Lake Superior (LKSP) inks Openmarkets Group merger with up to 100M shares
Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. (LKSP), a SPAC formed in the British Virgin Islands, filed its annual report and outlined plans to complete an initial business combination in financial services or adjacent industries.
The company reported cash of $485,927 and working capital of $431,882 as of December 31, 2025, and its auditor raised substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern if no deal is completed by its deadline. LKSP detailed typical SPAC investor protections, including the right for public shareholders to redeem shares for cash around $10.00 per share in connection with a business combination or liquidation.
LKSP disclosed a definitive Business Combination Agreement signed on January 23, 2026 with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd (OMG) and its seller. The structure includes a merger, a liquidation of the SPAC into a new purchaser entity, and the contribution of all OMG shares in exchange for approximately 30,000,000 purchaser shares, valued at $10.00 per share for deal calculations. The seller may earn up to an additional 70,000,000 milestone shares, including 30,000,000 license milestone shares tied to specific Australian regulatory approvals and up to 40,000,000 performance milestone shares based on client assets serviced by OMG as of December 31, 2028, capped at $400,000,000 of deemed value.
The agreement contains customary closing conditions, representations and warranties, non‑competition and lock‑up arrangements, and a latest outside closing date of December 31, 2026, after which the deal can be terminated if not completed. The filing also highlights significant SPAC‑specific risks, including high potential dilution from founder and milestone shares, redemption risks that could limit cash available for the transaction, intense competition for acquisition targets, and the possibility that shareholders receive no more than approximately $10.00 per share if the SPAC ultimately liquidates.
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Insights
LKSP signs a sizable SPAC merger deal but faces going‑concern and execution risks.
Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. is a pre‑revenue SPAC whose core update is a definitive Business Combination Agreement with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd. The base equity consideration is about
The structure includes regulatory and performance milestones.
The filing also discloses cash of
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes
The aggregate market value of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares with no par value, outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, at June 30, 2025, was $
As of February 12, 2026,
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
None.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I |
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Item 1. | BUSINESS |
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Item 1A. | RISK FACTORS |
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Item 1B. | UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS |
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Item 1C. | CYBERSECURITY |
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Item 2. | PROPERTIES |
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Item 3. | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS |
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Item 4. | MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES |
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PART II |
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Item 5. | MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES |
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Item 6. | [RESERVED] |
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Item 7. | MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS |
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Item 7A. | QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK |
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Item 8. | FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA |
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Item 9. | CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE |
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Item 9A. | CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES |
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Item 9B. | OTHER INFORMATION |
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Item 9C. | DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS |
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PART III |
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Item 10. | DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE |
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Item 11. | EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION |
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Item 12. | SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS |
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Item 13. | CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE |
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Item 14. | PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES |
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PART IV |
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Item 15. | EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES |
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Item 15(a). | The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report: |
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Item 16. | FORM 10-K SUMMARY |
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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (this “Annual Report”) may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’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,” “intend,” “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 select an appropriate target business or businesses in the financial services industry or adjacent industries; |
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· | our ability to complete our initial business combination in the financial services industry or adjacent industries; |
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· | our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses in the financial services industry or adjacent industries; |
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· | our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination; |
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· | our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements; |
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· | our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination; |
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· | our pool of prospective target businesses in the financial services industry or adjacent industries; |
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· | the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities; |
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· | the changes in the marketplace for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance impacting the ease and expense for our negotiation and completion of an initial business combination; |
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· | our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; |
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· | the lack of a market for our securities; |
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· | our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to changes in laws or regulations, including changes imposing additional requirements on business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies and the application of the 1% U.S. federal excise tax under the IR Act (as defined herein); |
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· | the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; |
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· | the impact of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and our ability to remediate the material weakness in a timely manner, or at all; |
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· | the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or 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 in Section 1.A Risk Factors of this Annual Report. 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.
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PART I
Item 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are a blank check company, incorporated as a BVI business company whose business purpose is to effect a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We are an emerging growth company and, as such, are subject to all the risks associated with emerging growth companies. Unless otherwise indicated or the context requires otherwise, the words “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company,” “our Company” “Lake Superior” or “LKSP” refer to Lake Superior Acquisition Corp., a BVI corporation.
Our Sponsor
Our Sponsor is Lake Superior Investments LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Our Sponsor was established by Edward Cong Wang to leverage his extensive experience in acquiring, building, operating and scaling global financial services and complex operations businesses in constantly evolving environments. Mr. Wang has over 15 years of global M&A experience and expertise and has held senior leadership positions as the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Pacifico Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PAFO) and as Chief Financial Officer at Redwoods Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RWOD).
On December 16, 2022, PAFO completed its business combination with Caravelle Group Co., Ltd. (“Caravelle”), a global ocean technology company providing international shipping services and carbon-neutral solutions for wood desiccation. Prior to the business combination, PAFO experienced approximately 99.56% of public shares redemption. This business combination was approved by PAFO’s shareholders at a special meeting held on November 30, 2022. Following the transaction, the combined company, Caravelle International Group, began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CACO” on December 19, 2022. As of January 6, 2025, the ordinary shares of Caravelle International Group trade at $4.12.
On June 21, 2024, RWOD successfully completed a business combination with ANEW Medical, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on neurodegenerative and age-related diseases. Prior to the business combination, RWOD’s stockholders approved 2 extensions, with approximately 83% of public shares redeemed, reducing trust account funds from $115 million to $19 million. Following the transaction, ANEW Medical, Inc. securities trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under "KLTO" (shares) and "WENAW" (warrants), with recent closing prices of $0.6 and $0.066 as of January 6, 2025.
