Skip to content
KStart free
AI InfrastructureDefenseQuantumAll studies →

CERO US Equity

Cero Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.Health Care · Biological Products, (No Diagnostic Substances) · CIK 1870404 · FY ends Dec 31
$0.01
-0.00 (-10.08%)
USD · as of 2026-08-19 · marketstack

CERO · 10-K · period ended 2021-12-31

← all CERO documents
filed 2022-03-24 · EDGAR original ↗

Our rendering of the filing — original pagination and typography are not reproduced, and tables are reduced to their short label cells (the figures live on FA). Nothing is summarized: every line below is the filing's own text.

blocks 1534 of 1,746395k characters rendered

10-K

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM

10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

For the transition period from

to

Commission File

Number 001-40877

PHOENIX BIOTECH ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

(215)

731-9450

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

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

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered

Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share PBAX Nasdaq Global Market

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

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

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

Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation

S-T

during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files)

.

Yes

☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a

non-accelerated

filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule

12b-2

of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐

Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒

Emerging growth company ☒

Auditor Firm ID: Auditor Name: Auditor Location:

2468 Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP New York, NY

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 controls 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 ☒ No ☐

As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the registrant’s Class A commons stock was not publicly

traded. Accordingly, there was

no

market value for the registrant’s Class A common stock on such date.

As of March

2

4

, 2022, there were 18,385,000 shares of Class A common stock and 4,596,250 shares of Class B common stock of the registrant issued and outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Item 1 Business 1

Item 1A. Risk Factors 23

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 58

Item 2. Properties 58

Item 3. Legal Proceedings 58

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure 58

PART II

Item 6. [RESERVED] 60

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 63

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 64

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 65

Item 9B. Other Information 65

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 65

PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 66

Item 11. Executive Compensation 72

Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 79

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 80

i

Table of Contents

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Unless otherwise provided in this Annual Report on Form

10-K:

• references to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers;

ii

Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this Annual Report, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance, and any other statements of a future or forward-looking nature, constitute “forward-looking statements” for the purposes of federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may include, for example, statements about:

• our ability to complete our initial business combination;

• our pool of prospective target businesses;

• our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

• the lack of a market for our securities;

• our financial performance.

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

Summary of Risk Factors

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section title “Risk Factors,” that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect our ability to

iii

Table of Contents

effect a business combination, and may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. Such risks include, but are not limited to:

• newly formed company without an operating history;

• delay in receiving distributions from the trust account;

• lack of opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination;

• lack of protections afforded to investors of blank check companies;

• deviation from acquisition criteria;

• issuance of equity and/or debt securities to complete a business combination;

• lack of working capital;

• third-party claims reducing the per-share redemption price;

• our stockholders being held liable for claims by third parties against us;

• failure to enforce our sponsor’s indemnification obligations;

• warrant holders limited to exercising warrants only on a “cashless basis;”

• dependence on key personnel;

• conflicts of interest of our sponsor, officers and directors;

• the delisting of our securities by NASDAQ;

• shares being redeemed and warrants becoming worthless;

• our competitors with advantages over us in seeking business combinations;

• ability to obtain additional financing;

• our initial stockholders controlling a substantial interest in us;

• warrants adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;

• disadvantageous timing for redeeming warrants;

• registration rights’ adverse effect on the market price of our common stock;

• impact of COVID-19 and related risks;

• business combination with a company located in a foreign jurisdiction;

• changes in laws or regulations;

• tax consequences to business combinations; and

iv

Table of Contents

PART I

Item 1. BUSINESS

General

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report as our initial business combination or our business combination. We have generated no operating revenues to date, and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the healthcare or healthcare related industries in the United States and Europe. In particular, we intend to prioritize companies in the life sciences sector where our management team and board of directors has extensive experience.

At December 31, 2021, we had not yet commenced operations. All activity through December 31, 2021 relates to the Company’s formation, its initial public offering and identifying a target company for our initial business combination.

The registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on October 5, 2021. On October 8, 2021, we consummated the initial public offering of 17,500,000 units, which included the partial exercise by the underwriter of its over-allotment option in the amount of 2,000,000 units, generating gross proceeds of $175,000,000.

Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we consummated the sale of 885,000 placement units at a price of $10.00 per unit in a private placement to our sponsor, Cantor Fitzgerald and CCM, generating gross proceeds of $8,850,000.

Following the closing of the initial public offering on October 8, 2021, an amount of $178,500,000 ($10.20 per unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the initial public offering and the placement units was placed in a trust account and invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 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, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the consummation of a business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete a business combination within 15 months from the consummation of the initial public offering; or (iii) the distribution of the trust account, if we are unable to complete a business combination within the combination period or upon any earlier liquidation of us.

Our Management Team

Experienced SPAC Management Team with Business Combination Success.

Joining our company is a team of high-level senior life sciences executives. The team includes Brian Atwood, our Chairman, Chris Ehrlich, our Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Fisher, our President and Daniel Geffken, our Chief Financial Officer. Our Board of Directors provides valuable guidance, technical domain expertise, value-added input regarding senior team leadership capabilities of prospective business combination targets, and access to differentiated ideas and opportunities through complementary networks.

