Attached files
| file | filename |
|---|---|
| EX-32.2 - EXHIBIT 32.2 - Motive Capital Corp | tm2116571d1_ex32-2.htm |
| EX-32.1 - EXHIBIT 32.1 - Motive Capital Corp | tm2116571d1_ex32-1.htm |
| EX-31.2 - EXHIBIT 31.2 - Motive Capital Corp | tm2116571d1_ex31-2.htm |
| EX-31.1 - EXHIBIT 31.1 - Motive Capital Corp | tm2116571d1_ex31-1.htm |
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K/A
(Amendment No.1)
(Mark One)
| x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
OR
| ¨ | 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 001-39794
MOTIVE CAPITAL CORP
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
| Cayman Islands | 98-1561111 |
|
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
|
7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St., FL 47 New York, NY |
10007 |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 651-0200
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 Class A Ordinary Share, $0.0001 par value, and one-third of one redeemable warrant
|
MOTV.U | The New York Stock Exchange |
| Class A Ordinary Shares included as part of the units | MOTV | The New York Stock Exchange |
| Redeemable Warrants included as part of the units, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A Ordinary Share at an exercise price of $11.50 | MOTV WS | The New York Stock Exchange |
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 x
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. YES ¨ NO x
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 x 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 x
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 the 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 | x | Smaller reporting company | x | |||
| Emerging growth company | x | |||||
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 has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES x NO ¨
Motive Capital Corp completed the initial public offering of its units on December 15, 2020. Accordingly, there was no public market for the registrant’s ordinary shares as of June 30, 2020, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter. The registrant’s units began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 11, 2020 and the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares and warrants began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 1, 2021. As of February 1, 2021, the aggregate market value of the Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $426,834,000.
As of March 1, 2021, 41,400,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 10,350,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, were issued and outstanding.
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXPLANATORY NOTE
References throughout this Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us,” the “Company” or “our company” are to Motive Capital Corp., unless the context otherwise indicates.
This Amendment No. 1 ("Amendment No. 1") to the Annual Report on Form 10-K/A amends the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Motive Capital Corp. for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 23, 2021 (the "Original Filing").
On April 12, 2021, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC Staff”) issued a public statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “SEC Staff Statement”). In the SEC Staff Statement, the SEC Staff expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to SPAC warrants may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to equity. Since issuance on December 15, 2020, our warrants were accounted for as equity within our balance sheet. After discussion and evaluation, including with our registered public accounting firm and our audit committee, and taking into consideration the SEC Staff Statement, we have concluded that our warrants should be presented as liabilities with subsequent fair value remeasurement.
Therefore, the Company, in consultation with the audit committee of the Company's board of directors (the "Audit Committee"), concluded that its previously issued Financial Statements for the period beginning with the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 (the "Affected Period") should be restated because of a misapplication in the guidance around accounting for our outstanding warrants and forward purchase agreement to purchase ordinary shares and should no longer be relied upon.
Historically, the warrants and the forward purchase agreement were reflected as a component of equity as opposed to assets or liabilities on the balance sheets and the statement of operations did not include the subsequent non-cash changes in estimated fair value of these financial instruments, based on our application of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (“ASC 815-40). The views expressed in the SEC Staff Statement were not consistent with the Company’s historical interpretation of the specific provisions within its warrant agreement and the forward purchase agreement and the Company’s application of ASC 815-40 to the warrant agreement and the forward purchase agreement. We reassessed our accounting for our warrants and the forward purchase agreement issued in December 2020, in light of the SEC Staff’s published views. Based on this reassessment, we determined that the warrants and the forward purchase agreement should be classified as liabilities measured at fair value upon issuance, with subsequent changes in fair value reported in our Statement of Operations each reporting period.
The change in accounting for the warrants and the forward purchase agreement did not have any impact on our liquidity, cash flows, revenues or costs of operating our business, in the Affected Period or in any of the periods included in Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data in this filing. The change in accounting for the warrants and forward purchase agreement does not impact the amounts previously reported for the Company’s cash and cash equivalents, investments held in the trust account, operating expenses or total cash flows from operations for any of these periods.
We are filing this Amendment No. 1 to amend and restate the Original Filing with modification as necessary to reflect the restatements. The following items have been amended to reflect the restatements:
Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors
Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Part II, Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Part II, Item 9A Controls and Procedures
In addition, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have provided new certifications dated as of the date of this filing in connection with this Form 10-K/A (Exhibits 31.1, 31.2, 32.1 and 32.2).
Except as described above, no other information included in the Original Filing is being amended or updated by this Amendment No. 1 and this Amendment No. 1 does not purport to reflect any information or events subsequent to the Original Filing. This Amendment No. 1 continues to describe the conditions as of the date of the Original Filing and, except as expressly contained herein, we have not updated, modified or supplemented the disclosures contained in the Original Filing. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 1 should be read in conjunction with the Original Filing and with our filings with the SEC subsequent to the Original Filing.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K including, without limitation, statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward looking statements. When used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, words such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions, as they relate to us or our 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, our management. No assurance can be given that results in any forward-looking statement will be achieved and actual results could be affected by one or more factors, which could cause them to differ materially. The cautionary statements made in this Annual Report should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements whenever they appear in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including but not limited to, those detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph. We maintain a corporate website at www.motivecapitalcorp.com. The information that may be contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not incorporated by reference in, or otherwise a part of, this report.
SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The following is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky, all of which are more fully described below in the section titled “Risk Factors.” This summary should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and should not be relied upon as an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing our business. In addition to the following summary, you should consider the information set forth in the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Annual Report before investing in our securities.:
| · | We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective. |
| · | Past performance by our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us. |
| · | Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination. |
| · | Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash. |
| · | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote. |
| · | The ability of our public shareholders 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. |
| · | The ability of our public shareholders 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. |
| · | The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 24 months (or such later date as approved by our shareholders) after the closing of the Initial Public Offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders. |
| · | Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets. |
| · | If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our shares of Class A ordinary shares or public warrants. |
| · | If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed. |
| · | You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss. |
| · | The NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions. |
| · | You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies. |
| · | 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 have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. |
| · | If our funds held outside the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination. |
| · | Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any appointment of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination. |
| · | After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate. |
| · | Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited. |
| · | Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management. |
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
As described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the accounting for a significant and unusual transaction related to the warrants and the forward purchase agreement we issued in connection with our initial public offering in December 2020. As a result of this material weakness, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020. This material weakness resulted in a material misstatement of our warrant liabilities and the forward purchase agreement, change in fair value of derivative liabilities, additional paid-in capital, accumulated deficit and related financial disclosures for the Affected Period
We have implemented a remediation plan, described under Item 9A, Controls and Procedures, to remediate the material weakness surrounding our historical presentation of our warrants but can give no assurance that the measures we have taken will prevent any future material weaknesses or deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting. Even though we have strengthened our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
As a result of such material weakness, the restatement related to the accounting for the warrants, and other matters raised or that may in the future be raised by the SEC, we face potential litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the restatement and material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. As of the date of this annual report, we have no knowledge of any such litigation or dispute. However, we can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition or our ability to complete a business combination.
Our warrants and the forward purchase agreement are accounted for as derivative liabilities with changes in fair value each period included in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
We account for our warrants and the forward purchase agreement as derivative assets or liabilities. At each reporting period (1) the accounting treatment of the warrants and the forward purchase agreement will be re-evaluated for proper accounting treatment as an asset, liability or equity and (2) the fair value of the asset or liability of the public warrants, private placement warrants and the forward purchase agreement will be remeasured and the change in the fair value of the asset or liability will be recognized as other income (expense) in our statement of operations. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, potential targets may seek a special purpose acquisition company that does not have warrants and the forward purchase agreement that are accounted for as a derivative assets or liabilities, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
General
We are a blank check company incorporated in September 2020 as a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company” or “Motive Capital”) whose business purpose is to effect a business combination with one or more businesses (the “initial business combination”). We have reviewed, and continue to review, a number of opportunities to enter into an initial business combination with an operating business, but we are not able to determine at this time whether we will complete an initial business combination with any of the target businesses that we have reviewed or with any other target business. We also have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell company” as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.
On October 2, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 11,500,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (“Founder Shares”) to Motive Capital Funds Sponsor, LLC (our “sponsor”), for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On November 24, 2020, the Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares for no value, and on November 24 and December 8, 2020, our sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the independent directors. In December 2020, we issued a dividend of 1,725,000 ordinary shares resulting in 10,350,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding.
The registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-250947) for our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on December 10, 2020. On December 15, 2020, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 41,400,000 units, including 5,400,000 units as a result of the underwriters’ exercise in full of their overallotment option (the “Units”), at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit. The gross proceeds from the Initial Public Offering were $414,000,000 in the aggregate (the “Offering Proceeds”).
Simultaneous with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the issuance and sale of the Units, the Company consummated the private placement (the “Private Placement”) of 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, generating total gross proceeds of $11,080,000.
A total of $414,000,000 of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, were placed in a trust account maintained by the Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. Transaction costs amounted to approximately $23,700,000, consisting of approximately $8,300,000 of underwriting fees, $14,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees and approximately $880,000 of other offering costs.
The balance of the funds held outside of the trust account are intended to be used 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 the future, a portion of interest income on the funds held in the Trust Account may be released to us to pay tax obligations. At December 31, 2020, funds held in the Trust Account equaled $414,020,525.
Our Units began trading on December 15, 2020 on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “MOTV.U.” On January 29, 2021, we announced that the holders of the Units may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and redeemable warrants included in the Units commencing on February 1, 2021. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share. Any Units not separated will continue to trade on the NYSE under the symbol “MOTV.U”. Any underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants that are separated will trade on NYSE under the symbols “MOTV” and “MOTV WS,” respectively.
1
Business Strategy
Our business strategy is to identify and consummate an initial business combination with a target that can benefit from the investment, operating and innovating experience of our management team and Motive Partners GP, LLC, an affiliate of our sponsor (“Motive”). Specifically, we will focus on opportunities where we can efficiently enact our proven and replicable value creation strategy, centered around five key pillars (Strategy and M&A, Sales and Marketing, Product Development and Innovation, Operational Improvements, Talent) and leveraging the integrated platform capabilities of Motive.
Although we may pursue targets in any industry, we are focused on making investments in growth equity and buyout transactions in respect of which we can exercise control and/or significant influence focused on financial software and information services companies operating in the financial technology sector, generally headquartered in North America and Europe. Specifically, we intend to pursue financial software and information services companies that serve five main sub-sectors in financial services: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Insurance and Investment Management. We seek financial technology companies in these sub-sectors that exhibit infrastructure-like characteristics and are strategically important to their customers. As such, these businesses tend to have attractive business models, high recurring revenues, stable earnings, predictable cash flows, and can generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for shareholders.
Our selection process will leverage our management’s and Motive’s extensive relationship network, deep and specialized operational experiences and proven deal sourcing capabilities to access proprietary acquisition opportunities. We believe that our management team and Motive’s track record of identifying and sourcing transactions positions us well to appropriately evaluate potential business combinations and select one that will be well received by the public markets. Our sourcing process will leverage the extensive networks of Motive and our management team, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities.
Sources of Target Businesses
We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the track record and business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of a finder’s fee is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company 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). In addition, commencing on the date of this prospectus, we will pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. Any such payments prior to our initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than the foregoing, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation paid by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or any affiliate of our sponsor or officers prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is).
