants, 5,979,167 private placement warrants were purchased by our sponsor and 1,195,833 private placement warrants were purchased by the direct anchor investors. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction was valued at $5,979,167. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our founder shares or warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination within the 24-month time period.

 

If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations to other entities that may take priority over their duties to us. We may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with an entity to which an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by making a specified future issuance to any such entity.

 

No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination, except that at the closing of our initial business combination, we may pay a customary financial consulting fee to IIG Holdings, or another affiliate of our sponsor, which will not be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination. We may pay such financial consulting fee in the event such party or parties provide us with specific target company, industry, financial or market expertise, as well as insights, relationships, services or resources that we believe are necessary in order to assess, negotiate and consummate an initial business combination. The amount of any such financial consulting fee we pay will be based upon the prevailing market for similar services for comparable transactions at such time, and will be subject to the review of our audit committee pursuant to the audit committee’s policies and procedures relating to transactions that may present conflicts of interest. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

 

 

Our anchor investors have severally purchased an aggregate of $58,218,750 of units and we have agreed to direct the underwriters to sell to our anchor investors such number of units. Our indirect anchor investors severally purchased $19,406,250 of units. Further, each direct anchor investor has agreed with us that, if it does not own 543,375 public shares and 1,397,250 public shares (respectively) at the time of any stockholder vote with respect to an initial business combination or the business day immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, it will transfer to our sponsor a pro rata portion of the 181,125 founder shares and 465,750 founder shares (respectively) it purchased such that the remaining founder shares it will own will be reduced to no less than 54,338 founder shares and 139,725 founder shares (respectively); in addition, each direct anchor investor is subject to any forfeiture of their founder shares on the same terms as the founder shares held by the sponsor, which forfeitures may be negotiated at the time of our initial business combination; provided, however, that neither direct anchor investor will be obligated to transfer to our sponsor any founder shares to the extent that their remaining number of founder shares would be less than 54,338 founder shares and 139,725 founder shares (respectively).

 

The indirect anchor investors have made arrangements similar to these with the sponsor regarding their indirect holdings of our securities as members of the sponsor. There can be no assurance of what amount of equity our anchor investors will retain, if any, upon the consummation of our initial business combination. In the event that such anchor investors vote such units in favor of our initial business combination, it is possible that no votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination, depending on the number of shares that are present at the meeting to approve such transaction. As a result of the founder shares and private placement warrants that our anchor investors may hold (directly or indirectly), they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders. Our anchor investors will have the same rights to the funds held in the trust account with respect to the common stock underlying the units as the rights afforded to our public stockholders.

 

We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

 

Our sponsor agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering. This loan was non-interest bearing, unsecured and was due at the earlier of March 31, 2020 or the closing of our initial public offering. The loan was repaid upon the closing of our 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. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

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

 

We will enter into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and their respective component securities) and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares.

 

Related party policy

 

Our audit committee must review and approve any related person transaction we propose to enter into. Our audit committee charter details the policies and procedures relating to transactions that may present actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest and may raise questions as to whether such transactions are consistent with the best interest of our company and our stockholders. A summary of such policies and procedures is set forth below.

 

 

Any potential related party transaction that is brought to the audit committee’s attention will be analyzed by the audit committee, in consultation with outside counsel or members of management, as appropriate, to determine whether the transaction or relationship does, in fact, constitute a related party transaction. At its meetings, the audit committee will be provided with the details of each new, existing or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, the business purpose of the transaction and the benefits to us and to the relevant related party.

 

In determining whether to approve a related party transaction, the audit committee must consider, among other factors, the following factors to the extent relevant:

 

	●	whether the terms of the transaction are fair to us and on the same basis as would apply if the transaction did not involve a related party;
	●	whether there are business reasons for us to enter into the transaction;
	●	whether the transaction would impair the independence of an outside director; and
	●	whether the transaction would present an improper conflict of interest for any director or executive officer.

 

Any member of the audit committee who has an interest in the transaction under discussion must abstain from any voting regarding the transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the audit committee, participate in some or all of the audit committee’s discussions of the transaction. Upon completion of its review of the transaction, the audit committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the transaction. 

 

Director Independence

 

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. West, Flowers, O’Hara and Rogers are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

 

Item 14.

Principal Accountant Fees and Services.

 

The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Grant Thornton LLP, or GT, 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 GT in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by GT for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our required filings with the SEC for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019 totaled $26,250. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.