1

Table of Contents

Messrs. Ehrlich, Geffken and Atwood, and Mses. Loewy and Kosacz, served as executive officers and/or directors of Locust Walk Acquisition Corp. (“LWAC”), a blank check company that raised $175.0 million in its initial public offering in January 2021. On May 26, 2021, LWAC entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Locust Walk Merger Agreement”) by and among LWAC, Locust Walk Merger Sub Inc. (“Merger Sub”), and eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. (“eFFECTOR”), which provided for a business combination between LWAC and eFFECTOR through the merger of Merger Sub with and into eFFECTOR, with eFFECTOR surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of LWAC (the “Locust Walk Merger”). The Locust Walk Merger was consummated on August 25, 2021, at which time the

pre-acquisition

executive officers and directors of LWAC, with the exception of Mr. Ehrlich and Elizabeth Bhatt, resigned, and Locust Walk was renamed “eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc.” The shares of common stock and warrants of eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Inc. are currently traded on the NA Capital Market under the symbols “EFTR” and “EFTRW,” respectively. No

pre-acquisition

executive officers or directors of Locust Walk received any severance or other payment or benefit in connection with their respective resignations, although they did retain founder shares issued to them for nominal consideration in connection with the formation of LWAC.

Brian Atwood serves as a Managing Director for Versant Ventures, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm that he

co-founded

in 1999 and previously served as the Chairman of LWAC. In 2015, Mr. Atwood

co-founded

Cell Design Labs, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing human cell engineering technology for the treatment of multiple diseases, including cancer, where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer until 2017, when it was acquired by Gilead Sciences. Mr. Atwood serves on the board of directors of Clovis Oncology, Inc., and Atreca, Inc., where he is Chairman. He also served on the board of directors of Immune Design Corp. from May 2008 until June 2016 (acquired by Merck in 2019), Veracyte, Inc., from its founding in 2008 until December 2016, OpGen Inc., from July 2007 until December 2017, Five Prime Therapeutics, from 2002 until March 2016, Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from March 2006 until its acquisition in March 2014, Helicos Biosciences from 2003 until September 2011, Pharmion Corporation from 2000 until its acquisition in March 2008 and Trius Therapeutics, Inc. from February 2007 until its acquisition in September 2013. Mr. Atwood has a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, a M.S. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Chris Ehrlich served as the Chief Executive Officer of LWAC from January 2021 to August 2021. He previously served as Senior Managing Director and the Global Head of Strategic Transactions at Locust Walk Partners from 2013 to 2021. He brings significant biotechnology industry and venture capital experience. Since joining Locust Walk Partners in 2013, Mr. Ehrlich has been involved with sourcing and leading multiple transactions for emerging biopharmaceutical companies, including the sale of Xyphos Biosciences, Inc. to Astellas in 2019 and the sale of Thar Pharmaceuticals to Grunenthal in 2018. Prior to Locust Walk Partners, he was a Managing Director at InterWest Partners, or InterWest, a venture capital firm. At InterWest, he served on the boards of KAI Pharmaceuticals, a privately held pharmaceutical company (acquired by Amgen in 2012), Biomimetic Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company (acquired by Wright Medical Technologies in 2013), InvuitY, Inc., a medical technology company acquired by Stryker in 2018) and Xenon Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ: XENE). Prior to joining InterWest, Mr. Ehrlich worked as the Director of Licensing and Business Development at Purdue Pharma, in business development at Genentech, in venture capital at the U.S. Russia Investment Fund, and in biotechnology strategy development at L.E.K. Consulting. Mr. Ehrlich currently serves on the Board of Directors of Prostate Management Diagnostics, Inc., on the Advisory Board of the Peter Michael Foundation, where he is a Senior Advisor, and on the Healthcare at Kellogg Advisory Board at Northwestern University. Mr. Ehrlich has a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Douglas Fisher, MD is currently a Venture Partner at Revelation Partners, which he joined in 2020, and an Executive in Residence at InterWest Partners. Dr. Fisher joined InterWest’s healthcare team in 2009, focusing on biopharmaceutical, diagnostic and medical device investments. He is a board member of Gynesonics, Indi Molecular, Precipio Diagnostics (NASDAQ: PRPO), and WeavR Health. He is also actively involved in InterWest’s investments in PMV Pharma, Potenza Therapeutics, Sera Prognostics (NASDAQ: SERA, where he

2

Table of Contents

serves as the Chief Business Officer), and Tizona Therapeutics. Prior to joining InterWest, Dr. Fisher was a vice president at New Leaf Venture Partners where he spent three years focusing on biopharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics investments including Pearl Therapeutics, Interlace Medical (Acquired by Hologic), and Stromedix (Acquired by Biogen Idec). Prior to joining New Leaf, Dr. Fisher was a project leader with The Boston Consulting Group where he was a member of the Health Care Practice Area, consulting for leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Previously, Dr. Fisher worked for Centocor (a J&J operating company) in the Global Biologic Strategic Marketing Group. He received an A.B. in Economics and a B.S. in Biology, from Stanford. Dr. Fisher has a M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Daniel Geffken is a founder and Managing Director of Danforth Advisors, LLC, or Danforth, a strategic, financial and thought partner to public and private life science companies across all stages of the corporate life cycle. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer of LWAC from January 2021 to August 2021. Mr. Geffken brings more than 30 years of experience to his work with Danforth clients, ranging from