We believe that the collective experience of the team members of our Sponsor, in combination with their deep and broad global network of relationships across public and private sectors in both mature as well as emerging markets, provides us with a competitive advantage to identify, structure, finance and acquire the operations of a compelling target business. In pursuing our strategy of creating a strong operating company, capable of scaling up and generating free cash flow, we intend to add value to the target business through active engagement with its management team, and enabling that company to leverage the benefits of scale to grow and increase profitability.
Because Sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, our public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. Further, the Class A ordinary shares issuable in connection with the conversion of the founder shares may result in material dilution to our public shareholders due to the anti-dilution rights of our founder shares that may result in an issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion. See the section titled “Risk Factors - Risks Relating to Our Securities - The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our ordinary shares at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share” for more information.
Pursuant to a letter agreement entered into with us, each of our initial shareholders, directors and officers has agreed to restrictions on its ability to transfer, assign, or sell the founder shares and private placement units (and the underlying securities) as summarized in the table below.
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Management Team
Edward Cong Wang is our Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wang previously served as the Chief Financial Officer at Redwoods Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RWOD), from March 2022 to June 2024 prior to its business combination with ANEW Medical, Inc., a pharmaceutical company specializes in the development of patented, novel disease-modifying technologies to include key developments in treating neurodegenerative and age-related disorders. Mr. Wang previously served as the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Pacifico Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PAFO), from March 2021 to December 2022, prior to its business combination with Caravelle, an ocean technology company providing international shipping services and carbon-neutral solutions for wood desiccation. Mr. Wang has also served as the managing partner at Pacifico Financial Group since July 2024. He served as the managing partner at The Balloch (Holding) Group from March 2020 to June 2024. Before that, he was a partner at Prestige Financial Holdings Group Limited from August 2018 to September 2019. Mr. Wang served as a partner at Shenzhen Bode Chuangfu Investment Management Co. Ltd., from January 2017 to July 2018. Mr. Wang served as the chief executive officer of ZS Fur & Leather Fashion Co., a family-owned business, from July 2014 to December 2016. Prior to ZS Fur, he worked at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated as a vice president from July 2011 to June 2014. Mr. Wang received a bachelor’s degree in Economics / Finance from Stony Brook State University in 2006 and graduated with a master’s degree of Statistics from Columbia University in 2010.
Ziqi Zhao is our Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Zhao currently serves as Assistant to the General Manager and Head of Overseas Business Department since April 2024. From April 2015 to April 2024. Mr. Zhao served as a Director of Investment Banking for Guotai Junan Securities, one of China’s largest securities firms. With around 10 years of experience in the A-share investment banking sector, he has led and participated in various core business lines, including IPOs, refinancing, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate bonds. He has overseen numerous projects, managing all stages from initiation to issuance; this includes responsibilities such as project initiation, internal review, application, report supplementation, responses to regulatory feedback, and post-meeting documentation. From 2008 to 2014, before joining Guotai Junan, Mr. Zhao worked in Red Star Macalline and Shanghai Sacred Food Co., LTD. as a General Manager Assistant. From 2011 to 2012, Mr. Zhao studied for his Master of International Business from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Mr. Zhao has also completed a Bachelor of Environment Engineering from Donghua University in Shanghai between 2004 to 2008. Mr. Zhao’s relevant transaction experience and financial mastery make him a strong asset to the team.
Independent Directors
We have chosen our independent directors for the purposes of assisting our sponsor with sourcing and evaluating business combination opportunities and developing plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire.
Raymond J. Gibbs became our Independent Director on September 30, 2025. Mr. Gibbs previously served as an independent director at Pacifico Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PAFO) March 2021 to December 2022 and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RWOD) from March 2022 to June 2024. He has spent the last 21 years as chief financial officer or commercial director of high technology and fast-moving consumer goods businesses both in the quoted and private arenas. Mr. Gibbs has co-chaired the UK-China Joint Working Group on Graphene Standardization, organized by the BSI Group and the China Standards Authority, and he has served as the chairman of planarTECH LLC since July 2019, and managers of University of Manchester- Graphene and Advanced Materials space since July 2019. In addition, he served as the president of business development and the chief executive officer of Haydale Graphene Industries PLC, a publicly listed company in the UK, from May 2010 to July 2019. Mr. Gibbs is a Chartered Accountant. Mr. Gibbs received a bachelor’s degree from Nottingham Trent University in 1977. We believe Mr. Gibbs is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive financial, management, and accounting experience, as well as his contacts and relationships.
Manuel C. Menendez III became our Independent Director on September 30, 2025. With nearly 40 years of global experience in international business, Mr. Menendez has a proven track record in diverse markets including China, the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S., Europe, and Central and South America. Mr. Menendez currently serves as the Independent Director at Healthcare AI Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: HAIA) since November 2023. As the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of MCM Group Holdings Ltd., he specializes in international business development and investments, with a particular focus on cross-border investments, trade negotiations, and market entry strategies. Mr. Menendez was notably the CEO of Great Eastern Development (GED), leading the first U.S.-China Equity Joint Venture for a Fortune 100 company in 1980. His extensive involvement in humanitarian efforts includes serving as a pro bono advisor to the United Nations' WHO and UNEP. Mr. Menendez's vast international experience and commitment to sustainable business practices make him an invaluable asset to our board of directors. We believe Mr. Menendez is qualified to serve on our board of directors based on his international investment experience.