2
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 from completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with 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 a valuation or appraisal 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.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines, which we believe are essential in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these guidelines to evaluate 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 one or more businesses that we believe:
| · | utilizes our management team’s and Motive’s extensive network of relationships, which enables access to proprietary and advantaged deal flow; |
| · | benefits from Motive’s fully integrated platform of investment expertise, industry perspective and skillset, and technological and innovation capabilities; |
| · | provides strategically important infrastructure and business services to its customers, and thus has a defensible market position with high barriers to entry against new potential market entrants; |
| · | has a history of strong operating and financial results, and strong fundamentals, which can be improved further under our ownership; |
| · | is prepared to be a public company and will benefit from having a public currency in order to enhance its ability to pursue accretive acquisitions, high-return product development and innovation, and/or strengthen its balance sheet; |
| · | will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return for our shareholders, potential upside from growth in the target business and an improved capital structure that will be weighed against any identified downside risks; and |
| · | combines attractive business fundamentals with, or with the potential for, strong ESG practices consistent with Motive’s ESG policy. |
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 shareholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.
Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as applicable, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.
3
Initial Business Combination
In accordance with the rules of NYSE, 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 amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% of net assets test. If our board of directors 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 or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to satisfaction of such criteria. Our shareholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders 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 prior owners of the target business, the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders 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, shares or other equity interests 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 shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and 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 shareholder approval, as applicable.
We have until December 15, 2022 to complete our initial business combination.
Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination
We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation: (a) conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and (b) 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.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated 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 and on the conditions described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
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Limitations on Redemptions
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof. We may, however, raise funds through the issuance of equity-linked securities or through loans, advances or other indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, including pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop arrangements we may enter into, in order to, among other reasons, satisfy such net tangible assets or minimum cash requirements.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares (as defined below) without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders 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 shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial 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, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such 24-month period or any extended time that we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months as a result of a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association ( an “Extension Period”), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the 24-month time period, as may be extended by any Extension Period.
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Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period. However, if our sponsor or management team acquire public shares in or after the 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 written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. 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, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.
Corporate Information
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Law. As an exempted company, we have obtained a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 20 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other special purpose acquisition companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies 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 similar or greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. 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 shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our issued and 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.
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Facilities
We currently utilize office space at 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, FL 47, New York, NY 10007 leased from our sponsor and the members of our management team as our executive offices. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have three officers: Rob Heyvaert, our Executive Chairman, Blythe Masters, our Chief Executive Officer, and Kristy Trieste, our Chief Financial Officer. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the 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 Audited Financial Statements
We have registered our units, ordinary shares and warrants under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.
We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of a prospective target business as part of any tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to shareholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with 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. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.
We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (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 business 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.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the JOBS Act, and will remain such for up to five years. However, if our annual gross revenue is $1.07 billion or more, if our non-convertible debt issued within a three-year period exceeds $1 billion or the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million on the last day of the second fiscal quarter of any given fiscal year, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the following fiscal year. As an emerging growth company, we have elected, under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act, to 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.
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An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Related to Our Business and Financial Position
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results, and all of our activities to date have been related to our formation, our initial public offering, and, since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, a search for a business combination candidate. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
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 shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| · | 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 Class A ordinary shares; |
| · | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and 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; and |
| · | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
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If our funds held outside the trust accountare insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 24 months following the completion of our initial public offering, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
As of December 31, 2020, we have approximately $1.7 million available to us outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
We have not selected any specific business combination target but intend to target businesses with enterprise values that are greater than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants. As a result, if the cash portion of the purchase price exceeds the amount available from the trust account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the global markets and the sectors in which Motive Partners has historically operated.
While we intend to search for acquisition targets with a focus on businesses in the sectors in which Motive Partners has historically operated, the global spread of COVID-19 has disrupted business operations in these sectors. The pandemic has also resulted in, and may continue to result in, significant disruption and volatility of global financial markets. Given the rapid and evolving nature of the impact of the virus, responsive measures taken by governmental authorities and the uncertainty about its impact on society and the global economy, we cannot predict the extent to which the sectors in which Motive Partners has the most experience will be affected by the pandemic, particularly if these impacts persist or worsen over an extended period of time. To the extent COVID-19 adversely affects the global financial markets, it may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.
Risks Related to Our Proposed Initial Business Combination
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our founder shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a business combination.
We may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders 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 shareholder approval. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
You will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
As of December 31, 2020, our initial shareholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares . Our initial shareholders and management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, including the founder shares. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial shareholders and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
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The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public shareholders 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 business combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter of our initial public offering will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that 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, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, to be less than $5,000,001 upon completion of our initial business combination or less than such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption of our public shares and the related business combination, and we may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.
The ability of our public shareholders 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 shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
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The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2022 may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
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 15, 2022, which is the date that is 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic has and a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential partner business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected.
Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the partner business’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and complete 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 the severity and duration of the pandemic, including the impact of coronavirus mutations and resurgences; governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the pandemic (including restrictions on travel and transport); the development, availability and public acceptance of effective treatments or vaccines; global economic conditions and levels of economic growth; and the pace and extent of recovery when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to complete a business combination, or the operations of a partner business with which we ultimately complete a business combination, may be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to complete a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
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If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by December 15, 2022 , our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such date before redemption from our trust account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by December 15, 2022, which is the date that is 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, or prior to the end of any Extension Period, the funds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond December 15, 2022 before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the funds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination by December 15, 2022, which is the date that is 24 months after the closing of our initial public offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect the U.S. and global economic environment and, while the extent of the impact of the pandemic on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period or during any Extension Period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our business combination strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
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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 shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire , our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders or warrant holders who choose to remain shareholders or warrant holders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Although expected to focus on financial technologies companies, our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target are not limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prohibit us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and, as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders 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 shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder 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 shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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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.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
| · | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
| · | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. 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 do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In addition, our proposed initial business combination may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares 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, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
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We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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.
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 sales 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, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management may consider the availability of funds from the sale of the forward purchase units, which may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the Motive Fund Vehicles decide not to exercise their right to purchase all or some of the forward purchase units, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.
We entered into a forward purchase agreement pursuant to which the Motive Fund Vehicles have committed that they intend to purchase an aggregate of 14,000,000 forward purchase units, consisting of one share of Class A ordinary stock, or a forward purchase share, and one-third of one warrant to purchase one share of Class A ordinary stock, or a forward purchase warrant, for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of $140,000,000, in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of our initial business combination. The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, if any, are expected to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, and to pay expenses in connection with our initial business combination and may be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. If the Motive Fund Vehicles do not agree to fund some or all of the forward purchase units, the post- transaction company may not have enough cash available for working capital. The obligations under the forward purchase agreement do not depend on whether any public shareholders elect to redeem their shares in connection with our initial business combination. However, if the sale of the forward purchase units does not close, for example, by reason of the failure of the Motive Fund Vehicles or any forward transferee to fund the purchase price for their forward purchase units, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination. The Motive Fund Vehicles’ obligation to purchase forward purchase units is, among other things, conditioned on the business combination (including the target assets or business, and the terms of the business combination) being reasonably acceptable to the Motive Fund Vehicles and on a requirement that such initial business combination is approved by a unanimous vote of our Board of Directors. The Motive Fund Vehicles’ commitment under the forward purchase agreement is subject to approval, prior to our entering into a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, of their investment committees and sufficiency of capital to purchase. In determining whether a target is reasonably acceptable to the Motive Fund Vehicles, we expect that the Motive Fund Vehicles would consider many of the same criteria as we will consider, but will also consider whether the investment is an appropriate investment for the Motive Fund Vehicles. Accordingly, if we pursue an acquisition target that is not reasonably acceptable to the Motive Fund Vehicles, or if the initial business combination is not approved by a unanimous vote of our Board of Directors, the Motive Fund Vehicles would not be obligated to purchase any forward purchase units, and we may need to seek alternative financing. Additionally, the Motive Fund Vehicles’ and any forward transferee’s obligation to purchase the forward purchase units is subject to termination prior to the closing of the sale of such units by mutual written consent of the company and such party, or automatically: (i) if our initial business combination is not consummated by December 15, 2022, or during any Extension Period; or (ii) if we become subject to any voluntary or involuntary petition under the United States federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law, in each case which is not withdrawn within sixty (60) days after being filed, or a receiver, fiscal agent or similar officer is appointed by a court for business or property of us, in each case which is not removed, withdrawn or terminated within sixty (60) days after such appointment. In addition, the Motive Fund Vehicles’ obligation to purchase the forward purchase units is subject to fulfilment of customary closing conditions, including that our initial business combination must be consummated substantially concurrently with the purchase of the forward purchase units. In the event of any such failure to fund by the Motive Fund Vehicles or any forward transferees, any obligation is so terminated or any such condition is not satisfied and not waived by such party, we may not be able to obtain additional funds to account for such shortfall on terms favorable to us or at all. Any such shortfall would also reduce the amount of funds that we have available for working capital of the post-business combination company.
Affiliates of Motive Partners have similar or overlapping investment objectives and guidelines, and we may not be presented investment opportunities that may otherwise be suitable for us.
Affiliates of Motive Partners currently invest and plan to continue to invest in, incubate, and grow successful businesses in sectors across the financial services technology industry. There may be overlap of investment opportunities with affiliates of Motive Partners that are actively investing and similar overlap with future Motive Partners affiliates. This overlap could create conflicts of interest. In particular, investment opportunities that may otherwise be suitable for us may not be presented to us by Motive. This overlap could also create conflicts in determining to which entity a particular investment 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.
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Certain members of our management team may be involved in and have a greater financial interest in the performance of other Motive Partners entities, and such activities may create conflicts of interest in making decisions on our behalf.
Certain members of our management team may be subject to a variety of conflicts of interest relating to their responsibilities to Motive Partners and its other affiliates. Such individuals may serve as members of management or a board of directors (or in similar such capacity) to various other Motive Partners entities. Such positions may create a conflict between the advice and investment opportunities provided to such entities and the responsibilities owed to us. The other entities in which such individuals may become involved may have investment objectives that overlap with ours. Furthermore, certain principals and employees may have a greater financial interest in the performance of such other Motive Partners entities than our performance. Such involvement may create conflicts of interest in sourcing investment opportunities on our behalf and on behalf of such other entities.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We may face risks related to financial technology businesses.
Business combinations with financial technology businesses may involve special considerations and risks. If we complete our initial business combination with a financial technology business, we will be subject to the following risks, any of which could be detrimental to us and the business we acquire:
| · | if the company or business we acquire provides products or services which relate to the facilitation of financial transactions, such as funds or securities settlement system, and such product or service fails or is compromised, we may be subject to claims from both the firms to whom we provide our products and services and the clients they serve; | |
| · | if we are unable to keep pace with evolving technology and changes in the financial services industry, our revenues and future prospects may decline; our ability to provide financial technology products and services to customers may be reduced or eliminated by regulatory changes; | |
| · | any business or company we acquire could be vulnerable to cyberattack or theft of individual identities or personal data; | |
| · | difficulties with any products or services we provide could damage our reputation and business; | |
| · | a failure to comply with privacy regulations could adversely affect relations with customers and have a negative impact on business; | |
| · | we may not be able to protect our intellectual property and we may be subject to infringement claims. |
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 financial technology businesses. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks will likely not affect us and we will be subject to other risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, none of which can be presently ascertained.