start-ups

to publicly traded companies with $1 billion+ market capitalizations. Through Danforth, Mr. Geffken has served as Chief Financial Officer for ProMIS Neurosciences (TSX: PMN; OTCQB: ARFXF), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of antibody therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, since March 2017, and Eloxx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ELOX), a biotechnology company, since April 2021. He is currently chief financial officer of or consultant to various life sciences companies including Prilenia Therapeutics Development Corp., Apic Bio Inc., Myeloid Therapeutics, Calcimedica Inc., Elicio Therapeutics Inc., and Dermbiont, Inc. Since 2013, he has participated in more than 18 initial public offering, or IPO, filings and has assisted in raising more than $1 billion in debt and equity securities. Since 2019, Mr. Geffken has been a member of the board of directors of Windtree Therapeutics (NASDAQ: WINT), a biopharmaceutical company and, from May 2013 to October 2017, he was a member of the board of directors of Alcobra Ltd., a public biotechnology company that merged with Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT). From November 2017 until May 2018, Mr. Geffken served on the board of directors of Arcturus. Since its founding in 2011, Danforth has consulted with more than 700 life science companies. Mr. Geffken has a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Barbara Kosacz has served as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Kronos Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRON), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, since July 2020. She also served as a director of LWAC from January 2021 to August 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Kosacz was a Partner at the international law firm Cooley LLP from January 1997 to December 2000, and from February 2002 until July 2020, where she led the international Life Sciences Practice. Ms. Kosacz has more than 25 years of experience in counseling clients in the life sciences arena, ranging from early stage startups to larger public companies, venture funds, investment banks, and

non-profit

institutions. She has served as a member of the BIO Emerging Companies’ Section Governing Board, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Keck Graduate Institute, an advisory board member of Locust Walk Partners, and has been a speaker at multiple life sciences-related conferences, as well as guest lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University about biotechnology law, biotechnology business models, corporate partnering negotiations and deal structures, and bioethics. Recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and most recently as Biotechnology Lawyer of the Year in 2018, Ms. Kosacz was listed as a “leading lawyer” for healthcare and life sciences in the 2018 Legal 500, as a “Band 1” attorney in the 2018 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and recognized as a “highly recommended transactions” lawyer by IAM Patent 1000 for her “nearly three decades advising diverse companies in the industry at a deeply strategic and commercial level and overseeing their most complex and profitable deals.” Ms. Kosacz is currently senior counsel at Cooley LLP and a member of the board of directors of Xoma Corp. (NASDAQ: XOMA), a biotechnology company. Ms. Kosacz received a B.A. in Classics from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

Kathleen LaPorte is an experienced executive, founder and board member, focused on life sciences.

She co-founded New

Leaf Ventures, served as a General Partner of The Sprout Group, and was Chief Business Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Nodality Inc. Ms. LaPorte has served on 16 public company boards and

3

Table of Contents

14 public company audit committees and numerous private company boards. Ms. Laporte currently serves as an independent director for Bolt Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: BOLT), Precipio Diagnostics (NASDAQ: PRPO), 89Bio (NASDAQ: ENTB), D2G Oncology, Elysium Therapeutics, and Q32 BIO. Ms. LaPorte serves as the chair of the audit committees of both Bolt Biotherapeutics and Precipio Diagnostics. She previously served on the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, a state agency board. Ms. LaPorte has a B.S. degree in Biology from Yale University and a M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Caroline Loewy serves or has served on public company boards, including LWAC, provides strategic advisory services to life science companies, and has more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.

She co-founded and

served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc., a specialty pharmaceuticals company, from 2015 to 2017. Prior to Achieve Life Sciences, she served as Chief Financial Officer of several life sciences companies, including Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. from 2012 to 2014, Corcept Therapeutics Inc. from 2008 to 2011 and Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that, Ms. Loewy was a senior biotechnology equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley, Inc. from 2000 to 2004 and Prudential Securities, Inc. from 1996 to 1999. She began her career as a financial analyst at BankAmerica Corporation. Ms. Loewy is a founding board member of the Global Genes Project and a member of the Steering Committee of the Forum for Collaborative Research in Rare Diseases. She is also a founding board member of the KCNQ2 Cure Alliance Foundation. Ms. Loewy currently serves on the boards of directors of, CymaBay Therapeutics Inc., Aptose Biosciences Inc. and PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Ryan Gilbert serves as an advisor to the company. Mr. Gilbert brings over 20 years of global financial services expertise as an entrepreneur, angel investor, venture investor, and advisor. His public company exits include Square and Eventbrite. Mr. Gilbert previously served as an advisor to LWAC and currently serves as an advisor to Newcourt Acquisition Corp., the President and Chief Executive Officer of FTAC Parnassus Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FTPA) and of FTAC Zeus Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: ZING), each a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting its own initial business combination. He was most recently President and Chief Executive Officer of FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp., or FTAC Olympus, a blank check company which raised $754.0 million in its initial public offering in August 2020 and that merged with Payoneer (NASDAQ: PAYO) in June 2021. Mr. Gilbert is founder and General Partner of Launchpad Capital, a venture capital fund. He was most recently a General Partner at Propel Venture Partners, a venture capital fund backed by BBVA Group. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Propel Venture Partners portfolio companies Charlie Finance Co., Guideline, Inc., Grabango Co. and Steady Platform Inc. Mr. Gilbert serves as the executive chairman of SmartBizLoans, a small business lending marketplace that he

co-founded

as an

entrepreneur-in-residence

at Venrock. Mr. Gilbert is an independent director of bKash, Bangladesh’s largest remittance and mobile banking platform, and a director of River City Bank, a $3.2 billion community bank based in Sacramento, CA. He was previously

co-founder

and Chief Executive Officer of real estate payments company PropertyBridge (acquired by MoneyGram International). Mr. Gilbert graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Shami Patel also serves as an advisor to the company. Mr. Patel is a Managing Director of the Asset Management Group of Cohen & Company Inc., a financial services company. He previously served as an advisor to LWAC and as an advisor to FinServ Acquisition Corp., or Finserv (NASDAQ: FSRV), a blank check company which raised $250.0 million in its IPO in November 2019 and consummated its business combination in June 2021. Mr. Patel previously served as Chief Operating Officer of FTAC Olympus. Mr. Patel was also active in all aspects of the IPO and business combination process of FinTech Acquisition Corp., or FinTech I and FinTech Acquisition Corp. II, or FinTech II, including origination, due diligence and execution. He served as a Director, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the Compensation Committee of FinTech I and FinTech II. FinTech I raised $100.0 million in its IPO in February 2015 and completed its initial business combination when it acquired FTS Holding Corporation in July 2016, in connection with which FinTech I changed its name to CardConnect Corp. The common stock of CardConnect Corp. was traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “CCN” until CardConnect Corp. was acquired by First Data Corporation in July 2017. FinTech II raised $175.0 million in its IPO in January 2017 and completed its initial business combination when it acquired