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Stephen Yas became our Independent Director on September 30, 2025. Mr. Yas is an accomplished architect with over 40 years of experience in the industry, currently serving as Managing Director at Novo Architects. As former Director of China at bKL Architecture, Regional Managing Director of dwp China, and Director of the Leadership in International Finance Group, he has garnered broad global real estate expertise. His project portfolio includes prestigious mixed-use developments, commercial, hospitality, high-rise, and corporate headquarters. He has been involved with many prestigious national and international award-winning projects, receiving recognition from the American Institute of Architects, HUD, Oxford University and Ohio University. He has been a critic and lecturer at many architectural schools, as well as being a much sought-after public speaker and frequent contributor, to architectural publications.
Additional Disclosures
Executive Office and Registered Office
Our executive offices are located at 521 Fifth Avenue 17th Floor, New York, NY 10175, United States of America and our telephone number is +1 646-886-8892. Our registered office is located at the offices of FH Corporate Services Limited, Clarence Thomas Building, P.O. Box 4649, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
Mail addressed to the Company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by the Company to be dealt with. None of the Company or its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the British Virgin Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused with regards to mail reaching the forwarding address.
Effecting Our Initial Business Combination
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until the consummation of our initial business combination. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, the sale of the private placement units, our shares, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination.
We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.
In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law or we decide to do so for business or other reasons, we would seek shareholder 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.
Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq listing rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriter’s fees and permitted withdrawals on the income earned on the funds held in the trust account). We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. The fair market value of the target or targets 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 or value of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able independently to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, 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. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. 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 solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
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In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for investors in the Initial Public Offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.
To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information, which 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.
Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders Upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any ordinary shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriter. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its public shares. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.
Manner of Conducting Redemptions
We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (1) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval under stock exchange listing requirements while, under certain exchange listing requirements, direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.
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If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:
· | conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and |
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· | file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies. |
Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, 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 our ordinary shares 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 complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than we are permitted to redeem, as may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.
If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will:
· | conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and |
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· | file proxy materials with the SEC. |
We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders 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 shareholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.
In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.
Our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our board of directors, and a majority of our independent directors. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we obtain the approval of a resolution of members under British Virgin Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting of the company. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.
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Redemptions of our public shares may be subject to a net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all public shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
Limitation on Redemption Upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination If we Seek Shareholder Approval
Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us, 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 shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our Sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.
Tendering Share Certificates in Connection With a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights
We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, 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 shareholders to satisfy such delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder 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 initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a shareholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.
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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 a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.
Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may not be withdrawn unless the Directors determine (in their sole discretion) to permit such withdrawal (which they may do in whole or in part) at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the general meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.
If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering.
Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if No Initial Business Combination
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will have only 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering to complete our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such 18-month period or during any Extension Period, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under British Virgin Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Our initial shareholders, directors and officers, as applicable, have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period. However, if our initial shareholders acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.
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Sponsor, our directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, in each case unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares.
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $600,000 of proceeds 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 for permitted withdrawals, 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 sale of the private placement units, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the funds held in the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. 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 (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, 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 enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. 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 we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption.
Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter 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, then Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, Sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
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In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, and Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share.
We will seek to reduce the possibility that Sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $100,600,000 from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units, with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $700,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $700,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.
If we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any insolvency claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable performance. As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.
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Competition
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge in comparison to us, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination.
Conflicts of Interest
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, officers or employees of our Sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by either of our Sponsor or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law and any other applicable fiduciary duties. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. For more information, see the section entitled “Management - Conflicts of Interest.”
In addition, members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement units following the Initial Public Offering, as set forth in “Principal Shareholders,” and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
Our directors and officers presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, or in the case of a non-compete restriction, may not present such opportunity to us at all, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law. See “Risk Factors - Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”
Because Pacifico Acquisition Corp. and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. have completed their business combinations and because the other entities to which our executive officers and directors owe fiduciary duties or contractual obligations are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our executive officers and directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination.
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Indemnity
Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.00 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their respective indemnity obligations and believe that Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, Sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked Sponsor to reserve for such obligations.
Facilities
We currently maintain our executive offices at 521 Fifth Avenue 17th Floor, New York, NY 10175, United States of America. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Employees
We currently have two officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any such person will devote in any time period will vary based on the stage of the initial business combination process we are in.
Periodic Reporting and Financial Information
We are required to file Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q with the SEC on a regular basis, and are required to disclose certain material events in a Current Report on Form 8-K. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s Internet website is located at www.sec.gov. In addition, we will provide copies of these documents without charge upon request from us in writing at 521 Fifth Avenue 17th Floor, New York, NY 10175 or by telephone at +1 646-886-8892. Our internet address is https://lakescorp.com/. We include our web site address in this Annual Report only as an inactive textual reference. Information contained in our website does not constitute a part of this report or our other filings with the SEC.
Business Combination Agreement
The Business Combination
On January 23, 2026, we entered into a definitive Plan of Merger and Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd, an Australian proprietary limited company (“OMG”), and BMYG OMG Pty Ltd, an Australian proprietary limited company (the “Seller”) and such other persons who are contemplated to later join this Agreement as the “Purchaser” and “Merger Sub” therein, which are sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and, collectively, as the “Parties.” All capitalized terms used herein and not defined shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Merger Agreement.