 

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 GT for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019. 

 

Tax Fees. We did not pay GT for tax planning and tax advice for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019. 

 

All Other Fees. We did not pay GT for other services for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019. 

 

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

 

Item 15.

Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.

 

(a)

The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K:

 

(1)

Financial Statements:

 

	Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	F-2
Balance Sheet	F-3
Statement of Operations	F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity	F-5
Statement of Cash Flows	F-6
Notes to Financial Statements	F-7

 

(2)

Financial Statement Schedules:

 

None.

 

(3)

Exhibits

 

We hereby file as part of this report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Copies of such material can be obtained from the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

  

Item 16.

Form 10-K Summary.

 

Not applicable.

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No.		Description
1.1		Underwriting Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and among the Company and UBS Securities LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. (1)
3.1		Certificate of Incorporation. (2)
3.2		Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. (1)
3.3		Bylaws. (2)
4.1		Warrant Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent. (1)
4.2		Description of the Company’s Securities*
10.1		Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee. (1)
10.2		Registration Rights Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and between the Company, the Sponsor and certain other stockholders of the Company. (1)
10.3		Letter Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and among the Company, its officers, its directors and the Sponsor. (1)
10.4		Letter Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and between the Company and its outside directors. (1)
10.5		Administrative Support Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and between the Company and the Sponsor. (1)
10.6		Securities Subscription Agreement, dated September 19, 2019, between the Registrant and CIIG Management LLC. (2)
10.7		Private Placement Warrant Purchase Agreement, dated December 12, 2019, by and between the Company and the Sponsor. (1)
31.1		Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
31.2		Certification of the Chief Investment Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
32.1		Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350.**
32.2		Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350.**

 

101.INS XBRL Instance Document*

101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema*

101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase*

101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase*

101.PRE XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*

101.DEF XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*

 

*

Filed herewith

 

**

Furnished herewith

 

(1)	Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K, filed with the Commission on December 17, 2019.
(2)	Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1, originally filed with the Commission on November 22, 2019 (File No. 333-235158), as amended.

 

 

CIIG MERGER CORP.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	F-2
Financial Statements:
Balance Sheet	F-3
Statement of Operations	F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity	F-5
Statement of Cash Flows	F-6
Notes to Financial Statements	F-7 to F-17

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

Board of Directors and Stockholders

CIIG Merger Corp.

 

Opinion on the financial statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of CIIG Merger Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2019, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

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

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

 

/s/ GRANT THORNTON LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 27, 2020

 

 

CIIG MERGER CORP.

BALANCE SHEET  

DECEMBER 31, 2019

 

ASSETS
Current asset - cash		$	1,586,330
Cash and marketable securities held in Trust Account			258,890,370
Total Assets		$	260,476,700
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses		$	90,753
Accrued offering costs			40,000
Income tax payable			17,500
Total Current Liabilities			148,253
Deferred underwriting fee payable			9,056,250
Total Liabilities			9,204,503
Commitments
Common stock subject to possible redemption, 24,620,955 shares at redemption value			246,272,190
Stockholders’ Equity
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized, none issued and outstanding			—
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized; 1,254,045 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 24,620,955 shares subject to possible redemption)			125
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized; 6,468,750 shares issued and outstanding			647
Additional paid-in capital			4,968,144
Retained earnings			31,091
Total Stockholders’ Equity			5,000,007
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity		$	260,476,700

 

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

 

 

CIIG MERGER CORP.

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2019

 

Operating expenses		$	91,779
Loss from operations			(91,779	)
Other income:
Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account			140,370
Income before provision for income taxes			48,591
Provision for income taxes			(17,500	)
Net income		$	31,091
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A redeemable common stock			25,875,000
Basic and diluted net income per common share, Class A		$	(0.00	)
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B non-redeemable common stock			6,468,750
Basic and diluted net income per common share, Class B		$	0.01

  

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

 

 

CIIG MERGER CORP.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

FOR THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2019

 