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Risks Related to Our Operations
Past performance by our management team, Motive Partners and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Any past experience and performance by our management team, Motive Partners and their affiliates and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team, Motive Partners and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team, Motive Partners or their affiliates. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
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 our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post- transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the 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 business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests 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 Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained.
Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
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Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and 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.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to continue to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our sponsor and our officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into 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. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the funds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy his obligations or that he has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
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, officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance – Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning 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 independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
On October 2, 2020, our sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, to cover certain of our offering costs in exchange for 11,500,000 founder shares. On November 24, 2020 our Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 founders shares. In December 2020, the Company issued a dividend of 1,725,000 ordinary shares resulting in 10,350,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The number of founder shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares following our initial public offering. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,386,667 private placement warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $11,080,000, or $1.50 per warrant. The private placement warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month anniversary of the closing of our initial public offering nears, which is the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination.
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Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
As of December 31, 2020, our initial shareholders own 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchase any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our initial shareholders, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. In addition, the Company has agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Unlike some other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue certain shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like, and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity- linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans; provided that such conversion of founder shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and NYSE rules. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. Such purchases may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights.
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In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. 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 ordinary shares or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.
We employ a mail forwarding service, which may delay or disrupt our ability to receive mail in a timely manner.
Mail addressed to the Company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by Company to be dealt with. None of the Company, its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the Cayman Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused in mail reaching the forwarding address, which may impair your ability to communicate with us.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Governance and Shareholder Rights
Prior to the closing of our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares are the only shareholders of the Company which will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Therefore, upon the listing of our shares on the NYSE, the NYSE may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Prior to the closing of our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares are the only shareholders of the Company which will have the right to vote on the election of directions. As a result, the NYSE may consider us to be a ‘controlled company’ within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a ‘controlled company’ and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| · | we have a board that includes a majority of ‘independent directors,’ as defined under the rules of the NYSE; |
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| · | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
| · | we have a nominating and corporate governance committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE. There is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months of the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
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The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide 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 shareholders) may be amended if approved by special resolution, under Cayman Islands law which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, 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 ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders, who collectively beneficially own 20% of our ordinary shares, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association 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 memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders 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 shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore, investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our sponsor, officers and directors contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares before June 13, 2021 will require the prior written consent of the underwriters of our initial public offering). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders and holders of our private placement warrants 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 ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in our initial public offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, holders of our private placement warrants and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of securities that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register such units, shares, warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the 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 ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders, holders of our private placement warrants or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants are issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement, or defective provision, (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of 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 and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants, and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the forward purchase warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the forward purchase warrants, 50% of the then-outstanding forward purchase warrants. 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 Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
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A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities (not including any forward purchase securities) for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price (as defined in the warrant agreement) of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination, and (iii) the Market Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of our Class A ordinary shares is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We also are subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders 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 preference 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.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of blank check companies subject to Rule 419 of the Securities Act.
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 , we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial publicoffering 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.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the funds held in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
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NYSE may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the NYSE. We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on NYSE in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on NYSE prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels, such as a minimum market capitalization (generally $50,000,000) 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 NYSE’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than NYSE’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on NYSE. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our market capitalization would generally be required to be at least $150,000,000. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
If NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| · | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| · | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| · | a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| · | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| · | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on NYSE, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants will qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on NYSE, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.
If we call the warrants for redemption, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis in certain circumstances. If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share when there is no effective registration statement, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold.
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If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
If we seek shareholder 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 shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder 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 memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder 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 of our Class A ordinary shares without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
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We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to- one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. There are 458,600,000 and 39,650,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. There are no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:
| · | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors; |
| · | may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares; |
| · | could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
| · | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants. |
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units.
We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration or redemption 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.
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If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis, in which case the number of Class A ordinary shares that the holders of warrants will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum number of shares equal to 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment).
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants as described above could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the Market Value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsors or their permitted transferees.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant if, among other things, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). In such a case, the holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of our Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 of our Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
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Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 13,800,000 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered in the initial public offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 7,386,667 private placement warrants, at $1.50 per warrant. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert those loans into up to an additional 1,000,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant. To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
Because each unit contains one-third of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other special purpose acquisition companies.
Each unit contains one-third of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that the proxy statement with respect to the vote on an initial business combination include historical and pro forma financial statement disclosure. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IFRS”) depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders or warrant holders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrant holder to recognize taxable income or otherwise subject it to adverse tax consequences in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrant holder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay such taxes. Shareholders may be subject to withholding taxes, other taxes or other adverse tax consequences with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| · | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations; |
| · | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
| · | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
| · | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
| · | exchange listing and/or delisting requirements; |
| · | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| · | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| · | local or regional economic policies and market conditions; |
| · | unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; |
| · | challenges in managing and staffing international operations; |
| · | longer payment cycles; |
| · | tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| · | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
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| · | rates of inflation; |
| · | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| · | cultural and language differences; |
| · | employment regulations; |
| · | underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems; |
| · | corruption; |
| · | protection of intellectual property; |
| · | social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances; |
| · | regime changes and political upheaval; |
| · | terrorist attacks and wars; and |
| · | deterioration of political relations with the United States. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
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Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
General Risk Factors
We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders 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 ordinary shares 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.
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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 any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not exceed $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2021. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes- Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
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We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse United States federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a beneficial owner of our Class A ordinary shares or warrants who or that is (i) an individual citizen or resident of the United States, (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for United States federal income tax purposes) that is created or organized (or treated as created or organized) in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (iii) an estate the income of which is subject to United States federal income taxation regardless of its source or (iv) a trust if (A) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (B) it has in effect a valid election to be treated as a U.S. person (“U.S. Holder”), such U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse United States federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, moreover, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year (of which there can be no assurance), we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:
| · | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
| · | restrictions on the issuance of securities, |
| · | each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including: |
| · | registration as an investment company; |
| · | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
| · | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
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We do not believe that our principal activities subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any Extension Period, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Changes in laws or regulations, including different or heightened rules or requirements promulgated by the SEC, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are 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. In particular, it is possible that we may become subject to different or heightened rules or requirements, or face increased regulatory scrutiny, by the SEC. On December 10, 2020, the SEC’s Office of Inspector Education and Advocacy issued an investor bulletin entitled What You Need to Know About SPACs. On December 22, 2020, the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance issued CF Disclosure Guidance: Topic No. 11 regarding special purpose acquisition companies. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
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If third parties bring claims against us, the funds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm , and the underwriters of our initial public offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust account such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income earned thereon (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
If, after we distribute the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. 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 shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per- share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the funds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntary bankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the funds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders 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. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine of $18,293 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Our executive offices are located at 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, Floor 47, New York, NY 10007, and our telephone number is (212) 651-0200. Our executive offices are provided to us by our sponsor and we have agreed to pay our sponsor up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services. However, at this time, the Sponsor has waived such fees until the Sponsor determines otherwise.
We are not a party to and none of our property is subject to any material pending legal proceedings.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
None.
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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 traded on the NYSE under the symbols “MOTV.U”, “MOTV” and “MOTV WS”, respectively. Our units commenced public trading on December 11, 2020, and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on February 1, 2021.
Holders
As of March 1, 2021, there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our separately traded shares of Class A common stock and there were two holders of record of our separately traded public warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our Initial Business Combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our Initial Business Combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our Initial Business Combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
None
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Unregistered Sales
On October 2, 2020, we issued an aggregate of 11,500,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, to our Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On November 24, 2020, the Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares for no value, and on November 24 and December 8, 2020, our sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the independent directors. Such securities were issued pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Simultaneous with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering and the issuance and sale of the Units, the Company consummated the private placement of 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, generating total gross proceeds of $11,080. The sale of the private placement warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Use of Proceeds
The registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-250947) for our Initial Public Offering was declared effective by SEC on December 10, 2020. On December 15, 2020, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 41,400,000 Units, including 5,400,000 Units as a result of the underwriters’ exercise in full of their overallotment option, at an offering price of $10.00 per Unit. The gross proceeds from the Initial Public Offering were $414,000,000 in the aggregate.
A total of $414,000,000 of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement, were placed in a trust account maintained by the Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. Transaction costs amounted to approximately $23,700,000, consisting of approximately $8,300,000 of underwriting fees, $14,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees and approximately $880,000 of other offering costs. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from such use as described in the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-250947).
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Item 6. Selected Financial Data
As a “smaller reporting company,” we are not required to provide the information called for by this Item.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” “Motive Capital Corp.” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Motive Capital Corp. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s 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.
In this Amendment No. 1 (“Amendment No. 1”) to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Motive Capital Corp. (the "Company") for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, we are restating (i) our audited financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) to December 31, 2020.
On April 12, 2021, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC Staff”) issued a public statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “SEC Staff Statement”). In the SEC Staff Statement, the SEC Staff expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to SPAC warrants may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to equity. Since issuance on December 15, 2020, our warrants and the forward purchase agreement were accounted for as equity within our balance sheet, and after discussion and evaluation, including with our audit committee, and taking into consideration the SEC Staff Statement, we have concluded that our warrants and the forward purchase agreement should be presented as liabilities with subsequent fair value remeasurement.
Therefore, the Company, in consultation with its Audit Committee, concluded that its previously issued Financial Statements for the Affected Period should be restated because of a misapplication in the guidance around accounting for our outstanding warrants to purchase ordinary shares and the forward purchase agreement and should no longer be relied upon.
Historically, the warrants and the forward purchase agreement were reflected as a component of equity as opposed to assets or liabilities on the balance sheets and the statements of operations did not include the subsequent non-cash changes in estimated fair value of the warrants or forward purchase agreement, based on our application of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (“ASC 815-40). The views expressed in the SEC Staff Statement were not consistent with the Company’s historical interpretation of the specific provisions within its warrant agreements and the forward purchase agreement and the Company’s application of ASC 815-40 to the warrant agreements and the forward purchase agreement. We reassessed our accounting for the warrants and the forward purchase agreement issued on December 15, 2020, in light of the SEC Staff’s published views. Based on this reassessment, and after consultation with our audit committee and independent registered accounting firm we determined that the warrants and the forward purchase agreement should be classified as liabilities measured at fair value upon issuance, with subsequent changes in fair value reported in our statement of operations each reporting period.
Our accounting for the warrants and the forward purchase agreement as components of equity instead of as derivative assets or liabilities did not have any effect on our previously reported revenue, operating expenses, operating income, cash flows or cash.
In connection with the restatement, our management reassessed the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures for the periods affected by the restatement. As a result of that reassessment, we determined that our disclosure controls and procedures for such periods were not effective with respect to the classification of the Company's warrants and the forward purchase agreement as components of equity instead of as derivative assets or liabilities. For more information, see Item 9A included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The financial information that has been previously filed or otherwise reported for these periods is superseded by the information in this Amendment No. 1, and the financial statements and related financial information contained in such previously filed reports should no longer be relied upon. The restatement is more fully described in Note 2 of the notes to the financial statements included herein.
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Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on September 28, 2020 under the name of MCF2 Acquisition Corp. On November 5, 2020 our name was changed to Motive Capital Corp. We were incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (a “Business Combination”). We are not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. We are an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
The registration statement for our Initial Public Offering was declared effective on December 10, 2020. On December 15, 2020, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 41,400,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”) which includes the full exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 5,400,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $414,000,000.Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 7,386,667 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to Motive Capital Funds Sponsor, LLC (our “Sponsor”), generating gross proceeds of $11,080,000. Transaction costs amounted to approximately $23,700,000, consisting of approximately $8,300,000 of underwriting fees, $14,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees and approximately $880,000 of other offering costs.