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Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the Parties will cause the Predecessor shall be merged with Merger Sub, the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub shall cease and Predecessor shall continue as the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Purchaser (the “Initial Merger”). As a result of the Initial Merger, (i) each issued and outstanding Company Share will convert into the right to receive one ordinary share of the Purchaser (the “Purchaser Shares”); (ii) each Company Unit shall convert into the right to receive one unit of the Purchaser, comprised of one Purchaser Share and one right to receive one-seventh of one Purchaser Share upon the Closing (each a “Purchaser Right”); and (iii) each Purchaser Right shall be converted into the right to receive one Purchaser Right. Following the Initial Merger, we and the Purchaser will cause us to liquidate, such that all assets of us are, or shall be, transferred to the Purchaser and all liabilities of us are, or shall be, assumed by the Purchaser (the “Liquidation”). Additionally, we will cause all of its contracts to be assigned to and assumed by the Purchaser. Following the Initial Merger, the Seller will contribute all of the issued and outstanding equity securities of OMG (the “OMG Shares”) to the Purchaser in exchange for approximately30,000,000 Purchaser Shares (the “Exchange Consideration”), which shares shall have a deemed value of $10.00 per share for the purposes of all calculations and adjustments under the Business Combination Agreement, with such Exchange Consideration subject to adjustment based on OMG’s net indebtedness, working capital, and indemnification obligations following the Closing as detailed in the Business Combination Agreement (the “Acquisition Contribution and Exchange”). Further, in addition to the Exchange Consideration, up to an additional 70,000,000 Purchaser Shares may be paid to the Seller based on certain milestone following the Closing as detailed in the Business Combination Agreement (the “Milestone Shares”). The Initial Merger, the Acquisition Contribution and Exchange and the other transactions to be consummated under the Merger Agreement are collectively referred to as the “Business Combination.”
The foregoing Initial Merger, Acquisition Contribution and Exchange and conversion of securities shall occur all upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Business Combination Agreement and in accordance with the provisions of applicable Law.
Milestone Shares and Incentive Plan
Following the closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”) and in addition to the Exchange Consideration Shares, Purchaser shall
1. | issue an aggregate of 30,000,000 Purchaser Shares (the “License Milestone Shares”) to the Seller upon the achievement of the following conditions (collectively, the “License Milestone”): (i) approval by ASIC of variances to OMG’s Australian Financial Services License to include (A) authorizations to provide general financial product advice in relation to non-cash payment products, and to deal in financial products, including issuing, acquiring, varying and disposing of non-cash payment products, and (B) an authorization to undertake market-making activities in respect of financial products, and (ii) approval by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre of OMG’s registration as a Digital Currency Exchange provider; |
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2. | The Purchaser shall issue to the Seller an aggregate of up to 40,000,000 Purchaser Shares (the “Performance Milestone Shares”). The aggregate value of the Performance Milestone Shares shall be determined by multiplying (i) the aggregate amount of assets of each client serviced by OMG pursuant to tokenization and/or real‑world asset contracts between OMG and such client, as of December 31, 2028, by (ii) 0.2. Each Purchaser Share issued as Performance Milestone Shares shall have a deemed value of $10.00 per share; provided, that the aggregate value of the Performance Milestone Shares shall not exceed $400,000,000; and |
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3. | be entitled to set up an equity incentive pool, representing not less than 5% of the fully-diluted capitalization of the Purchaser immediately following the Closing, for the purpose of administration of share incentive awards to be granted to eligible participants including directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Combined Company under a share incentive plan to be adopted by resolution of the Purchaser’s board of directors or any committee appointed for this purpose by the Purchaser’s board of directors (the “Purchaser Incentive Plan”). |
Conditions to Closing
The obligation of the parties to consummate of the Business Combination is conditioned upon, among other things, (i) the absence of any applicable law, governmental order, or third‑party action prohibiting or enjoining the transactions, (ii) the approval by the shareholders of us, (iii) the making and receipt of all required governmental and regulatory filings, approvals, and the expiration or termination of applicable waiting periods, including under antitrust and foreign investment laws, (iv) the continued accuracy of the parties’ respective representations and warranties and compliance with their respective covenants, (v) the absence of any Material Adverse Effect with respect to us, Purchaser, Merger Sub or OMG; and (vi) receipt of certain customary certificates and other closing deliveries as specified under the Business Combination Agreement.
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Covenants
The Business Combination Agreement includes customary covenants of the parties with respect to efforts to satisfy conditions to the consummation of the Merger. The covenants under the Merger Agreement include, among other things, (i) the obligation of each party to conduct its business in the ordinary course consistent with past practice and to refrain from specified actions outside the ordinary course without the required consents, (ii) restrictions on entering into alternative transactions, subject to customary fiduciary‑out provisions and notice obligations, (iii) mutual covenants to provide reasonable access to books, records, personnel, and information, (iv) covenants requiring prompt notice of certain developments, including governmental communications, litigation, breaches, and material adverse changes, (v) obligations relating to the preparation, filing, and clearance of SEC filings, including the proxy statement and related financial information, (vi) covenants regarding the delivery of audited and interim financial statements and cooperation in the preparation of pro forma financial information and (vii) other customary covenants, including but not limited to tax matter, reasonable best efforts, confidentiality, compliance with applicable laws, and cooperation to secure required consents and financing, as further described in the Merger Agreement.