																		Additional								Total
		Class A Common Stock								Class B Common Stock								Paid-in				Retained				Stockholders’
		Shares				Amount				Shares				Amount				Capital				Earnings				Equity
Balance – September 19, 2019 (inception)			—			$	—				—			$	—			$	—			$	—			$	—
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor			—				—				6,468,750				647				24,353				—				25,000
Forfeiture of Class B common stock to Sponsor			—				—				(646,875	)			(65	)			65				—				—
Issuance of Class B common stock to Direct Anchor Investors			—				—				646,875				65				2,435				—				2,500
Sale of 25,875,000 Units, net of underwriting discounts and offering expenses			25,875,000				2,587				—				—				244,036,019				—				244,038,606
Sale of 7,175,000 Placement Warrants			—				—				—				—				7,175,000				—				7,175,000
Common stock subject to possible redemption			(24,620,955	)			(2,462	)			—				—				(246,269,728	)			—				(246,272,190	)
Net income											—				—				—				31,091				31,091
Balance – December 31, 2019			1,254,045			$	125				6,468,750			$	647			$	4,968,144			$	31,091			$	5,000,007

 

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

 

 

CIIG MERGER CORP.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2019

 

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net income		$	31,091
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities:
Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account			(140,370	)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses			90,753
Income taxes payable			17,500
Net cash used in operating activities			(1,026	)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Investment of cash in Trust Account			(258,750,000	)
Net cash used in investing activities			(258,750,000	)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsor			27,500
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid			253,575,000
Proceeds from sale of Placement Warrants			7,175,000
Proceeds from promissory note – related party			156,000
Repayment of promissory note – related party			(181,000	)
Payment of offering costs			(415,144	)
Net cash provided by financing activities			260,337,356
Net Change in Cash			1,586,330
Cash – Beginning			—
Cash – Ending		$	1,586,330
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Initial classification of common stock subject to possible redemption		$	246,240,010
Change in value of common stock subject to possible redemption		$	32,180
Offering costs included in accrued offering costs		$	40,000
Payment of offering costs through promissory notes - related party		$	25,000

 

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

 

 

NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

 

CIIG Merger Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on September 19, 2019. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).

 

Although the Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination, the Company intends to focus its search on companies in the technology, media and telecommunications industries. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.

 

As of December 31, 2019, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019 relates to the Company’s formation, the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.

 

The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on December 12, 2019. On December 17, 2019, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 25,875,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,375,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $258,750,000, which is described in Note 3.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 7,175,000 warrants (the “Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Placement Warrant in a private placement to CIIG Management LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company (the “Sponsor”) and certain funds and accounts managed by subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. (the “Direct Anchor Investors” the Direct Anchor Investors, together with the Sponsor, are the “initial stockholders”), generating gross proceeds of $7,175,000, which is described in Note 4.

 

Transaction costs amounted to $14,711,394, consisting of $5,175,000 of underwriting fees, $9,056,250 of deferred underwriting fees and $480,144 of other offering costs. In addition, $1,564,175 of cash was held outside of the Trust Account (as defined below) and is available for working capital purposes.

 

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on December 17, 2019, an amount of $258,750,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”), and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account, as described below.

 

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete a Business Combination with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into a Business Combination. The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

 

 

The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account ($10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). The per-share amount to be distributed to public stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 6). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.

 

The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transactions is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

If the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.

 

The initial stockholders have agreed (a) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.

 

The Company will have until December 17, 2021 to complete a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.

 

 

The initial stockholders have agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the initial stockholders or any of their respective affiliates acquire Public Shares after the Initial Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).

 

In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below (i) $10.00 per Public Share or (ii) such lesser amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.

  

NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

 

Basis of presentation

 

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

 

Emerging growth company

 

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

 

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

 

 

Use of estimates

 

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

 

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

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2019.

 

Common stock subject to possible redemption

 

The Company accounts for its common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.

 

Offering Costs

 

Offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs amounting to $14,711,394 were charged to stockholders’ equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.

 

Income taxes

 

The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of ASC Topic 740 “Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Deferred tax assets were deemed to be immaterial as of December 31, 2019.

 

ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2019. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.

 

 

The Company may be subject to potential examination by federal, state and city taxing authorities in the areas of income taxes. These potential examinations may include questioning the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with federal, state and city tax laws. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

 

Net loss per common share

 

Net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. The Company has not considered the effect of warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and private placement to purchase 20,12,500 shares of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted income (loss) per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive.

 

The Company’s statement of operations includes a presentation of income (loss) per share for common shares subject to possible redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income per share. Net income (loss) per common share, basic and diluted for Class A redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Account (net of applicable franchise and income taxes of approximately $75,000), by the weighted average number of Class A redeemable common stock outstanding since original issuance. Net income (loss) per common share, basic and diluted for Class B non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the net income (loss), less income attributable to Class A redeemable common stock, by the weighted average number of Class B non-redeemable common stock outstanding for the period. Class B non-redeemable common stock includes the Founder Shares as these shares do not have any redemption features and do not participate in the income earned on the Trust Account.