4

Table of Contents

Intermex Holdings II in July 2018, in connection with which FinTech II changed its name to International Money Express, Inc. The common stock of International Money Express, Inc. is currently traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “IMXI.” He also served as an advisor to FinTech Acquisition Corp. III, or FinTech III, a blank check company which raised $345.0 million in its IPO in November 2018 and completed its initial business combination when it merged with affiliates of Paya, Inc. in October 2020, in connection with which Paya Holdings Inc. became publicly traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PAYA.” Mr. Patel has a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from Trinity University and a J.D. and M.B.A from Duke University.

The past performance of our management team, our advisors, our board, is not a guarantee either (i) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical record of our management teams’, our advisors’, or our board’s performance as indicative of our future performance.

Industry Opportunity

While we may acquire a business in any industry, we will focus on the healthcare and healthcare related industries in the United States and Europe. The large overall size of the healthcare industry, the continued investment in innovative technologies, the broad universe of acquisition targets, the favorable public market conditions for healthcare, and our expertise in the healthcare sector support our ability to identify an attractive opportunity and execute a high-value business combination in the healthcare industry, specifically in the life sciences sector.

The healthcare industry represents a large target market with constant innovation and high levels of investment in innovative technologies

. According to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMMS, the U.S. national healthcare expenditure is projected to have surpassed $3.8 trillion in 2019 and to exceed $4.0 trillion in 2020 and to exceed $4.2 trillion in 2021. There is significant growth potential for the healthcare market in the upcoming years; CMMS suggests that the total healthcare spending is projected to grow at a 5.4% average annual rate from 2019 through 2028, which is projected to outpace the U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, average annual growth rate of 4.3% per year in this period. Additionally, U.S healthcare expenditure is expected to steadily approach 20% of total U.S. GDP by 2028, according to CMMS. According to Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, an international professional services network, drivers of change in the healthcare industry include continued technological advancements, population aging, increased prevalence of chronic disease, and a rise in demand for healthcare products and services due to improved access to healthcare. We believe these factors will also drive the favorable pace of growth in the healthcare industry.

The life sciences sector is a large and fast-growing subsector of the healthcare industry. According to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science (“IQVIA”), U.S. life sciences venture capital deal volume reached approximately $20 billion in 2019, with average deal values growing at a 12% compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, from 2014 to 2019. Furthermore, biopharma’s investment into research and development, or R&D, to fuel future innovation is evident: according to Evaluate Pharma, global biopharmaceutical R&D expenditure reached $186 billion in 2019 and, according to Pharma Intelligence, there is a pipeline of approximately 17,700 assets in 2020 in all stages of development, ranging from preclinical product candidates to approved therapies. Additionally, according to IQVIA, in the period from 2014 to 2019, the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies increased annual R&D spending from approximately $87 billion to approximately $110 billion with a 5% CAGR. This increase in R&D investment has been matched by an increase in the commercialization of therapeutics: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”), has approved an average of 51 novel drugs annually in each of the last three years from 2016 through 2019 as compared to about 32 novel drugs annually in each of the prior seven years from 2010 through 2016. We believe this pace of innovation in the life sciences sector is robust due to several factors including high unmet medical needs, time-limited patent protection of drugs, and global healthcare cost pressures.

An abundance of private life science companies seeking capital suggests ample business combination opportunities.

There is a vast, addressable universe of potential targets in the healthcare industry in the United

5

Table of Contents

States. According to the USA Life Sciences Database, as of 2020, there are at least approximately 7,080 life sciences companies based in the United States focused on a variety

of sub-sectors within the

healthcare industry. Furthermore, as of June 14, 2021, only 775 companies are traded on NASDAQ and 26 are traded on the NYSE, leaving a significant amount of private companies. These private biopharmaceutical companies are raising substantial amounts of capital. According to Evaluate Pharma, in 2020 alone, nearly $20 billion was raised for private biopharmaceutical companies, following nearly $60 billion in the prior four years. The high level of fundraising activity across this substantial universe of private biopharmaceutical companies suggests that there is an abundance of private biopharmaceutical that could potentially be interested in a business combination with us.

In addition, according to a 2020 study by IQVIA, the total volume of Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials increased by 35% from 2014 through 2019, which we believe indicates an increased number of biopharmaceutical companies entering clinical studies, which are likely to require capital to advance their programs. The main focus areas for development focus appear to be oncology, neurology, infectious and autoimmune disorders which well aligns with our board and management team’s experience. Of particular note, there has been a 76% increase in oncology products advancing to late stage clinical trials between 2014-2019. In 2019, products in development for oncology represented

nearly one-third of

all programs in development. Based on previous experience and the skill sets of our team, it is likely that a substantial portion of our focus will be on oncology programs.

SPACs becoming an increasingly well accepted model for biotechnology companies.