In connection with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, we entered into a forward purchase agreement with fund vehicles managed by an affiliate of Motive Partners (collectively the “Motive Fund Vehicles”), pursuant to which the Motive Fund Vehicles committed that they intend to purchase from us 14,000,000 forward purchase units, with each forward purchase unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase share, and one-third of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase warrant, for $10.00 per unit, or an aggregate amount of $140,000,000, in a private placement that will close concurrently with the closing of our initial Business Combination (the “Forward Purchase Agreement”). The proceeds from the sale of these forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to us from the Trust Account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection with the Business Combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the Business Combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes. The Motive Fund Vehicles may purchase less than 14,000,000 forward purchase units in accordance with the terms of the Forward Purchase Agreement. In addition, the Motive Fund Vehicles commitment under the Forward Purchase Agreement will be subject to approval, prior to our entering into a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, of their investment committees and sufficiency of capital to purchase. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units being sold in this offering, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights, as described herein. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as the Public Warrants.
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on December 15, 2020, an amount of $414,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by us, until the earliest of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to our shareholders, as described below.
We will have until December 15, 2022 to consummate a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). However, if we have not completed a Business Combination within the Combination Period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish the rights of the Public Shareholders as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining Public Shareholders and our Board of Directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Results of Operations
Our entire activity since inception up to December 31, 2020 relates to our formation, the Initial Public Offering and, since the closing of the Initial Public Offering, a search for a business combination candidate. We will not be generating any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial Business Combination.
For the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had net loss of approximately $11.8 million, which consisted of approximately $10.7 million loss from change in fair value of derivative liabilities, approximately $1.1 million transaction costs on derivative liabilities, and approximately $35,000 in general and administrative expenses, partially offset by approximately $21,000 in gains on marketable securities, dividends and interest held in Trust Account.
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As a result of the restatement described in Note 2 of the notes to the financial statements included herein, we classify the warrants and the Forward Purchase Agreement issued in connection with our Initial Public Offering and Private Placement as liabilities at their fair value and adjust the warrant instruments and the Forward Purchase Agreement to fair value at each reporting period. These liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations. For the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the change in fair value of derivative liabilities was an increase of approximately $10.7 million. We also recognized a charge of $1.1 million for the amount of offering costs ascribed to the derivative liabilities.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately $1.7 million in our operating bank accounts, working capital of approximately $1.9 million and approximately $21,000 of interest income available in the Trust Account to pay for our tax obligations, if any.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete a Business Combination, we will repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. 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, we 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 $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2020, we had no outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Based on the foregoing, management believes that we will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or our officers and directors to meet our needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
We continue to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the balance sheet. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On October 2, 2020, our Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in consideration for 11,500,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). On November 24, 2020, our Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares, which we canceled. On November 24 and December 8, 2020, our Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the independent directors. On December 10, 2020, we issued a dividend of 1,725,000 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in 10,350,000 Founder Shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share cancellation.
The Founder Shares included an aggregate of up to 1,350,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised, so that the number of Founder Shares will equal, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Proposed Public Offering. As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option, 1,350,000 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
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Our Sponsor has agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earliest of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, 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 we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Private Placement Units
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $11,080,000, in a private placement. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants were added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If we do not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete a Business Combination, we would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to us. 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, we 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 $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2020, we had no outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On October 1, 2020, we issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Promissory Note”) to our Sponsor, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2020 and (ii) the completion of the Initial Public Offering. We borrowed an aggregate of approximately $130,000 under the Promissory Note. The Promissory Note matured on the closing date of the Initial Public Offering and the outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $130,492 was repaid in full on December 16, 2020.
Administrative Support Agreement
We entered into an agreement, commencing on December 15, 2020 the effective date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, to pay our Sponsor or its affiliate a monthly fee of up to $10,000 for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. The Sponsor has waived such fees and such fees will not be payable until the Sponsor determines that such fees should be paid.
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Commitments and Contingencies
Registration and Shareholders’ Rights
Pursuant to a registration and shareholders rights agreement entered into on December 10, 2020, the holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans) will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering our securities. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
We granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 14,490,000 Over-Allotment Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Initial Public Offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriters were entitled to underwriting discounts of $0.35 per unit, or $14,490,000 in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. 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.
Forward Purchase Agreement
We entered into a Forward Purchase Agreement with affiliates of our Sponsor pursuant to which the affiliates intend to purchase an aggregate of 14,000,000 of forward purchase units, consisting of one Class A ordinary share (the “forward purchase shares”) and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (the “forward purchase warrant”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per forward purchase unit, or an aggregate amount of $140,000,000, in a private placement to close concurrently with the closing of a Business Combination. The affiliates’ commitment under the forward purchase agreement is subject to, among other conditions, investment committee approval and sufficiency of capital to purchase.
The obligations under the Forward Purchase Agreement will not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by the Public Shareholders. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the shares of Class A ordinary stock included in the Units being sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as the Public Warrants. The affiliates' commitment under the forward purchase agreement is subject to, among other conditions, investment committee approval and sufficiency of capital to purchase.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States 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 period reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following as our critical accounting policies:
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature 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) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events, Accordingly, at December 31, 2020, 35,636,759 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity.
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Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
Net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. We have not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of 21,186,667 of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, or the forward purchase agreement, covering up to 14,000,000 forward purchase units, in the calculation of diluted income (loss) per share, since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.
The Company’s statement of operations includes a presentation of income per share for ordinary shares subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income per share. Net income per ordinary share, basic and diluted for Class A ordinary shares are calculated by dividing the interest income earned on cash, cash equivalents and investments held in the Trust Account, net of amounts available to be withdrawn from the Trust Account to pay the Company’s income taxes, for the period presented, by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the period. Net loss per ordinary share, basic and diluted for Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the net loss, less income attributable to Class A ordinary shares, by the weighted average number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding for the period.
Derivative Liabilities
We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants and forward purchase agreements, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815-40. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is reassessed at the end of each reporting period.
We issued 13,800,000 Private Warrants, 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants and a Forward Purchase Agreement to purchase up to 14,000,000 of forward purchase units. All of our outstanding warrants and the Forward Purchase Agreement are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. Accordingly, we recognize the instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our statement of operations. The fair value of the Public Warrants as of the initial public offering date and December 31, 2020 using a binomial lattice model in a riskneutral framework. The fair value of the Public Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants are measured using a binomial lattice model in a risk-neutral framework. The fair value of the Forward Purchase Agreement is based on the fair value of our publicly traded Units on each valuation date, less the present value of the contractually stipulated forward price of $10.00.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Our management does not believe that there are any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our balance sheet.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Contractual Obligations
As of December 31, 2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our Initial Public Offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
As of December 31, 2020, we were not subject to any significant market or interest rate risk. On December 15, 2020, the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, including amounts in the Trust Account, were invested in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.
We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception and we do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
This information appears following Item 16 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is incorporated 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
As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of December 31, 2020, due solely to the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting described below in “Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting.” In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K/A does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of the Company’s registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
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, as the circumstances that led to the restatement of our financial statements described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A had not yet been identified.
Our internal control over financial reporting did not result in the proper classification of our warrants and the FPS. Since issuance on December 15, 2020, our warrants and the FPS were accounted for as equity within our balance sheet. On April 12, 2021, the SEC Staff issued the SEC Staff Statement in which the SEC Staff expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to SPAC warrants may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to equity. After discussion and evaluation, taking into consideration the SEC Staff Statement, including with our independent auditors, we have concluded that our warrants and the FPS should be presented as liabilities with subsequent fair value remeasurement.
To remediate the material weakness surrounding the presentation of the Company’s warrants as equity instead of liability, the Company has reviewed these internal controls and enhanced the supervisory review of accounting procedures in this financial reporting area. All necessary revisions are properly reflected in Note 2 “Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements” to the financial statements included herein. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness identified related to our accounting for a significant and unusual transaction related to the warrants we issued in connection with the December 2020 initial public offering, see Note 2—Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements to the accompanying financial statements.
None.
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Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Directors and Executive Officers
Our directors and offices are as follows:
| Name | Age | Title | ||||
| Rob Heyvaert | 56 | Executive Chairman and Director | ||||
| Blythe Masters | 51 | Chief Executive Officer and Director | ||||
| Kristy Trieste | 42 | Chief Financial Officer and Director | ||||
| Jill M. Considine | 76 | Director | ||||
| Stephen C. Daffron | 64 | Director | ||||
| Dina Dublon | 67 | Director | ||||
| Paula Madoff | 53 | Director | ||||
Rob Heyvaert, 56, has been our Executive Chairman and a director of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Mr. Heyvaert is the Managing Partner of Motive Partners which he founded in 2017. Mr. Heyvaert serves on the Motive Executive, Investment, Valuation and Conflicts Committees. Prior to founding Motive Partners, Mr. Heyvaert founded Capco at age 34, which was acquired by FIS, where Mr. Heyvaert served as Corporate Executive Vice President of Global Financial Solutions from 2010 to 2015. Additionally, Mr. Heyvaert was part of the Executive Management Committee of FIS and held corporate responsibility for all Enterprise Strategy related matters. Prior to founding Capco, Mr. Heyvaert founded Cimad Consultants at age 24, which was later sold to IBM, where Mr. Heyvaert was appointed global General Manager of Securities and Capital Markets and served in this role from 1996 to 1998.
We believe that Mr. Heyvaert’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his substantial experience as a financial technology executive and entrepreneur, having held senior leadership positions in the leading financial technology firms and having founded, scaled and exited two industry-leading global financial services and technology consulting firms.
Blythe Masters, 51, has served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Ms. Masters is an Industry Partner at Motive Partners, which she joined in 2019. Prior to joining Motive Partners, Ms. Masters served from 2015 to 2018 as the CEO of Digital Asset, the leading enterprise blockchain fintech company responsible for the Australian Securities Exchange’s post trade infrastructure replacement project. Prior to joining Digital Asset, Ms. Masters was a senior executive at J.P. Morgan for 27 years from 1987 to 2015. Ms. Masters was a member of the Corporate & Investment Bank Operating Committee and firmwide Executive Committee, along with other positions including Head of Global Commodities, Head of Corporate & Investment Bank Regulatory Affairs, CFO of the Investment Bank, Head of Global Credit Portfolio and Credit Policy and Strategy and Head of Structured Credit. Ms. Masters serves as Board Member of A.P. Møller Maersk, Board Chair of Phunware, Inc. and Board Member of GCM Grosvenor, positions she has held since 2020. Ms. Masters is currently proposed as a Board and Audit Committee Member of Credit Suisse Group AG, and serves on the International Advisory Board of Santander Group, and the Board of Santander’s Open Digital Services, which she joined in 2020. Ms. Masters is a member of the Advisory Board of the US Chamber of Digital Commerce, Figure Technologies, as well as a member of the Brookings Institution Taskforce on Financial Stability and P.R.I.M.E. Finance (the Hague based Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance), all of which she joined in 2019. Ms. Masters is a graduate and Senior Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge where she received a B.A. in Economics.
We believe that Ms. Masters’ qualifications to serve on our board of directors include her substantial experience in the finance industry, having held senior leadership positions in a large financial institution, and her extensive and varied leadership roles and board experience.