 

Concentration of credit risk

 

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times may exceed the Federal depository insurance coverage of $250,000. At December 31, 2019, the Company had not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

 

Fair value of financial instruments

 

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

 

Recently issued accounting standards

 

In July 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017 -11, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480) and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Part I. Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Down Round Features; Part II. Replacement of the Indefinite Deferral for Mandatorily Redeemable Financial Instruments of Certain Nonpublic Entities and Certain Mandatorily Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests with a Scope Exception. Part I of this update addresses the complexity of accounting for certain financial instruments with down round features. Down round features are features of certain equity-linked instruments (or embedded features) that result in the strike price being reduced on the basis of the pricing of future equity offerings. Also, entities must adjust their basic Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) calculation for the effect of the down round provision when triggered (that is, when the exercise price of the related equity-linked financial instrument is adjusted downward because of the down round feature). That effect is treated as a dividend and as a reduction of income available to common shareholders in basic EPS. An entity will also recognize the effect of the trigger within equity. The guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. The Company adopted this guidance as of December 31, 2019. The adoption of this guidance enabled the Company to record the warrants as equity instruments and is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, cash flows or disclosures moving forward until a trigger event occurs. Part II of this update addresses the difficulty of navigating Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, because of the existence of extensive pending content in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. This pending content is the result of the indefinite deferral of accounting requirements about mandatorily redeemable financial instruments of certain nonpublic entities and certain mandatorily redeemable noncontrolling interests. The amendments in Part II of this update are not expected to have an impact on the Company.

 

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

 

 

NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

 

Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 25,875,000 Units, which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,375,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).

 

NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor and the Direct Anchor Investors purchased an aggregate of 7,175,000 Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $7,175,000 in a private placement. A portion of the proceeds from the Placement Warrants were added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. The Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except as described in Note 7. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds of the sale of the Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and underlying securities will be worthless.

 

NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

  

Founder Shares

 

In September 2019, the Sponsor purchased 5,750,000 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B common stock for an aggregate price of $25,000. In November 2019, the Company effected a stock dividend for 0.125 share for each Founder Share outstanding, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 6,468,750 Founder Shares. In November 2019, the Sponsor forfeited 646,875 Founder Shares and the Direct Anchor Investors purchased 646,875 Founder Shares for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $2,500, or approximately $0.004 per share. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock upon consummation of a Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to certain adjustments, as described in Note 7.

 

The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up 843,750 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial stockholders would own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (assuming the initial stockholders did not purchase any Public Shares in the Initial Public Offering). As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option, 843,750 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.

 

The initial stockholders have agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

 

Promissory Note — Related Party

 

On October 16, 2019, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering (the “Promissory Note”). The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of March 31, 2020 or the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Note in the aggregate amount of $181,000 was repaid upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering on December 17, 2019.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on December 13, 2019 through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. For the period from September 19, 2019 (inception) through December 31, 2019, the Company incurred $5,806 in fees for these services, of which such fees are included in accounts payable and accrued expenses in the accompanying balance sheet as of December 31, 2019.

  

Related Party Loans

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Placement Warrants.

 

NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Registration Rights

 

The Company entered into a registration rights agreement on December 12, 2019, with respect to the Founder Shares, Placement Warrants (and their underlying shares), and warrants (and their underlying shares) that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the Founder Shares. The holders of the Founder Shares, Placement Warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and in each case holders of their underlying shares, as applicable) will have registration rights to require the Company to register the sale of any of the securities held by them. The holders of the majority of these securities will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have certain “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

   

Underwriting Agreement

 

The underwriters were paid a cash underwriting discount of $0.20 per Unit, or $5,175,000 in the aggregate. In addition, the underwriters will be entitled to a deferred fee of $0.35 per Unit, or $9,056,250 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 the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

 

 

NOTE 7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

Preferred Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. At December 31, 2019, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

 

Class A Common Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2019, there were 1,254,045 shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding, excluding 24,620,955 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption.

 

Class B Common Stock—The Company is authorized to issue 10,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2019, there were 6,468,750 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding.

 

Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, except as required by law.

 

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination).

 

Warrants—Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue any shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants.