While 2019 saw very few SPAC IPOs with a focus on life sciences, 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 saw a significant increase. In fact, according to Locust Walk Partners, in 2019, only one biotechnology-focused SPAC completed an IPO, while in 2020, there were 34. In 2021, 21 biotechnology SPACs went public. Many of these have already announced business combinations, indicating the increased acceptance of the SPAC model for high-quality biotechnology companies. In the first quarter of 2021, eight SPAC merger deals were announced and four were completed.

Advantages of SPAC Model.

Despite a robust market for biotechnology IPOs, we believe that the SPAC model offers several key advantages to management seeking to advance their assets, including:

6

Table of Contents

We believe that biotechnology companies at a certain stage in their development will see material benefits from being publicly traded, including greater company and product awareness, a more liquid acquisition currency and diversified funding sources and access to capital. An acquisition by a blank check company with a management team that is well known and respected by biotechnology company founders, investors and management teams can provide a more transparent and efficient mechanism to bring a private biotechnology company to the public markets.

We have significant domain expertise that we believe will position us uniquely for a successful business combination.

Successfully identifying an investment opportunity in the healthcare industry requires significant sector-specific knowledge and technical expertise. Our management team and board’s experience in the healthcare industry has equipped us with significant scientific knowledge to assess the quality of the science and competitive landscape; clinical development and pipeline prioritization expertise to evaluate a company’s portfolio and development plan; an understanding of the complex healthcare regulatory framework to identify any development hurdles; a grasp of commercial opportunity analytics to validate the commercial potential of target products; and experience with nuanced valuation strategies and specialized accounting treatments for life sciences companies to properly value the opportunity. Because our management team has leveraged them throughout their careers in the healthcare industry, we believe we are well positioned to properly evaluate and enter into a business combination.

Acquisition Strategy

We believe our management team, with the assistance of our board and advisors, is well positioned to identify unique opportunities within the life sciences industry. Each member of our management team and board has spent significant portions of their careers working with businesses in the life sciences industry and have developed a wide network of professional services contacts and business relationships in that industry. Our selection process leverages our relationships with venture capitalists and growth equity funds, executives of private and public companies, as well as investment banking firms, which we believe should provide us with a key advantage in sourcing potential business combination targets. Given our profile and industry expertise, we anticipate that target business combination candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investors in and managers of other private and public companies in our networks.

We also deploy a proactive sourcing strategy to focus on unique opportunities that are best positioned for our initial business combination. We leverage our collective deep industry expertise and analytical capabilities to identify characteristics of life science companies historically correlating with outperforming publicly traded peers. We also leverage our significant operating, corporate strategy, and business development expertise to efficiently triage opportunities to focus on those opportunities that we believe present the highest risk-adjusted return potential for our stockholders. We will attempt to use these insights to identify attractive acquisition targets for our initial business combination. We believe the combination of the relationships, capital markets expertise, and operating experience of our advisors can help accelerate the process and make us a preferred partner for these potential targets. We will initially focus on emerging growth healthcare companies in healthcare niches including, but not limited to, biotechnology, medical technology and digital health.

7

Table of Contents

Acquisition Criteria

We have identified the following criteria to evaluate prospective target businesses. We may, however, decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these specific criteria. We currently intend to seek companies that we believe:

• offer unrecognized or underrecognized value within the investment community;

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

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or their respective affiliates. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, or their respective affiliates, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or a qualified independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Additionally, pursuant to NASDAQ rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

Initial Business Combination

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

We may, at our option, pursue an acquisition opportunity jointly with one or more entities or funds affiliated with our sponsor or management team or their respective affiliates, which we refer to as an affiliated joint acquisition. Any such parties may

co-invest with

us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this Annual Report.

8

Table of Contents

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

General

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until completion of our initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the initial public offering and the private placement, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination.

If we pay for our initial business combination using stock or debt securities, or we do not use all of the funds released from the trust account for payment of the purchase price in connection with our business combination or for redemptions of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of acquired businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in consummating our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

There is no current basis for stockholders to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

NASDAQ rules require that our initial business combination be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. However, if our securities are not listed on NASDAQ or another securities exchange, we will no longer be subject to that requirement.

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

Sources of Acquisition Candidates

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers, attorneys, accountants, venture capital funds, private equity funds, leveraged buyout funds, management buyout funds, brokers and other members of the financial community and corporate executives. These target candidates may present solicited or unsolicited proposals. Such sources became aware that we were seeking a business combination candidate by a variety of means, including publicly available information relating to the initial public offering, public relations and marketing efforts or direct contact by management following the completion of the initial public offering.

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 contacts. 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

9

Table of Contents

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 if our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is), other than (i) repayment of loans made to us prior to the date of the initial public offering by our sponsor to cover offering-relating and organization expenses, (ii) repayment of loans that our sponsor or one of its affiliates may make to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination (provided that if we do not consummate an initial business combination, we may use 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), (iii) payments to our sponsor or its affiliate or designee of a total of $20,000 per month for office space, administrative and shared personnel support services, (iv) $465,000 to CCM at the closing of the initial public offering for financial advisory services provided by CCM in connection with the initial public offering, and $1,162,500, which will be paid to CCM upon the closing of our initial business combination, (v) at the closing of our initial business combination, customary advisory fees, including placement agent fees, to an affiliate of our sponsor, in amounts that constitute a market standard fee for comparable transactions and services provided; and (vi) to reimburse our sponsor, officers or directors for any

out-of-pocket

expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Any advisory fee payable to an affiliate of our sponsor will be negotiated on an arms-length basis and will require approval of our audit committee. None of the initial holders, our officers, our directors or any entity with which they are affiliated will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective acquisition target in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such target by us. Although some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the acquired business following our initial business combination, the presence or absence of any such arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates. Additionally, we are not prohibited from partnering, submitting joint bids, or entering into any similar transaction with such persons in the pursuit of an initial business combination. If we seek to complete an initial business combination with such a company or we partner with such persons in our pursuit of an initial business combination, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our stockholders from a financial point of view. Generally, such opinion is rendered to a company’s board of directors and investment banking firms may take the view that stockholders may not rely on the opinion. Such view will not impact our decision on which investment banking firm to hire. Additionally, pursuant to NASDAQ rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