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Kristy Trieste, 42, has served as Chief Financial Officer and a director of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Ms. Trieste is a Founding Partner, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Motive Partners since 2017. Prior to joining Motive Partners, Ms. Trieste served as Managing Director of Finance and Operations at Corsair Capital from 2009 until 2017. Prior to joining Corsair, Ms. Trieste was an Associate in the Finance and Administration group within the Principal Investment Area at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2009. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Ms. Trieste was an Assistant Vice President within the finance division of Corporate Investments at Deutsche Bank AG from 2006 through 2007. Ms. Trieste also worked at Ernst & Young LLP from 2000 through 2007. Ms. Trieste serves on the NY PE and VC FEA Board, a national affinity group administered by First Republic Bank. Ms. Trieste earned a B.B.A. in Accounting and Finance from James Madison University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
We believe that Ms. Trieste’s qualifications to serve on our board include her substantial experience in accounting and finance, along with her extensive experience in senior management.
Jill M. Considine, 76, has been a member of the Board of Directors of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Ms. Considine currently serves as a director of Mizuho Americas, Mizuho Securities USA, Mizuho Bank (USA), and the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC). Ms. Considine is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economics Club of New York.
Previously, Ms. Considine has served as Chairman from 2014 to 2016 of the London Clearing House, LLC, and non-executive director from 2014 to 2020. Also was Chair of the remuneration committee, and member of the audit and nomination committees of the London Clearing House. Ms. Considine also has served as director of Atlantic Mutual Insurance Companies, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Ambac Financial Group, and as the Chairman of Butterfield Fulcrum Group. Ms. Considine was a member of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for six years, serving as Chairman of the Audit and Operational Risk Committee. Ms. Considine was appointed as a trustee of the AIG Credit Facility Trust by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the US Treasury and served from 2009 until 2011.
Prior, Ms. Considine served as Senior Advisor of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and its subsidiaries from 2007 to 2008, Chairman from 2006 to 2007, and as both Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to 2006. Before DTCC, Ms. Considine served as the President of the New York Clearing House Association from 1993 to 1998. Ms. Considine served as a Managing Director, Chief Administrative Officer, and as a member of the Board of Directors of American Express Bank Ltd. from 1991 to 1993, prior to which she was the New York State Superintendent of Banks from 1985 to 1991.
Ms. Considine has served on the Group of Thirty Steering Committee on global clearance and settlement and as a member and speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Ms. Considine was a Presidential appointee to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations from 2003-2004. Ms. Considine was named Six Sigma Chief Executive Officer of the Year Award in 2006 and one of Crain’s New York Business 100 Most Influential Women in Business. Ms. Considine earned a B.A. with honors from St. John’s University, attended Bryn Mawr College, received an M.B.A. with honors from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and has an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law from St. John’s University.
We believe that Ms. Considine’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include her extensive financial services leadership positions in both the public and private sectors.
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Stephen C. Daffron, 64, has been a member of the board of directors of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Mr. Daffron is a Co-Founder and Industry Partner at Motive Partners which was founded in 2017. Mr. Daffron is also currently the President of Dun & Bradstreet, a position he has held since 2019. Mr. Daffron serves on the Boards of LMRKTS since 2017 and QOMPLX since 2018. Prior to joining Motive Partners, Mr. Daffron served from 2013 to 2015 as the Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Data. Prior to Interactive Data, Mr. Daffron was the Global Head of Technology, Operations, and Data at Morgan Stanley from 2008 to 2013. Before returning to the sell-side, Mr. Daffron was Chief Operating Officer at Renaissance Technologies. Prior to this, Mr. Daffron worked for Goldman Sachs from 1993 to 2003, initiated the re-engineering of operations and technology functions across payments, derivative processing, credit risk/collateral control, and investment management. Mr. Daffron earned a B.S. from the United States Military Academy, and an MBA, MA, M.Ph. and Ph.D. from Yale.
We believe that Mr. Daffron’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his substantial experience as a financial technology executive, having held senior leadership positions in large institutions, and services on large public company boards.
Dina Dublon, 67, has been a member of the board of directors of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Ms. Dublon currently serves as a Board member of PepsiCo since 2005, T Rowe Price Group since 2019 and serves on the Independent Audit Quality Committee of Ernst & Young since 2020. Ms. Dublon serves as a member of the Board of Advisors of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, member of the board of the Westchester Land Trust (WLT) and Co-Chairs Columbia Cancer Center (HICC) Advisory Council. Ms. Dublon was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., from 1998 until her retirement in 2004. Prior to this, Ms. Dublon previously held numerous positions at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its predecessor companies, including Corporate Treasurer, Managing Director of the Financial Institutions division and Head of Asset Liability management. Ms. Dublon has previously served on the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank from 2013 to 2018, the Board of Microsoft from 2005 to 2014, the Board of Accenture from 2002 to 2017, was a faculty member of Harvard Business School from 2011 to 2012 and worked at Bank Hapoalim in Israel. Ms. Dublon has also served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Women’s Refugee Commission, Global Fund for Women the Board of Advisors of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Westchester Land Trust. Ms. Dublon has been on the Fortune list of the 50 most powerful women in business for several years and has been honored as a “Woman Who Makes a Difference” by many organizations. Ms. Dublon received her B.A. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her M.S. from Carnegie Mellon University.
We believe that Ms. Dublon’s qualifications to serve on our board include her extensive leadership roles, financial expertise and her service on several large public company boards.
Paula Madoff, 53, has been a member of the Board of Directors of Motive Capital Corp since 2020. Ms. Madoff currently serves as an Advisor to The Goldman Sachs Group. Ms. Madoff serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Power Corp of Canada since 2020, Great-West Lifeco since 2018, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust since 2018, Tradeweb since 2019, Beacon since 2018, and ICE Benchmark Administration since 2018, where she is also Chair of the ICE LIBOR Oversight Committee. Ms. Madoff has been with Goldman Sachs for 25 years where she was most recently a Partner responsible for Interest Rate Products, Derivatives, and Mortgages until her retirement from that position in August 2017. Ms. Madoff has held several additional leadership positions at Goldman Sachs, including Advisory Director from 2017 to 2018, Co-Chair of the Retirement Committee, overseeing all 401(k) and pension plan assets, Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs Mitsui Marine Derivatives Products, L.P., and was a member of its Securities Division Operating Committee and Firmwide New Activity Committee. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Ms. Madoff was in Mergers and Acquisitions at Wasserstein Perella & Co. and in Corporate and Real Estate Finance at Bankers Trust.
Ms. Madoff is a 2018 David Rockefeller Fellow, a member of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board, a member of the Harvard Kennedy School Women and Public Policy Women’s Leadership Board, and a Director of Hudson River Park Friends. Ms. Madoff received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics, Cum Laude, from Lafayette College.
We believe that Ms. Madoff’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include her extensive business and management experience in financial services, along with her extensive private and public company board and committee experience.
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Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of seven members. In accordance with NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NYSE. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Rob Heyvaert, Blythe Masters and Kristy Trieste, will expire at our first annual general meeting. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Dina Dublon and Jill M. Considine, will expire at the second annual general meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Stephen C. Daffron and Paula Madoff, will expire at the third annual general meeting.
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote for the election of directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, which directors will be proposed by the Company’s board of directors following a nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association relating to the rights of holders of Class B ordinary shares to appoint directors may be amended by a special resolution passed by a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares voting in a general meeting. 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 officers as it deems appropriate pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Our audit committee, our nominating and corporate governance committee and our compensation committee is composed solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules, the rules of NYSE 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 NYSE require that the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that was approved by our board and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee will be available on our website.
Audit Committee
Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff serve as members of the audit committee and Dina Dublon serves as chair of the audit committee. The Board determined that Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff are independent within the meaning of NYSE listing standards and SEC rules applicable to audit committee members.
Each of Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Dina Dublon qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:
| · | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditors; 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 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; |
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| · | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
| · | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent auditor, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
| · | reviewing with management, the independent 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
Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff serve as members of the compensation committee and Paula Madoff serves as chair of the compensation committee. The Board determined that Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff are independent within the meaning of NYSE listing standards applicable to compensation committee members.
We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| · | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our chief executive officer’s compensation, 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’s based on such evaluation; |
| · | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive compensation and equity based plans that are subject to board approval of all of our other officers; |
| · | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| · | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| · | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| · | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
| · | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| · | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors |
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the NYSE and the SEC.
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Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff. Jill M. Considine serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. The Board determined that Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff are independent within the meaning of NYSE director independence standards.
We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
| · | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for appointment at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
| · | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
| · | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of the company; and |
| · | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary |
The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders.
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote for the election of directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, which directors will be proposed by the Company’s board of directors following a nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. Our Code of Ethics is posted on our website located at www.motivecapitalcorp.com. If we make any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or NYSE rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website.
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Conflicts of Interest
Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
| (i) | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole; |
| (ii) | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose; |
| (iii) | directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; |
| (iv) | duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders; |
| (v) | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and |
| (vi) | duty to exercise independent judgment. |
In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then- current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
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Below is a table summarizing the Motive Partners-related and other entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:
| Name | Entity/Organization | Entity’s Business | Affiliation | |||
| Rob Heyvaert | Motive Partners | Private Equity Investment | Managing Partner | |||
| Blythe Masters | Motive Partners | Private Equity Investment | Industry Partner | |||
| GCM Grosvenor | Investment and Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Phunware, Inc. | Software Development | Chair of Board of Directors | ||||
| A.P. Møller Maersk | Integrated Container Logistics | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Santander Group | Banking and Financial Services | International Advisory Board | ||||
| Santander — Open Digital Services | Banking and Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Kristy Trieste | Motive Partners | Private Equity Investment | Founder and Chief Financial Officer | |||
| Jill M. Considine | Mizuho Americas LLC | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | |||
| Mizuho Securities USA | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Mizuho Bank (USA) | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Stephen C. Daffron | Motive Partners | Private Equity Investment | Industry Partner | |||
| Dun & Bradstreet | Data & Analytics | President | ||||
| LMRKTS | Risk Management | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| QOMPLX | Risk Management | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Dina Dublon | Pepsico | Food and Beverage | Member of Board of Directors | |||
| T Rowe Price Group | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Ernst & Young | Financial Services | Member — Independent Audit Quality Committee | ||||
| Paula Madoff | Power Corp of Canada | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | |||
| Great-West Lifeco | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Tradeweb | Financial Services Software | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| KKR Real Estate Finance Trust | Financial Services | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| Beacon | Financial Services Software | Member of Board of Directors | ||||
| ICE Benchmark Administration | Financial Services Software | Member of Board of Directors; Chair of the ICE LIBOR Oversight Committee |
Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:
| · | Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. |
| · | Our initial shareholders purchased founder shares and private placement warrants at the time of Initial Public Offering. 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 their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion thereof until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lockup. |
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The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our officers and directors own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
| · | Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
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 completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with 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 which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm, that such 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. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company 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.
In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.
We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, and they and the other members of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and any shares purchased during or after the offering in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We obtained a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors. We have also entered into indemnity agreements with them.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.
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Item 11. Executive Compensation
None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Ms. Masters, in her capacity as the CEO of the Company, has been awarded incentive equity in the form of a profits interest in the Sponsor. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on NYSE through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay our sponsor or an affiliate thereof up to $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of our management team. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our 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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.