Representations and Warranties
The Business Combination Agreement contains representations and warranties of us, the Purchaser and Merger Sub relating, among other things, to their proper organization, existence and good standing; due authorization and enforceability of the transaction agreements; required governmental and regulatory approvals; capitalization and valid issuance of securities; compliance with applicable laws, including securities, anti‑money laundering, sanctions and anti‑corruption laws; accuracy and completeness of SEC filings and financial statements; absence of undisclosed liabilities and litigation; tax matters; status under the Investment Company Act; Nasdaq listing status; the Trust Account and related arrangements; finders’ and brokers’ fees; and independent investigation and non‑reliance.
The Business Combination Agreement also contains representations and warranties of OMG and its subsidiaries, relating, among other things, to their proper organization, existence and authority; due authorization and enforceability of the transaction agreements; capitalization and ownership of equity interests; financial statements and internal controls; absence of undisclosed liabilities and material adverse changes; compliance with applicable laws, including employment, environmental, privacy, data security, anti‑bribery and international trade laws; material contracts; intellectual property ownership and non‑infringement; employee and benefit matters; tax matters; real and personal property; customers and suppliers; regulatory licenses and permits; affiliate transactions; finders’ and brokers’ fees; board approval; and independent investigation and non‑reliance.
The Business Combination Agreement contains representations and warranties of the Seller relating, among other things, to its organization, existence and good standing; authority and capacity; due authorization, execution and enforceability of the Business Combination Agreement and related transaction documents; ownership of and valid title to the OMG Shares and authority to transfer such shares to Purchaser; absence of conflicts with organizational documents, applicable laws and material agreements; required governmental and regulatory approvals; absence of litigation; accredited investor status and compliance with applicable securities laws; sanctions and “bad actor” status; the absence of brokers’ or finders’ fees; receipt of required equity holder and board approvals; and independent investigation and non‑reliance.
The representations and warranties contained in the Business Combination Agreement are made as of specified dates and, except as expressly provided therein, generally do not survive the Closing.
Termination
The Business Combination Agreement may be terminated under certain customary and limited circumstances prior to the consummation of the transactions, including: (i) by mutual written consent of us and OMG, (ii) by us, or by OMG or the Seller, as applicable, if the other party breaches any of its representations, warranties or covenants in a manner that would cause the applicable closing conditions not to be satisfied and such breach is not cured within the earlier of 20 business days following notice or the outside date, (iii) by any party if the transactions are not consummated by December 31, 2026 (or such later date as may be agreed), except where the failure to consummate is due to such party’s breach, (iv) by any party if a governmental authority of competent jurisdiction has issued a final, non‑appealable order permanently restraining or prohibiting the transactions, or (v) by any party if the requisite approval of Predecessor’s shareholders is not obtained at the special meeting.
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The foregoing is a summary only and does not purport to be a complete description of all terms, provisions, covenants, and agreements contained in the Merger Agreement, and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Business Combination Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 2.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 30, 2026, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Certain Related Agreements
Lock-Up Agreement
At the closing of the Business Combination, the Seller, and any person or entity who receives Purchaser Shares on behalf of the Seller shall enter into a lock-up agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, and subject to certain exceptions, the Purchaser Shares held by the Seller or any such other person or entity will be locked-up for a period of 180 days from the date of the closing of the Business Combination, in accordance with the terms set forth therein.
The foregoing description of the Lock-Up Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Lock-Up Agreement, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 30, 2026, and the terms of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Non-Competition Agreement
At the closing of the Business Combination, the Purchaser, OMG and its affiliates, successors, and indirect and direct subsidiaries, and the Seller shall enter into a non-competition and non-solicitation agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, the Seller will agree not to (i) compete with the business of the post-combination company for a period of five (5) years following the closing of the Business Combination, among other matters, or (ii) solicit the employees or customers of the Purchaser, OMG, or their affiliates for a period of five (5) years following the closing of the Business Combination, among other matters.
The foregoing description of the Non-Competition Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Non-Competition Agreement, the form of which is filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 30, 2026, and the terms of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Item 1A. RISK FACTORS
SUMMARY RISK FACTORS
We are a newly formed company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth below. Such risks include, but are not limited to:
· | we are a newly formed company with no operating history and no revenues; |
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· | our ability to continue as a “going concern”; |
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· | we may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame; |
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· | you will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances; |
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· | our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us; |
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· | 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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share; |
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· | subsequent to completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges; |
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· | conflicts of interest of our Sponsor, officers and directors; |
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· | we may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business; |
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· | our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination; |
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· | the absence of a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree; |
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· | our competitors have advantages over us in seeking business combinations; |
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· | we may be unable to obtain additional financing; |
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· | we may issue additional equity and/or debt securities to complete our initial business combination; |
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· | our Sponsor controls a substantial interest in us; |
Risks Relating to our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”
At December 31, 2025, we had cash of $485,927 and a working capital of $431,882. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our initial Business Combination, which we must consummate on or before April 8, 2027 (subject to extension) or face automatic winding up, dissolution and liquidation pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We lack the financial resources to sustain our operations for a reasonable period of time and cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or consummate an initial Business Combination will be successful. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or our required liquidation date. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
We may not hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange rules or if we decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, Nasdaq listing rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a general meeting, but would still require us to obtain shareholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding shares, we would seek shareholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our founder shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate.
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If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Unlike many other blank check companies in which the initial shareholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public shareholders in connection with an initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 3,168,335 additional shares, or 31.7% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised), or no additional share (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted, the over-allotment option is not exercised), of the 10,000,000 public shares sold in the Initial Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved. We expect that our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares at the time of any such shareholder vote. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary shareholder approval will be received than would be the case if such persons agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public shareholders.
Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek shareholder approval of such 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. Additionally, since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder approval. Accordingly, if we do not seek shareholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will be based on the percentage of funds remaining in the trust account after redemptions of public shares and will be released to the underwriter only upon the completion of an initial business combination. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay and the payment of the corresponding deferred underwriting commissions. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would not allow us to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
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The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares and the amount of deferred underwriting commissions may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure, and may substantially dilute your investment in us.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, 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 ordinary shares results in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holders thereof. In addition, the amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriter will be based on the percentage of funds remaining in the trust account after redemptions of public shares and will be released to the underwriter only upon the completion of an initial business combination. The per share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the corresponding deferred underwriting commissions. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
In addition, 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 provisions of the Class B ordinary shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure and may result in substantial dilution from your purchase of our Class A ordinary shares. The effect of this dilution will be greater for shareholders who do not redeem. We may not be able to generate sufficient value from the completion of our initial business combination in order to overcome the dilutive impact of these and other factors, and, accordingly, you may incur a net loss on your investment. Please see “— Risks Relating to Our Securities — The nominal purchase price paid by Sponsor and certain of our independent directors for the founder shares may result in significant dilution to the implied value of your public shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination.”
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful 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 shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate the trust account or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame or during any Extension Period may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of such time period. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation. The length of time it may take us to complete our diligence and negotiate a business combination may reduce the amount of time available for us to ultimately complete an initial business combination should such diligence or negotiations not lead to a consummated initial business combination.
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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame or during any Extension Period, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our rights will expire worthless.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we must complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or such later time as may be agreed by our shareholders. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such 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. For example, geopolitical instability emanating from the ongoing conflict between Russia and the Ukraine as well as the recent escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Middle East, could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, geopolitical stability may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 18-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 18 months. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires at least a resolution of our members approved by holders of in excess of 50% of the votes of our ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote at a shareholder meeting of the company, or by way of a written member resolution approved by the holders of in excess of 50% of the votes entitled to vote. If we seek shareholder approval to extend the initial 18-month period in which to complete an initial business combination to a later date, we will offer our public shareholders the right to have their public ordinary shares redeemed for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, as described in greater detail herein.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within such 18-month period or during any Extension Period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under British Virgin Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than $10.00 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our rights will expire worthless. 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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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We may engage our underwriter or one of its affiliates to provide additional services to us after the Initial Public Offering, which may include acting as M&A advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriter is entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause it to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after the Initial Public Offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We may engage our underwriter or one of its affiliates to provide additional services to us after the Initial Public Offering, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing M&A advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with our underwriter or its affiliates and no fees or other compensation for such services will be paid to the underwriter or its affiliates prior to the date that is 60 days from the date of this report, unless such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with the Initial Public Offering.
The underwriter is also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriter’s or its affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination. The underwriter is under no obligation to provide any further services to us in order to receive all or any part of the deferred underwriting commissions.
U.S. laws and regulations, including the HFCAA and AHFCAA, may impact the trading in our securities and restrict or eliminate our ability to complete a business combination with certain companies, particularly those acquisition candidates with substantial operations in mainland China or Hong Kong.
As required under the HFCAA, the PCAOB issued a Determination Report on December 16, 2021, which found that the PCAOB was unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in: (1) mainland China because of a position taken by one or more authorities in mainland China; and (2) Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region and dependency of the PRC, because of a position taken by one or more authorities in Hong Kong. On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB signed an SOP with the CSRC and the MOF, taking the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong completely, consistent with U.S law. Pursuant to the SOP, the PCAOB shall have independent discretion to select any issuer audits for inspection or investigation and has the unfettered ability to transfer information to the SEC. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB will consider the need to issue a new determination. On December 23, 2022, the AHFCAA was enacted, which amended the HFCAA by requiring the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three. On December 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law by President Biden, which contained, among other things, an identical provision to the AHFCAA and amended the HFCAA by requiring the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three years. As a result, the time period before an issuer’s securities may be prohibited from trading or delisted has been decreased accordingly.
Our auditor, Guangdong Prouden CPAs GP, headquartered in Guangzhou, China, is an independent registered public accounting firm with the PCAOB and is subject to PCAOB’s inspection on a regular basis. As of the date of the Annual Report, our auditor is not subject to any determination as to the inability to inspect or investigate registered firms completely announced by the PCAOB. While our auditor is registered with PCAOB and subject to PCAOB inspection, in the event it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our Company’s auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, then such lack of inspection could cause trading in our securities to be prohibited under the HFCAA, and could ultimately result in a determination by a securities exchange to delist our securities.
The HFCAA and AHFCAA would restrict our ability to consummate a business combination with a target business unless that business met certain standards of the PCAOB, and would require delisting of a company from U.S. national securities exchanges if the PCAOB is unable to inspect its public accounting firm for three consecutive years. The HFCAA also requires public companies to disclose, among other things, whether they are owned or controlled by a foreign government, specifically, those based in China. We may not be able to consummate a business combination with a favorable target business due to these laws.