Unless we consummate our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain a financial fairness opinion from an independent investment banking firm. If we do not obtain such an opinion, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value and fairness based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. The application of such standards would involve a comparison, from a valuation standpoint, of our business combination target to comparable public companies, as applicable, and a comparison of our contemplated transaction with such business combination target to other then-recently announced comparable private and public company transactions, as applicable. The application of such standards and the basis of our board of directors’ determination will be discussed and disclosed in our tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

10

Table of Contents

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 other entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

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.

Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination

NASDAQ rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be taken into account for purposes of NASDAQ’s 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for stockholders to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.

To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such

11

Table of Contents

company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

In evaluating a prospective business target, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that will be made available to us.

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

Lack of business diversification

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

Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team

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

We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

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

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve a business combination

We may not seek stockholder approval before we effect our initial business combination as not all business combinations require stockholder approval under applicable state law. However, we will seek stockholder

12

Table of Contents

approval if it is required by law or NASDAQ, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons. Presented in the table below is a table of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

Type of Transaction WhetherStockholderApproval isRequired

Purchase of assets No

Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company No

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company No

Merger of the company with a target Yes

So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on NASDAQ, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

Permitted purchases of our securities

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers or their respective affiliates may purchase public securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination, although as of the date of this Annual Report they have no commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions. If they do effect such purchases, we anticipate that they would approach a limited number of large holders of our securities that have voted against the business combination or sought redemption of their shares, or that have indicated an intention to do so, and engage in direct negotiations for the purchase of such holders’ positions. All holders approached in this manner would be institutional or sophisticated holders. There is no limit on the number of shares they may acquire. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or during a restricted period under Regulation M under the Exchange Act or in transactions that would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule

10(b)-5

under the Exchange Act. Although they do not currently anticipate paying any premium purchase price for such public shares, there is no limit on the price they may pay. They may also enter into transactions to provide such holders with incentives to acquire shares or vote their shares in favor of an initial business combination. No funds in the trust account may be used to effect purchases of public securities in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions.

The purpose of such purchases of public securities would be to (i) increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the business combination or (ii) to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of the 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 warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. This may result in the consummation of a business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

13

Table of Contents

As a consequence of any such purchases by our sponsor, directors, officers or their affiliates, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to obtain the continued listing of our securities on NASDAQ or another national securities exchange in connection with our initial business combination.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their respective affiliates anticipate that they will identify the public stockholders with whom they may pursue privately negotiated purchases through either direct contact by the public stockholders or by our receipt of redemption requests or votes against the business combination submitted by such public stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. The sellers of any shares so purchased by our sponsor, officers, advisors, directors and/or their affiliates would, as part of the sale arrangement, revoke their election to redeem such shares and withdraw their vote against the business combination. The terms of such purchases would operate to facilitate our ability to consummate a proposed business combination by potentially reducing the number of shares redeemed for cash.

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule

10b-18

under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule

10b-18,

which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule

10b-5

of the Exchange Act. Rule

10b-18

has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.

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

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the consummation of our initial business combination at a

per-share

price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including any amounts representing deferred underwriting commissions and interest earned on the trust account (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is approximately $10.20 per public share (based on the trust account balance as of December 31, 2021). There will be no redemption rights upon the consummation of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023 or if we liquidate prior to January 8, 2023. The initial holders and our directors and officers have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023. However, the initial holders and our directors and officers will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination or liquidate by January 8, 2023.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination or by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and

14

Table of Contents

whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement.

We currently intend to conduct redemptions pursuant to a stockholder vote unless stockholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons.

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

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with

Rule 10b5-1

to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with

Rule 14e-5

under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule

14e-1(a)

under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to consummate our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem 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 (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or Nasdaq, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will:

• file proxy materials with the SEC.

We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public stockholders at least 10 days prior to the stockholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such stockholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any stockholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our NASDAQ listing or Exchange Act registration.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of

15

Table of Contents

the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders, officers and directors will count towards this quorum and have agreed to vote any founder shares, placement shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. We expect that at the time of any stockholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 23.0% of our outstanding shares of common stock entitled to vote thereon. In the event that Cantor Fitzgerald or CCM vote placement shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination, a smaller portion of affirmative votes from other public stockholders would be required to approve our initial business combination. As a result of the placement shares that Cantor Fitzgerald and CCM will hold, they may have different interests with respect to a vote on an initial business combination than other public stockholders. These quorum and voting thresholds and agreements may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination after payment of deferred underwriting commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), and, in any event, the terms of the proposed business combination may require our net tangible assets to be greater than $5,000,001. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or members of its management team, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the allocation of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. If the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly tendered plus the amount of any cash payments required pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceeds the aggregate amount of cash available to us, taking into consideration the requirement that we maintain net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 or such greater amount depending on the terms of our potential business combination, we will not consummate the business combination and any shares of Class A common stock tendered pursuant to the tender offer will be returned to the holders thereof following the expiration of the tender offer.

Limitation on redemption upon consummation of a business combination if we seek stockholder approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to an aggregate of more than 20.0% of the shares sold in the initial public offering without our prior consent. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 20.0% of the shares sold in the initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem to no more than 20.0% of the shares sold in the initial public offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small number of stockholders 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 stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 20.0% of the shares sold in the initial public offering) for or against our initial business combination.