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Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares as of March 1, 2021 by:
| · | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares; |
| · | each of our executive officers and directors; 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 of our ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.
| Class B Ordinary Shares (2) | Class A Ordinary Shares | |||||||||||||||||||
Number of Beneficially Owned | Approximate Percentage of Class | Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2) | Approximate Percentage of Class | Approximate Percentage of Voting Control | ||||||||||||||||
| Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. (3) | - | - | 2,250,000 | 5.4 | % | 4.3 | % | |||||||||||||
| Motive Capital Funds Sponsor, LLC (our sponsor)(4) | 10,230,000 | 98.8 | % | - | 19.8 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Paul Luc Robert Heyvaert(4) | 10,230,000 | 98.8 | % | - | - | 19.8 | % | |||||||||||||
| Blythe Masters(5) | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||
| Kristy Trieste(6) | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||||||
| Jill M. Considine | 30,000 | * | - | - | * | |||||||||||||||
| Stephen C. Daffron(7) | 30,000 | * | - | - | * | |||||||||||||||
| Dina Dublon | 30,000 | * | - | - | * | |||||||||||||||
| Paula Madoff | 30,000 | * | - | - | * | |||||||||||||||
| All officers and directors as a group (7 individuals) | 10,350,000 | 100 | % | - | - | 20.0 | % | |||||||||||||
* Less than one percent
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following is 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, Floor 47, New York, NY 10007. |
| (2) | Such shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.” |
| (3) | Based on the Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 16, 2020 by Aristeia Capital, L.L.C. According to its Schedule 13G, Aristeia Capital reported having sole voting power over 2,250,000 Class A Ordinary Shares, shared voting power over no shares, sole dispositive power over 2,250,000 Class A Ordinary Shares and shared dispositive power over no shares. The Schedule 13G contained information as of December 31, 2020. The address of Aristeia Capital is One Greenwich Plaza, 3rd Floor, Greenwich, CT 06830. |
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| (4) | Motive Capital Funds Sponsor, LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of such shares. The manager of our sponsor is Motive Partners GP, LLC (“Manager”). The sole member of the Manager is Rob Exploration, LLC (“Exploration”) where Paul Luc Robert Heyvaert is the sole member. Each of Manager, Exploration and Paul Luc Robert Heyvaert may be deemed to have beneficial ownership of the shares. |
| (5) | Does not include any shares indirectly owned by Ms. Masters as a result of Ms. Masters’ profits interest in our sponsor. Ms. Masters disclaims beneficial ownership of any shares except to the extent of her pecuniary interest therein. |
| (6) | Does not include any shares indirectly owned by this individual as a result of an interest in an affiliate of our sponsor. Each of these individuals disclaims beneficial ownership of any shares except to the extent of their pecuniary interest therein. |
Our initial shareholders beneficially own 20.0% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote for the election of directors in any general meeting held prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, which directors will be proposed by the Company’s board of directors following a nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee. Holders of our public shares will not have the right to appoint any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial shareholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $11,080,000, in a private placement. The private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below.
Motive Capital Funds Sponsor, LLC, our sponsor, and our officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
On October 2, 2020, we issued to our sponsor an aggregate of 11,500,000 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share. On November 24, 2020, our sponsor forfeited 2,875,000 founder shares. On November 24 and December 8, 2020, our Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the independent directors. In December 2020, the Company issued a dividend of 1,725,000 ordinary shares resulting in 10,350,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding. These shares will not be subject to forfeiture in the event the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised. Up to 1,350,000 of the founder shares may be surrendered by our sponsor for no consideration depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment is exercised.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $11,080,000, in a private placement. The private placement warrants are identical to the public warrants except that the private placement warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) will not be redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holders until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.
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We entered into a forward purchase agreement with affiliates of our Sponsor pursuant to which the affiliates intend to purchase an aggregate of 14,000,000 of forward purchase units, consisting of one Class A ordinary share (the “forward purchase shares”) and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (the “forward purchase warrant”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per forward purchase unit, or an aggregate amount of $140,000,000, in a private placement to close concurrently with the closing of a Business Combination. The affiliates’ commitment under the forward purchase agreement is subject to, among other conditions, investment committee approval and sufficiency of capital to purchase. The proceeds from the forward purchase units, together with the amounts available to us from the trust account (after giving effect to any redemptions of public shares) and any other equity or debt financing obtained by us in connection with the business combination, will be used to satisfy the cash requirements of the business combination, including funding the purchase price and paying expenses and retaining specified amounts to be used by the post-business combination company for working capital or other purposes.
We currently utilize office space at 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, Floor 47, New York, NY 10007 leased from our sponsor as our executive offices. We entered into an agreement, commencing on December 15, 2020 the effective date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, to pay the Sponsor or its affiliate a monthly fee of up to $10,000 for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. As of December 31, 2020, we did not incur any fees for the administrative support. The Sponsor has waived such fees and such fees will not be payable until the Sponsor determines that such fees should be paid.
No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Except as set forth above, the terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
Any of the foregoing payments to our sponsor, repayments of loans from our sponsor or repayments of working capital loans prior to our initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. 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 general 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.
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Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions
The audit committee of our board of directors operates pursuant to a charter, which sets forth the policies and procedures for its review and approval or ratification of “related party transactions.” A “related party transaction” is any consummated or proposed transaction or series of similar transactions: (i) in which the company was or is to be a participant; (ii) the amount of which exceeds (or is reasonably expected to exceed) $120,000 in the aggregate over the duration of the transaction (without regard to profit or loss); and (iii) in which a “related party” had, has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. “Related parties” under this charter will include: (i) our directors or executive officers; (ii) any beneficial owner of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities; and (iii) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing.
Pursuant to the charter, the audit committee will consider, among other factors, (i) whether the terms of the related party transaction are fair to the Company and on the same basis as would apply if the transaction was negotiated in good faith at arm’s-length and did not involve a related party, (ii) whether there are business reasons for the Company to enter into the related party transaction, (iii) whether the related party transaction would impair the independence of an outside director, (iv) whether the related party transaction would present an improper conflict of interest for any director or executive officer of the Company and (v) any pre-existing contractual conditions.
Director Independence
The rules of NYSE require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person who, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, has no material relationship with the listed company (either directly or as a partner, shareholder, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the company). Our board of directors has determined that Dina Dublon, Jill M. Considine and Paula Madoff are “independent directors” as defined in NYSE listing standards and applicable SEC rules and that Stephen C. Daffron is an “independent director” as defined in NYSE listing standards. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
The firm of WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”) served as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020. The following is a summary of fees paid to Withum for services rendered.
Audit Fees
Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements, reviews of our quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by WithumSmith+Brown, PC for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and of services rendered in connection with our initial public offering, totaled $92,700.
Audit Related Fees
Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay WithumSmith+Brown, PC any audit-related fees during the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
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Tax Fees
Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay WithumSmith+Brown, PC any tax fees during the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
All Other Fees
All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay WithumSmith+Brown, PC any other fees during the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.
Pre-Approval Policy
The audit committee is responsible for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditors. In recognition of this responsibility, the audit committee reviews and, in its sole discretion, pre-approves all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors as provided under the audit committee charter.
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Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report:
(1) Financial Statements
See the “Index” to the Consolidated Financial Statements commencing on page F-1 of this Form 10-K.
(2) Financial Statement Schedules
All financial statement schedules are omitted since the required information is not present or is not present in amounts sufficient to require submission of the schedules, or because the information required is included in the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto.
(3) Exhibits
We hereby file as part of this Annual Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.
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Not applicable.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| MOTIVE CAPITAL CORP | |||
| Date: June 2, 2021 | By: | /s/ Blythe Masters | |
| Blythe Masters | |||
| Chief Executive Officer | |||
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||
|
/s/ Blythe Masters Blythe Masters |
Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
June 2, 2021 | ||
|
/s/ Kristy Trieste Kristy Trieste |
Chief Financial Officer and Director (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
June 2, 2021 | ||
|
/s/ Rob Heyvaert Rob Heyvaert |
Executive Chairman and Director | June 2, 2021 | ||
|
/s/ Jill M. Considine Jill M. Considine |
Director | June 2, 2021 | ||
|
/s/ Stephen C. Daffron Stephen C. Daffron |
Director | June 2, 2021 | ||
|
/s/ Dina Dublon Dina Dublon |
Director | June 2, 2021 | ||
|
/s/ Paula Madoff Paula Madoff |
Director | June 2, 2021 |
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of
Motive Capital Corp
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Motive Capital Corp (the “Company”), as of December 31, 2020, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, 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, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Restatement of Financial Statements
As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a public statement entitled Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”) (the “Public Statement”) on April 12, 2021, which discusses the accounting for certain derivative liabilities. The Company previously accounted for its warrants and securities issued under the forward purchase agreement (the “FPA” and such securities, the “FPS”) as equity instruments. Management evaluated its warrants and the FPS against the Public Statement, and determined that the warrants and the FPS should be accounted for as liabilities. Accordingly, the 2020 financial statements have been restated to correct the accounting and related disclosure for the warrants and forward purchase agreement.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statement, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2020.