 

The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file, and within 60 business days following a Business Combination to have declared effective, a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. The Company will use its reasonable best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if the Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elects, the Company will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will be required to use its best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

 

Redemptions of Warrants for Cash — Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:

 

	●	in whole and not in part;
	●	at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
	●	upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and
	●	if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to each warrant holder.

 

If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

Redemption of Warrants for Shares of Class A Common Stock — Commencing ninety days after the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:

 

	●	in whole and not in part;
	●	at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption and receive that number of shares of Class A common stock to be determined, based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Company’s Class A common stock;
	●	if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) on the trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders;
	●	if, and only if, the Placement Warrants are also concurrently exchanged at the same price (equal to a number of shares of the Company’s Class A common stock) as the Company’s outstanding Public Warrants, as described above; and
	●	if, and only if, there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating thereto is available throughout the 30-day period after the written notice of redemption is given.

 

If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption for cash, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.

 

In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors, and in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor, initial stockholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by them prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of a Business Combination on the date of the consummation of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Company’s ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates a Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of each warrant will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of (i) the Market Value and (ii) the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above will be adjusted to be equal to 180% of the higher of (i) the Market Value and (ii) the Newly Issued Price.

 

The Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

 

 

NOTE 8. INCOME TAX

 

The Company’s net deferred tax asset at December 31, 2019 is as follows:

 

Deferred tax asset
Startup/Organization Expenses		$	7,296
Total deferred tax asset			7,296
Valuation allowance			(7,296	)
Deferred tax asset, net of allowance		$	—

 

The income tax provision for the period ended December 31, 2019 consists of the following:

 

Federal
Current		$	17,500
Deferred			(7,296	)
State
Current		$	—
Deferred			—
Change in valuation allowance			7,296
Income tax provision		$	17,500

  

As of December 31, 2019, the Company did not have any U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryovers (“NOLs”) available to offset future taxable income.

 

In assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the change in the valuation allowance was $7,296.

 

A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate at December 31, 2019 is as follows:

 

Statutory federal income tax rate			21.0	%
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit			0.0	%
Change in valuation allowance			15.0	%
Income tax provision			36.0	%

 

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction in various state and local jurisdictions and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities. The Company’s tax returns since inception remain open and subject to examination.

 

 

NOTE 9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS 

 

The Company classifies its U. S. Treasury and equivalent securities as held-to-maturity in accordance with ASC 320 “Investments - Debt and Equity Securities.” Held-to-maturity securities are those securities which the Company has the ability and intent to hold until maturity. Held-to-maturity treasury securities are recorded at amortized cost on the accompanying condensed balance sheets and adjusted for the amortization or accretion of premiums or discounts.

 

At December 31, 2019, assets held in the Trust Account were comprised of $388 in cash and $258,889,982 in U.S. Treasury Bills.

 

The gross holding losses and fair value of held-to-maturity securities at December 31, 2019 are as follows:

 

		Held-To-Maturity		Amortized Cost				Gross Holding Gains				Fair Value
December 31, 2019		U.S. Treasury Securities (Mature on 3/19/2020)		$	258,889,982			$	29,633			$	258,919,615

  

The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:

 

	Level 1:	Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.
	Level 2:	Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.
	Level 3:	Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

 

NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 

 

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued.

 

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as a pandemic, which continues to spread throughout the United States. The spread of COVID-19 has caused significant volatility in U.S. and international markets. There is significant uncertainty around the breadth and duration of business disruptions related to COVID-19, as well as its impact on the U.S. and international economies and, as such, the Company is unable to determine if it will have a material impact to its operations.

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

March 27, 2020	CIIG Merger Corp.
	By:	/s/ F. Peter Cuneo
		Name: F. Peter Cuneo Title:   Chief Executive Officer and Chairman (Principal Executive Officer)

   

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Name		Position		Date
/s/ F. Peter Cuneo		Chief Executive Officer and Chairman		March 27, 2020
F. Peter Cuneo		(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Michael Minnick		Chief Investment Officer and Director		March 27, 2020
Michael Minnick		(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Gavin Cuneo		Chief Operating Officer and Director		March 27, 2020
Gavin Cuneo
/s/ David Flowers		Director		March 27, 2020
David Flowers
/s/ Kenneth P. West		Director		March 27, 2020
Kenneth P. West
/s/ Kristen M. O’Hara		Director		March 27, 2020
Kristen M. O’Hara
/s/ Chris Rogers		Director		March 27, 2020
Chris Rogers

 

 

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