16

Table of Contents

Tendering stock certificates in connection with redemption rights

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

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $100.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

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

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

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

17

Table of Contents

If our proposed initial business combination is not consummated, we may continue to try to consummate a business combination with a different target until January 8, 2023.

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we have only until January 8, 2023 to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by January 8, 2023, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, pro rata to our public stockholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs. If we have not consummated a business combination by January 8, 2023, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem all public shares then outstanding at a

per-share

price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (net of taxes payable) and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such completion window.

The initial holders, our officers and directors have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and placement shares, as applicable, (i) in connection with the consummation of a business combination, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 and (iii) if we fail to consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023 or if we liquidate prior to January 8, 2023. The initial holders and our officers and directors have also agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to public shares in connection with the consummation of a business combination and in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023. However, the initial holders and our officers and directors will be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any public shares held by them if we fail to consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023.

The representative has agreed to waive its rights to deferred underwriting commissions held in the trust account if we do not consummate a business combination and subsequently liquidate and, in such event, the deferred underwriting commissions held in the trust account will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

Our initial stockholders, executive officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a

per-share

price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (net of taxes payable), 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 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.

18

Table of Contents

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

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the private placement, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the

per-share

redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.20. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual

per-share

redemption amount received by stockholders will not be less than the $10.20 per public share initially on deposit in the trust account. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (except our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. If we do not obtain a waiver from a third party, we will obtain the written consent of our sponsor before our entering into an agreement with such third party. 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 and where our sponsor executes a written consent. 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. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, pursuant to a written agreement, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a definitive transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below $10.20 per share, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We cannot assure you, however, that our sponsor will be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations and we believe that its only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor will be able to satisfy those obligations. We believe the likelihood of our sponsor having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all

19

Table of Contents

third parties that provide products or services to us and prospective target businesses execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

If the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.20 per public share and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy any applicable obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in a particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the

per-share

redemption price will not be less than $10.20 per public share.

We will have access to the net proceeds from the initial public offering and the private placement held out of trust with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a

60-day

notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a

90-day

period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional

150-day

waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. If we have not consummated a business combination by January 8, 2023, or earlier at the discretion of our board, 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 all public shares then outstanding at a

per-share

price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following January 8, 2023 and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims

20

Table of Contents

or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (except our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account.

As a result of this obligation and our sponsor’s indemnification of the trust account against certain claims as previously described in this section, we believe that the claims that could be made against us will be significantly limited and that the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below $10.20 per public share, and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.20 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023, (ii) in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the consummation of the initial business combination. Also, our management may cease to pursue a business combination prior to January 8, 2023 (our board of directors may determine to liquidate the trust account prior to such expiration if it determines, in its business judgment, that it is improbable within the remaining time to identify an attractive business combination or satisfy regulatory and other business and legal requirements to consummate a business combination). In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds and operating businesses seeking strategic

21

Table of Contents

acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than 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 to our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights will reduce the resources available to us for an initial business combination. In addition, the number of our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

Facilities

We currently maintain our executive offices at 2201 Broadway, Suite 705, Oakland, CA 94612. We have agreed to pay our sponsor or its affiliate or designee a total of $20,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and shared support services. A portion of such payment is paid by our sponsor to an affiliate of a member of our sponsor for additional office space and certain support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Employees

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

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We have registered our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the above requirements or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the above requirements. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We are required to evaluate and report on our internal control procedures over financial reporting for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed

22

Table of Contents

to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a

non-binding

advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some stockholders find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

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

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by

non-affiliates

exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30

th

, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in

non-convertible

debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation

S-K.

Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by

non-affiliates

exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by

non-affiliates

exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th.

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, which we believe are the principal risks that we face and of which we are currently aware, and all of the other information contained in this Annual Report. If any of the events or developments described below occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be negatively affected.

23

Table of Contents

Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination, unless such vote is required by law or NASDAQ, which means we may consummate our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable state law or the rules of NASDAQ or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For example, NASDAQ rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we structure a business combination that requires us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by law or NASDAQ rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, where we are not required but elect to seek stockholder approval, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock do not approve of the business combination we consummate.

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

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any placement shares and public shares they hold in favor of our initial business combination. If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if holders of founder shares agreed to vote their founder shares, placement shares and public shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

Your ability 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, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. Since our board of directors may consummate a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right to vote on the business combination unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, your ability to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights with respect to a proposed business combination.

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

We may enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to provide all of our stockholders with an opportunity to redeem all of their shares in connection with the consummation of any initial business combination, although our sponsor, directors and officers and each holder of placement units has agreed to waive his, her or its respective redemption rights with respect to founder shares and placement shares, and in the case of the initial holders, public shares held by him, her or it in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. If too many

24

Table of Contents

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

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

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. Furthermore, this dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provision of the Class B common stock results in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than

one-to-one

basis upon conversion of the Class B common stock at the time of our business combination. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.

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

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

The requirement that we complete a business combination by January 8, 2023 may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to consummate a business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023. Consequently, such target

25

Table of Contents

businesses may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete a business combination with it, we may be unable to identify another target business and complete a business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to January 8, 2023. Depending upon when we identify a potential target business, we may have only a limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into a business combination on terms that we might have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

We may not be able to consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023, 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 must complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate a business combination within that time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not consummated a business combination by January 8, 2023, or earlier, at the discretion of our board pursuant to the expiration of a tender offer conducted in connection with a failed business combination, 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 all public shares then outstanding at a

per-share

price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account, less any interest released to us for the payment of taxes or dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.20 per share and our warrants will expire worthless.