New York, New York
June 2, 2021
F-1
Motive Capital Acquisition Corporation
December 31, 2020
As Restated - See Note 2
| Assets: | ||||
| Current assets: | ||||
| Cash | $ | 1,674,650 | ||
| Prepaid expenses | 651,605 | |||
| Total current assets | 2,326,255 | |||
| Investments held in Trust Account | 414,020,525 | |||
| Total Assets | $ | 416,346,780 | ||
| Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity: | ||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 961 | ||
| Accrued expenses | 415,560 | |||
| Total current liabilities | 416,521 | |||
| Deferred underwriting commissions | 14,490,000 | |||
| Derivative liabilities | 40,532,280 | |||
| Total liabilities | 55,438,801 | |||
| Commitments and Contingencies | ||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 35,590,797 shares subject to possible redemption at $10.00 per share | 355,907,970 | |||
| Shareholders' Equity: | ||||
| Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding | - | |||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 500,000,000 shares authorized; 5,809,203 shares issued and outstanding excluding 35,590,797 shares subject to possible redemption | 581 | |||
| Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 50,000,000 shares authorized; 10,350,000 shares issued and outstanding | 1,035 | |||
| Additional paid-in capital | 16,798,022 | |||
| Accumulated deficit | (11,799,629 | ) | ||
| Total shareholders' equity | 5,000,009 | |||
| Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity | $ | 416,346,780 | ||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-2
Motive Capital Acquisition Corporation
For The Period From September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020
As Restated - See Note 2
| General and administrative expenses | $ | 35,004 | ||
| Loss from operations | (35,004 | ) | ||
| Other income (expense) | ||||
| Change in fair value of derivative liabilities | (10,659,080 | ) | ||
| Transaction costs - derivative liabilities | (1,126,070 | ) | ||
| Gain on marketable securities, dividends and interest held in Trust Account | 20,525 | |||
| Net loss | $ | (11,799,629 | ) | |
| Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A common shares | 41,400,000 | |||
| Basic and diluted net loss per common share, Class A | $ | 0.00 | ||
| Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B common shares | 10,350,000 | |||
| Basic and diluted net loss per common share, Class B | $ | (1.14 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
Motive Capital Acquisition Corporation
STATEMENT OF CHANGE IN SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
For The Period From September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020
As Restated - See Note 2
| Ordinary Shares | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class A | Class B | Paid-in | Accumulated | Shareholders' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - September 28, 2020 (inception) | - | $ | - | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | ||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor | - | - | 10,350,000 | 1,035 | 23,965 | - | 25,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sale of units in initial public offering, less allocation to derivative liabilities | 41,400,000 | 4,140 | - | - | 394,537,860 | - | 394,542,000 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash received in private placement in excess of initial fair value of private placement warrants | - | - | - | - | 664,800 | - | 664,800 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption | (35,590,797 | ) | (3,559 | ) | - | - | (355,904,411 | ) | - | (355,907,970 | ) | |||||||||||||||||
| Offering costs | - | - | - | - | (22,524,192 | ) | - | (22,524,192 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | - | - | - | - | - | (11,799,629 | ) | (11,799,629 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Balance - December 31, 2020 | 5,809,203 | $ | 581 | 10,350,000 | $ | 1,035 | $ | 16,798,022 | $ | (11,799,629 | ) | $ | 5,000,009 | |||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
Motive Capital Acquisition Corporation
For The Period From September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020
As Restated - See Note 2
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||
| Net loss | $ | (11,799,629 | ) | |
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||
| Transaction cost - derivative liabilities | 1,126,070 | |||
| Change in fair value of derivative liabilities | 10,659,080 | |||
| Gain on marketable securities, dividends and interest held in Trust Account | (20,525 | ) | ||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||
| Prepaid expenses | (651,605 | ) | ||
| Accounts payable | 961 | |||
| Accrued expenses | 5,560 | |||
| Net cash used in operating activities | (680,088 | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||
| Cash deposited in Trust Account | (414,000,000 | ) | ||
| Net cash used in investing activities | (414,000,000 | ) | ||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||
| Repayment of note payable to related parties | (130,492 | ) | ||
| Proceeds received from initial public offering, gross | 414,000,000 | |||
| Offering costs paid | (8,619,770 | ) | ||
| Proceeds received from private placement | 11,080,000 | |||
| Proceeds from issuance of ordinary shares to initial shareholders | 25,000 | |||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 416,354,738 | |||
| Net increase in cash | 1,674,650 | |||
| Cash - beginning of the period | - | |||
| Cash - ending of the period | $ | 1,674,650 | ||
| Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities: | ||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions charged to additional paid-in capital in connection with the initial public offering | $ | 14,490,000 | ||
| Offering costs included in accrued expenses | $ | 410,000 | ||
| Offering costs charged to additional paid-in capital in connection with the initial public offering | $ | 880,262 | ||
| Initial value of Class A common shares subject to possible redemption | $ | 362,617,170 | ||
| Change in value of Class A common shares subject to possible redemption | $ | (6,709,200 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Organization and General
Motive Capital Corp (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on September 28, 2020 under the name of MCF2 Acquisition Corp. On November 5, 2020 the Company’s name was changed to Motive Capital Corp. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (a “Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31st as its fiscal year end.
Initial Public Offering
The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on December 10, 2020. On December 15, 2020, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 41,400,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”) which includes the full exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 5,400,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $414,000,000 which is described in Note 4.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 7,386,667 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to Motive Capital Funds Sponsor, LLC (the “Sponsor”), generating gross proceeds of $11,080,000, which is described in Note 5. Transaction costs amounted to $23,650,262, consisting of $8,280,000 of underwriting fees, $14,490,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $880,262 of other offering costs. In addition, at December 31, 2020 cash of $1,674,650 was held outside of the Trust Account (as defined below) and is available for the payment of offering costs and for working capital purposes.
Trust Account
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on December 15, 2020, an amount of $414,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”), and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earliest of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds in the Trust Account to the Company’s shareholders, as described below.
F-6
Initial Business Combination
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 the Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. The stock exchange listing rules require that the Business Combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in the Trust Account). The Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
The Company will provide the holders of the public shares (the “Public Shareholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the Business Combination, either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the Business Combination (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to certain limitations as described in the prospectus. The per-share amount to be distributed to the Public Shareholders who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 7). 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 only if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 and, if the Company seeks shareholder approval, it receives an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law approving a Business Combination, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company. If a shareholder vote is not required and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and file tender offer documents containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 6) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares, without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against a proposed Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of the Business Combination and the Company does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder 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% of the Public Shares without the Company’s prior written consent.
The Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the Company’s initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the Trust Account and not previously released to pay taxes, divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares.
The Company will have until December 15, 2022 to consummate a Business Combination (the “Combination Period”). However, if the Company has not completed 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 100% of the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish the rights of the Public Shareholders as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining Public Shareholders and its Board of Directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands 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.
F-7
The Sponsor has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to the Founder Shares it will receive if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor or any of its respective affiliates acquire Public Shares, 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 7) 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 that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (1) $10.00 per Public Share and (2) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per Public Share, due to reductions in the value of trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay taxes. This liability will not apply to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account and 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”). 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 (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Liquidity
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had approximately $1.7 million outside of the Trust Account and working capital of approximately $1.9 million.
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 will 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 $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had no outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
F-8
Based on the foregoing, management believes that the Company will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or the officers and directors to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, the Company will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.
Note 2 —Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
In April 2021, the Audit Committee of the Company, in consultation with management, concluded that, because of a misapplication of the accounting guidance related to its public and private placement warrants to purchase ordinary shares, as well as to the forward purchase agreement entered into with the Sponsor (the “FPA” and such securities, the “FPS”), the Company’s previously issued financial statements for the Affected Period should no longer be relied upon. As such, the Company is restating its financial statements for the Affected Period included in this Annual Report.
On April 12, 2021, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC Staff”) issued a public statement entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “SEC Staff Statement”). In the SEC Staff Statement, the SEC Staff expressed its view that certain terms and conditions common to SPAC warrants may require the warrants to be classified as liabilities on the SPAC’s balance sheet as opposed to equity. Since issuance on December 15, 2020, the Company’s warrants and the FPA were accounted for as equity within the Company’s previously reported balance sheets. After discussion and evaluation, including with the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm and the Company’s audit committee, management concluded that the warrants and the FPA should be presented as liabilities with subsequent fair value remeasurement.
Historically, the warrants and the FPA were reflected as a component of equity as opposed to liabilities on the balance sheets and the statements of operations did not include the subsequent non-cash changes in estimated fair value of the warrants and the FPA, based on our application of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging, Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (“ASC 815-40”). The views expressed in the SEC Staff Statement were not consistent with the Company’s historical interpretation of the specific provisions within its warrant agreement and the FPA and the Company’s application of ASC 815-40 to the warrant agreement and the FPA. The Company reassessed its accounting for the warrants issued on December 15, 2020 and for the FPA in light of the SEC Staff’s published views. Based on this reassessment, management determined that the warrants and the FPA should be classified as liabilities measured at fair value upon issuance, with subsequent changes in fair value reported in the Company’s Statement of Operations each reporting period.
Therefore, the Company, in consultation with its Audit Committee, concluded that its previously issued Financial Statements for the period ended December 31, 2020 should be restated because of a misapplication in the guidance around accounting for our outstanding warrants to purchase ordinary shares and for the FPA and should no longer be relied upon.
F-9
Impact of the Restatement
The impact of the restatement on the balance sheets and statements of operations for the Affected Period is presented below. The restatement had no impact on net cash flows from operating, investing or financing activities.
| As of December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| As Previously Reported | Restatement Adjustment | As Restated | ||||||||||
| Balance Sheet | ||||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 416,346,780 | $ | - | $ | 416,346,780 | ||||||
| Liabilities and Shareholders’ equity | ||||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | $ | 416,521 | $ | - | $ | 416,521 | ||||||
| Deferred underwriting commissions | 14,490,000 | - | 14,490,000 | |||||||||
| Derivative liabilities | - | 40,532,280 | 40,532,280 | |||||||||
| Total liabilities | 14,906,521 | 40,532,280 | 55,438,801 | |||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; shares subject to possible redemption | 396,440,250 | (40,532,280 | ) | 355,907,970 | ||||||||
| Shareholders’ equity | ||||||||||||
| Preference shares - $0.0001 par value | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares - $0.0001 par value | 176 | 405 | 581 | |||||||||
| Class B ordinary shares - $0.0001 par value | 1,035 | - | 1,035 | |||||||||
| Additional paid-in-capital | 5,013,277 | 11,784,745 | 16,798,022 | |||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (14,479 | ) | (11,785,150 | ) | (11,799,629 | ) | ||||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | 5,000,009 | - | 5,000,009 | |||||||||
| Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity | $ | 416,346,780 | $ | - | $ | 416,346,780 | ||||||
| Period From September 28, 2020 (Inception) Through December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| As Previously Reported | Restatement Adjustment | As Restated | ||||||||||
| Statement of Operations | ||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | $ | (35,004 | ) | $ | (35,004 | ) | ||||||
| Other (expense) income: | ||||||||||||
| Change in fair value of derivative liabilities | - | (10,659,080 | ) | (10,659,080 | ) | |||||||
| Transaction costs - derivative liabilities | - | (1,126,070 | ) | (1,126,070 | ) | |||||||
| Net gain from investments held in Trust Account | 20,525 | - | 20,525 | |||||||||
| Total other (expense) income | 20,525 | (11,785,150 | ) | (11,764,625 | ) | |||||||
| Net loss | $ | (14,479 | ) | $ | (11,785,150 | ) | $ | (11,799,629 | ) | |||
| Basic and Diluted weighted-average Class A ordinary common stock | 41,400,000 | - | 41,400,000 | |||||||||
| Basic and Diluted net loss per Class A share | $ | 0.00 | - | $ | 0.00 | |||||||
| Basic and Diluted weighted-average Class B ordinary common stock | 10,350,000 | - | 10,350,000 | |||||||||
| Basic and Diluted net loss per Class B share | $ | (0.00 | ) | (1.14 | ) | $ | (1.14 | ) | ||||
In addition, the impact to the balance sheet dated December 15, 2020, filed on Form 8-K on December 21, 2020 related to the impact of accounting for the public warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering, the Private Placement Warrants and the FPA as liabilities at fair value resulted in a $33.9 million increase to the derivative liabilities line item at December 15, 2020 and offsetting decrease to the Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption mezzanine equity line item. There is no change to total shareholders’ equity at the reported balance sheet date.
F-10
| As of December 15, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| As Previously Reported | Restatement Adjustment | As Restated | ||||||||||
| Balance Sheet | ||||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 416,788,700 | $ | - | $ | 416,788,700 | ||||||
| Liabilities and Shareholders’ equity | ||||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | $ | 762,402 | $ | - | $ | 762,402 | ||||||
| Deferred underwriting fee payable | 14,490,000 | - | 14,490,000 | |||||||||
| Derivative liabilities | - | 29,873,200 | 29,873,200 | |||||||||
| Total liabilities | 15,252,402 | 29,873,200 | 45,125,602 | |||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; shares subject to possible redemption | 396,536,290 | (29,873,200 | ) | 366,663,090 | ||||||||
| Shareholders’ equity | ||||||||||||
| Preference shares - $0.0001 par value | - | - | - | |||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares - $0.0001 par value | 175 | 298 | 473 | |||||||||
| Class B ordinary shares - $0.0001 par value | 1,035 | - | 1,035 | |||||||||
| Additional paid-in-capital | 5,003,798 | 1,125,772 | 6,129,570 | |||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | (5,000 | ) | (1,126,070 | ) | (1,131,070 | ) | ||||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | 5,000,008 | - | 5,000,008 | |||||||||
| Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity | $ | 416,788,700 | $ | - | $ | 416,788,700 | ||||||
NOTE 3. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
As described in Note 2—Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements, the Company’s financial statements as of December 31, 2020, and the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 (the “Affected Period”), are restated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (Amendment No. 1) (this “Annual Report”) to correct the misapplication of accounting guidance related to the Company’s warrants and the FPA in the Company’s previously issued audited and unaudited financial statements for such periods. The restated financial statements are indicated as “Restated” in the audited and unaudited financial statements and accompanying notes, as applicable. See Note 2—Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements for further discussion.