Furthermore, in the event that we complete a business combination with a company with substantial operations in mainland China or Hong Kong and if the PCAOB is not able to fully conduct inspections of or fully investigate our auditor’s work papers in mainland China or Hong Kong or is not able to inspect or investigate the work papers of the auditor of a company we may target for an initial business combination, it could cause us to fail to be in compliance with U.S. securities laws and regulations, we could cease to be listed on a U.S. securities exchange, and U.S. trading of our shares could be prohibited under the HFCAA. Any of these actions, or uncertainties in the market about the possibility of such actions, could adversely affect our prospects to successfully complete a business combination with a mainland China or Hong Kong-based company, our access to the U.S. capital markets and the price of our shares.
Future developments in respect of increasing U.S. regulatory access to audit information are uncertain, as the legislative developments are subject to the legislative process and the regulatory developments are subject to the rule-making process and other administrative procedures. Other developments in U.S. laws and regulatory environment, including but not limited to executive orders such as Executive Order (E.O.) 13959, “Addressing the Threat from Securities Investments That Finance Communist Chinese Military Companies,” may further restrict our ability to complete a business combination with certain China-based businesses.
Our search for an initial business combination, and any target business with which we may ultimately consummate an initial business combination, may be materially adversely affected by events that are outside of our control, such as increased geopolitical unrest, pandemic outbreaks (such as COVID-19), and volatility in the debt and equity markets.
Our ability to find a potential target business and the business of any potential business with which we may consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected by events that are outside of our control. For example, the United States and global markets are experiencing volatility and disruption following the geopolitical instability resulting from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the recent escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. In response to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) deployed additional military forces to eastern Europe, and the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries have announced various sanctions and restrictive actions against Russia, Belarus and related individuals and entities, including the removal of certain financial institutions from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment system. Certain countries, including the United States, have also provided and may continue to provide military aid or other assistance to Ukraine and to Israel, increasing geopolitical tensions among a number of nations. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the resulting measures that have been taken, and could be taken in the future, by NATO, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel and its neighboring states and other countries have created global security concerns that could have a lasting impact on regional and global economies. Although the length and impact of the ongoing conflicts are highly unpredictable, they could lead to market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions and increased cyber-attacks against U.S. companies. Additionally, any resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets.
Similarly other events outside of our control, including natural disasters, climate-related events pandemic or heal crises (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) may arise from time to time, any such events may cause significant volatility and declines in the global markets, disproportionate impacts to certain industries or sectors, disruptions to commerce (including to economic activity, travel and supply chain), loss of life and property damage, and may adversely affect the global economy or capital markets, and the business of any potential target business with which we may ultimately consummate a business combination and could be materially adversely affected. In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by these and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable or at all.
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Recent increases in inflation in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for us to consummate a business combination.
Recent increases in inflation in the United Stated and elsewhere may be leading to increased price volatility in publicly traded securities, including ours, and may lead to other national, regional and international economic disruptions, any of which could make it more difficult for us to consummate a business combination.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent years, the market for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. The premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor, initial shareholders directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public shareholders, which may increase the likelihood of closing our initial business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation or duty to do so. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgment that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or their respective affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. It is intended that, if Rule 10b-18 would apply to purchases by Sponsor, , directors, officers, advisors and their respective affiliates, then such purchases will comply with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act, to the extent it applies, which provides a safe harbor for purchases made under certain conditions, including with respect to timing, pricing and volume of purchases.
Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions.
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The purpose of such transactions could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of our initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of our initial business combination, or (ii) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. To the extent such securities are purchased, such public securities will not be voted as required by Tender Offers and Schedules Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Question 166.01 promulgated by the SEC.
In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Additionally, in the event our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or their respective affiliates were to purchase public shares from public shareholders, such purchases would be structured in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering without our prior consent (the “Excess Shares.”) However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination within the required time period. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our rights will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge in comparison to us, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our rights will expire worthless. 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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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If the funds not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.
The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the Initial Public Offering and potential loans from certain of our affiliates are discussed in the section of this Annual Report titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” However, our affiliates are not obligated to make loans to us in the future, and we may not be able to raise additional financing from unaffiliated parties necessary to fund our expenses. Any such event in the future may negatively impact the analysis regarding our ability to continue as a going concern at such time.
We believe that, upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless. 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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
If the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units 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 may depend on additional capital from our Sponsor, members of our management team, any of their respective affiliates, or third parties to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units, only approximately $600,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $700,000 (excluding underwriting commissions), we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $700,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek additional capital through loans or additional investments from our Sponsor, members of our management team, any of their respective affiliates, or other third parties, to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our Sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their respective affiliates is under any obligation to loan funds to, or otherwise invest in, us in such circumstances. Any such loans may 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 have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only an estimated $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our rights will expire worthless. 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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.
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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 shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency 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 shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable performance. As a result, a liquidator or bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary winding-up or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our liquidation estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any liquidation claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, including events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or non-performance by financial institutions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, or our prospects.
The funds in our operating account and our trust account will be held in banks or other financial institutions and will be invested or held only in either (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. For more information about the risk of the company being considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company, see “— If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.” Our cash held in non-interest bearing and interest-bearing accounts may exceed any applicable Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance limits. Should events, including limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments occur with respect to the banks or other financial institutions that hold our funds, or that affect financial institutions or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds or other similar risks, the value of the assets in our trust account could be impaired, which could have a material impact on our operating results, liquidity, financial condition and prospects. For example, on March 10, 2023, the FDIC announced that Silicon Valley Bank had been closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. We cannot guarantee that the banks or other financial institutions that will hold our funds will not experience similar issues.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may have to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Our activities may be restricted, including:
| · | restrictions on the nature of our investments; and |
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| · | restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. |
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
| · | registration as an investment company; |
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| · | adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and |
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| · | reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations. |
On January 24, 2024, the SEC adopted a series of new rules relating to SPACs. The SEC’s adopted rules do not provide a safe harbor for SPACs from the definition of “investment company” under the Investment Company Act. Instead, the SEC’s adopting release provided guidance describing circumstances in which a SPAC could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including as a result of its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals.