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 coronavirus

(COVID-19)

pandemic.

The

COVID-19 pandemic

could continue to, and other infectious diseases could in the future, adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if continued concerns relating to

COVID-19 restrict

travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which

COVID-19 impacts

our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of

COVID-19 and

the actions to contain

COVID-19 or

treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by

COVID-19 or

other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares of common stock from public stockholders, in which case they may influence a vote in favor of a proposed business combination that you do not support and reduce the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants.

If we seek stockholder approval of our business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers or their respective affiliates may purchase shares or warrants in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions either prior to or following the consummation of our initial business combination. Our sponsor,

26

Table of Contents

directors, officers and their respective affiliates may also enter into transactions with stockholders and others to provide them with incentives to, among other things, acquire shares of our common stock or vote their shares in favor of an initial business combination. Our directors, officers or their affiliates will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material

non-public

information not disclosed to the seller or during a restricted period under Regulation M under the Exchange Act or in a transaction which would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule

10(b)-5

under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase would include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A common stock or public warrants and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to obtain or maintain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

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

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

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the consummation of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate a business combination by January 8, 2023, subject to applicable law; (iii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by January 8, 2023; or (iv) otherwise upon our liquidation or in the event our board of directors resolves to liquidate the trust account and ceases to pursue the consummation of a business combination prior to January 8, 2023 (our board of directors may determine to liquidate the trust account prior to such date if it determines, in its business judgment, that it is improbable within the remaining time that we will be able to identify an attractive business combination or satisfy regulatory and other business and legal requirements to consummate a business combination). In addition, if our plan to redeem our public shares if we are unable to consummate an initial business combination by January 8, 2023 is not consummated for any reason, Delaware law may require that we submit a plan of dissolution to our then-existing stockholders for approval prior to the distribution of the proceeds held in our trust account. In that case, public stockholders may be forced to wait beyond January 8, 2023 before they receive

27

Table of Contents

funds from our trust account. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any rights to the proceeds from our trust account with respect to their warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

Since we intend to use the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the private placement to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we had net tangible assets in excess of $5.0 million upon the completion of the initial public offering and the private placement and we filed a Current Report on Form

8-K,

including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419 under the Securities Act. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units were immediately tradable and we have a longer period of time to complete a business combination than would companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, offerings subject to Rule 419 would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us, except in connection with our consummation of an initial business combination.

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, you may receive only $10.20 per share from our redemption of your shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources, or more 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, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. 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 stockholders may receive only $10.20 per share (based on the trust account balance as of December 31, 2021) from our redemption of our shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

If the net proceeds from the initial public offering and the private placement not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor to fund our search for an initial business combination, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the private placement, $1,098,573 was available to us as of December 31, 2021 outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. None of our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their

28

Table of Contents

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. If we are unable to obtain these loans, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive $10.20 per share on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.20 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the

per-share

redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share” and other risk factors in this section.

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

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this examination will uncover all material risks that may be presented by a particular target business, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies the principal risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. As a result, from time to time following our initial business combination, we may be forced to write-down or

write-off

assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even though these charges may be

non-cash

items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming

pre-existing

debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any securityholders who choose to remain securityholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such securityholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the initial business combination constituted an actionable material misstatement or omission.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the

per-share

redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.20 per share.

Placing funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we seek to have all vendors, service providers (except our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements or, even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, claims for fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement without a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any available alternative. If we do not obtain a waiver from a third party, we will obtain the written consent of our sponsor before entering into an agreement with such third party.

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 management believes to be

29

Table of Contents

significantly superior to those of other consultants who would execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver and where our sponsor executes a written consent. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete a business combination within the required time frame, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with a business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the

per-share

redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.20 per share initially held in the trust account due to claims of such creditors. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below $10.20 per share except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, if an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, such indemnitor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we believe that its only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy these obligations.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

If proceeds in the trust account are reduced below $10.20 per public share and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.20 per share.

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

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

30

Table of Contents

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, by making distributions to public stockholders before making provision for creditors, 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 for punitive damages.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the

per-share

amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

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

per-share

amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not consummate our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a

60-day

notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a

90-day

period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional

150-day

waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following January 8, 2023 if we do not consummate an initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations are limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers or investment bankers) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot

31

Table of Contents

assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate our initial business combination by January 8, 2023 is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate a business combination.

Source: SEC EDGAR (public domain) · 10-K for the period ended 2021-12-31, filed 2022-03-24 · accession 0001193125-22-083868

Filing HTML rendered to line-structured narrative text by the shipped reducer (datafeeds.edgar_fulltext.visible_text, keep_table_headers=True): scripts and inline-XBRL headers are dropped, and table content is reduced to its short label cells — numeric table data is not rendered and is therefore not counted. The same rendering is used for every year, so a year-over-year comparison is like for like.

The text is our rendering of the filing, not a facsimile: original pagination, typography and tables are not reproduced, and the numbers live in the financial statements (FA).

The outline locates item HEADINGS in this document. Only Items 1A and 7 have certified boundaries elsewhere in the terminal (the redline and the narrative-overlap number); every span here runs from one heading found to the next heading found.

How the outline was chosen. It is the longest chain of item headings that runs forward through both the document and the standard item order: 17 headings are on that chain and 16 further heading-shaped lines are not — the table-of-contents echo of every item, cross-references and exhibit-list mentions. Each entry's length is measured from its heading to the next heading on the chain.