F-11
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 auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, 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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
F-12
Concentrations of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000, and investments held in the Trust Account. At December 31, 2020, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue 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 confirming events. One of the more significant accounting estimates included in these financial statements is the determination of the fair value of the derivative liabilities. 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 had no cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020, not held in the Trust Account.
Investments Held in Trust Account
The Company’s portfolio of investments held in trust is comprised solely of U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less, classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of these securities is included in gain on marketable securities (net), dividends and interest, held in Trust Account in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of marketable securities held in Trust Account are determined using using quoted prices in active markets.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value.
The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
| • | Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets; |
| • | Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and |
| • | Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable. |
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
As of December 31, 2020, the carrying values of cash, accounts payable, accrued expenses, and advances from related party approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of the instruments.
F-13
The fair value of the public warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants were measured using a binomial lattice model in a risk-neutral framework. The fair value of the forward purchase agreement is based on the fair value of the Company’s publicly traded Units on each valuation date, less the present value of the contractually stipulated forward price of $10.00.
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
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 are allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with warrant liabilities are expensed as incurred, presented as non-operating expenses in the statement of operations. Offering costs associated with the Public Shares were charged to shareholders’ equity. Of the total offering costs of the Initial Public Offering, approximately $1.1 million is included in financing cost -derivative warrant liabilities in the statement of operations and $22.6 million is included in shareholders’ equity.
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2020, 35,636,759 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.
Derivative liabilities
The Company did not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. Management evaluates all of its financial instruments, including issued warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares and forward purchase agreements, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815-40. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The Company issued an aggregate of 13,800,000 warrants on Class A ordinary shares in the Initial Public Offering, 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants, and a forward purchase agreement for the issuance of up to 14,000,000 forward purchase units (see Note 8). All of the Company’s outstanding warrants and FPA are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. Accordingly, the Company recognizes the derivative instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants were measured using a binomial lattice model in a risk-neutral framework. The fair value of the forward purchase agreement is based on the fair value of the Company’s publicly traded Units on each valuation date, less the present value of the contractually stipulated forward price of $10.00.
Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
Net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement to purchase an aggregate of 21,186,667 of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, or the forward purchase agreement, covering up to 14,000,000 forward purchase units, in the calculation of diluted loss per share, since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.
The Company’s statement of operations includes a presentation of income per share for ordinary shares subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of loss per share. Net income per ordinary share, basic and diluted for Class A ordinary shares are calculated by dividing the income earned on investments held in the Trust Account of approximately $21,000 for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, which is net of amounts available to be withdrawn from the Trust Account to pay the Company’s income taxes, by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the period. Net loss per ordinary share, basic and diluted for Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the net loss of approximately $4.8 million by the weighted average number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding for the period.
F-14
Income Taxes
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
FASB ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2020. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
The Company is considered an exempted Cayman Islands company with no connection to any other taxable jurisdiction and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the Cayman Islands or the United States. As such, the Company’s tax provision was zero for the period presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
NOTE 4. Initial Public Offering
Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 41,400,000 Units, which includes a full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 5,400,000 Units, at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consist of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50 per whole share (see Note 8).
NOTE 5. PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 7,386,667 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, for an aggregate purchase price of $11,080,000, in a private placement. Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 8). A portion of the proceeds from the Private Placement Warrants were added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless.
NOTE 6. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Founder Shares
On October 2, 2020, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain offering and formation costs of the Company in consideration for 11,500,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”). On November 24, 2020, the Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares, which the Company canceled. On November 24 and December 8, 2020, the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the independent directors. On December 10, 2020, the Company issued a dividend of 1,725,000 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in 10,350,000 Founder Shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share cancellation.
F-15
The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 1,350,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised, so that the number of Founder Shares will equal, on an as-converted basis, approximately 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares after the Proposed Public Offering. As a result of the underwriters’ election to fully exercise their over-allotment option, 1,350,000 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture.
The Sponsor has agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of the Founder Shares until the earliest of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination and (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, rights issuances, 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, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Public Shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Administrative Support Agreement
The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on December 15, 2020 the effective date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or the Company’s liquidation, to pay the Sponsor or its affiliate a monthly fee of up to $10,000 for office space, utilities, secretarial and administrative services. As of December 31, 2020, the Company did not incur any fees for the administrative support. The Sponsor has waived such fees and such fees will not be payable until the Sponsor determines that such fees should be paid.
Promissory Note — Related Party
On October 1, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2020 and (ii) the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The Company had borrowed an aggregate of $130,492 under the Promissory Note. The Promissory Note matured on the closing date of the Initial Public Offering and the outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $130,492 was repaid in full on December 16, 2020.
Related Party Loans
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 $1.50 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had no outstanding borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.
NOTE 7. COMMITMENTS & CONTINGENCIES
Risks and Uncertainties
Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
F-16
Registration and Shareholders Rights
Pursuant to a registration and shareholders rights agreement entered into on December 10, 2020, the holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the Working Capital Loans) will have registration rights to require the Company to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 14,490,000 Over-Allotment Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Initial Public Offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions.
The underwriters were entitled to underwriting discounts of $0.35 per unit, or approximately $14,490,000 in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. 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.
F-17
NOTE 8. DERIVATIVE LIABILITES
Warrants
Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination and (b) one year from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years from the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any Class A ordinary shares pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration, or a valid exemption from registration is available. No warrant will be exercisable, and the Company will not be obligated to issue a Class A ordinary share upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A ordinary share 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, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy 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 it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption, but the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described with respect to the Private Placement 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 last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if the Company are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00. Once the warrants became 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 on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Class A ordinary shares; |
| · | if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like); and |
| · | if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) the Private Placement Warrants must also be concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding Public Warrants, as described above. |
If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, as described above, its management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, extraordinary dividend or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, except as described below, the Public Warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of ordinary shares at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the Public 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 Public Warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their Public Warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such Public Warrants. Accordingly, the Public Warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities, excluding the forward purchase 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 Class A ordinary 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 or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of 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 its Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $10.00 and $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 100% and 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, respectively.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Private Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable, except as described above, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.
Forward Purchase Agreement
The Company entered into a forward purchase agreement with affiliates of the Company’s sponsor pursuant to which the affiliates intend to purchase an aggregate of 14,000,000 of forward purchase units, consisting of one Class A ordinary share (the “forward purchase shares”) and one-third of one redeemable warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share (the “forward purchase warrant”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per forward purchase unit, or an aggregate amount of $140,000,000, in a private placement to close concurrently with the closing of a Business Combination. The affiliates’ commitment under the forward purchase agreement is subject to, among other conditions, investment committee approval and sufficiency of capital to purchase.
F-18
The obligations under the forward purchase agreements will not depend on whether any Class A ordinary shares are redeemed by the Public Shareholders. The forward purchase shares will be identical to the shares of Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that they will be subject to transfer restrictions and registration rights. The forward purchase warrants will have the same terms as the public warrants. The affiliates' commitment under the forward purchase agreement is subject to, among other conditions, investment committee approval and sufficiency of capital to purchase.
NOTE 9. SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Preference Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 5,000,000 preference shares 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, 2020, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.
Class A Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2020, there were 5,763,241 Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding, excluding 35,636,759 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption.
Class B Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. On November 24, 2020, the Sponsor surrendered 2,875,000 Founder Shares, which the Company canceled. On November 24 and December 8, 2020, the Sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of the independent directors. On December 10, 2020, the Company issued a dividend of 1,725,000 Class B ordinary shares, resulting in 10,350,000 Founder Shares outstanding. All share and per-share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the share cancellation. At December 31, 2020, there were 10,350,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding.
Holders of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of shareholders, except as required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of a Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities are issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination, the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders), including the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued, or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of a Business Combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of Working Capital Loans; provided that such conversion of Founder Shares will never occur on a less than one-for-one basis.
F-19
NOTE 10. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the derivative assets and liabilities is summarized below:
| Beginning of period | $ | - | ||
| Acquisition date fair value of derivative liabilities: | ||||
| Public warrants issued in the initial public offering | 19,458,000 | |||
| Private placement warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering (1) | 10,415,200 | |||
| Forward Purchase Agreement liability (2) | 4,045,920 | |||
| Total acquisition date fair value of derivative liabilities | 33,919,120 | |||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities - Public | 1,932,000 | |||
| Change in fair value of warrant liabilities - Private | 1,034,130 | |||
| Change in fair value of forward purchase agreement | 3,647,030 | |||
| End of period | $ | 40,532,280 |
| (1) | The acquisition date fair value of the private placement warrants issued in connection with the initial public offering is $10,415,200. The private placement warrants were issued at $11,080,000 (See Note 5. Private Placement above) therefore $664,800 of Cash received in private placement excess of initial fair value is recorded in Additional Paid-in Capital on the Statement of Changes in Shareholders Equity. | |
| (2) | The liability associated with the forward purchase agreement entered on December 15, 2020, was recorded as a loss from issuance of the forward purchase agreement and is included in the change in fair value of derivative liabilities as of December 31, 2020. |
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2020 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value.
| Fair Value Measured as of December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
| Investments held in Trust Account | $ | 414,020,525 | $ | - | $ | - | $ | 414,020,525 | ||||||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
| Derivative liabilities (Restated) | $ | - | $ | - | $ | 40,532,280 | $ | 40,532,280 | ||||||||
Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2, and 3 are recognized at the beginning of the reporting period. There were no transfers between levels for the period ended December 31, 2020.
The fair value of the Public Warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering and the Private Placement Warrants were measured using a binomial lattice model in a risk-neutral framework. The fair value of the forward purchase agreement is based on the fair value of the Company’s publicly traded Units on each valuation date, less the present value of the contractually stipulated forward price of $10.00. For the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the Company recognized a non-operating loss in the statement of operations resulting from an increase in the fair value of derivative liabilities of approximately $10.7 million presented as change in fair value of derivative liabilities in the accompanying statement of operations.
The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants and the Public Warrants prior to being separately listed and traded, is determined using Level 3 inputs. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary share warrants based on implied volatility from historical volatility of select peer company’s ordinary shares that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants.
The following table provides quantitative information regarding Level 3 fair value measurements inputs at their measurement dates:
| As of December 15, 2020 | As of December 31, 2020 | |||||||
| Share price | $ | 9.81 | $ | 10.02 | ||||
| Exercise price | $ | 11.50 | $ | 11.50 | ||||
| Term (in years) | 6.00 | 6.00 | ||||||
| Volatility | 20.50 | % | 21.00 | % | ||||
| Risk-free interest rate | 0.51 | % | 0.50 | % | ||||
| Expected dividends | 0.00 | % | 0.00 | % | ||||
The change in the fair value of derivative liabilities measured using Level 3 inputs for the period from September 28, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 is summarized as follows:
| Level 3 derivative liabilities at December 15, 2020 | ||||
| Issuance of Public, Private Warrants | $ | 29,873,200 | ||
| Change in fair value of derivative liabilities | 10,659,080 | |||
| Level 3 derivative liabilities at December 31, 2020 | $ | 40,532,280 |
F-20
NOTE 11. 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. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any other subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
F-21