In addition, if we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may have to change or wind down our operations. In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading in securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete an initial business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account will be invested or held only in either (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account.
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Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. The Initial Public Offering is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window; or (B) with respect to any other material provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within the completion window, from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares.
We are aware of litigation against certain special purpose acquisition companies asserting that notwithstanding the foregoing, those special purpose acquisition companies should be considered investment companies. We cannot guarantee that we will not be deemed to be an investment company and thus subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds, may require us to otherwise change our operations and may hinder our ability to complete an initial business combination or may result in our liquidation and the winding up of our operations. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination and are required to liquidate, our public shareholders would lose their opportunity to invest in a target business or businesses through our initial business combination, including any price appreciation of the combined company’s securities following such initial business combination, and may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account as well as our rights will expire worthless.
We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.
We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in the Initial Public Offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained herein regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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We may not be able to complete an initial business combination since such initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirement, including foreign investment regulations and review by government entities such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), or may be ultimately prohibited.
Our initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirements by governmental entities, or ultimately prohibited. For example, CFIUS has authority to review direct or indirect foreign investments in U.S. companies. Among other things, CFIUS is empowered to require certain foreign investors to make mandatory filings, to charge filing fees related to such filings, and to self-initiate national security reviews of foreign direct and indirect investments in U.S. companies if the parties to that investment choose not to file voluntarily. In the case that CFIUS determines an investment to be a threat to national security, CFIUS has the power to unwind or place restrictions on the investment. Whether CFIUS has jurisdiction to review an acquisition or investment transaction depends on — among other factors — the nature and structure of the transaction, including the level of beneficial ownership interest and the nature of any information or governance rights involved. For example, investments that result in “control” of a U.S. business by foreign person always are subject to CFIUS jurisdiction. CFIUS’s expanded jurisdiction under the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 and implementing regulations that became effective on February 13, 2020 further includes investments that do not result in control of a U.S. business by a foreign person but afford certain foreign investors certain information or governance rights in a U.S. business that has a nexus to “critical technologies,” “critical infrastructure” and/or “sensitive personal data.”
If a particular proposed initial business combination with a U.S. business falls within CFIUS’s jurisdiction, we may determine that we are required to make a mandatory filing or that we will submit to CFIUS review on a voluntary basis, or to proceed with the transaction without submitting to CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing the transaction. CFIUS may decide to block or delay our proposed initial business combination, impose conditions with respect to such initial business combination or request the President of the United States to order us to divest all or a portion of the U.S. target business of our initial business combination that we acquired without first obtaining CFIUS approval, which may limit the attractiveness of, delay or prevent us from pursuing certain target companies that we believe would otherwise be beneficial to us and our shareholders. As a result, the pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited and we may be adversely affected in terms of competing with other special purpose acquisition companies which do not have similar foreign ownership issues. In addition, certain federally licensed businesses may be subject to rules or regulations that limit foreign ownership.
The process of government review, whether by CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy. Because we have only a limited time to complete our initial business combination, our failure to obtain any required approvals within the requisite time period may require us to liquidate. If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within the applicable time period required under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, including as a result of extended regulatory review of a potential initial business combination, we will, as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account and as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under British Virgin Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such event, our shareholders will miss the opportunity to benefit from an investment in a target company and the appreciation in value of such investment. Additionally, our rights will be worthless.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless.
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We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our directors and officers will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm. Consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
We may issue additional common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination (although our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that we may not issue securities that can vote with common shareholders on matters related to our pre-initial business combination activity). The price at which we issue any shares may be lower than the price you paid for the units in the Initial Public Offering or at a price lower than the trading price of our Class A common stock at the time we commit to such issuance or at the closing of the business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to: (i) receive funds from the trust account; or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with the approval of our shareholders. However, our executive officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.
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The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:
· | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors; |
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· | may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
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· | could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
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· | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or rights. |
Resources could be wasted in researching business combinations that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our rights will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights will expire worthless.
As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.
In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.
In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors or at all.
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Changes in the market for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors’ and officers’ liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. The premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors’ and officers’ liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity will likely need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our shareholders’ investment in us.
Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the Initial Public Offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
· | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
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· | acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant; |
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· | our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt is payable on demand; |
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· | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
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· | our inability to pay dividends on our ordinary shares; |
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· | using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes; |
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· | limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate; |
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· | increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and |
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· | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
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We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence investigations (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.
We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete a business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association do not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we will only consummate an initial business combination if our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 following redemptions immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination, after payment of deferred underwriting commissions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Subject to any requirement in our initial business combination agreement for a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
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In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may require a resolution of members as a matter of British Virgin Islands law. A resolution is approved by either (i) holders of in excess of 50% (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of the votes of a company’s ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote on the matter at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution has been given or (ii) by a written resolution of the company’s shareholders holding in excess of 50% of the votes entitled to vote. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that amendments relating to provisions governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval of at least 90% of holders of our ordinary shares who, being eligible, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote at a general meeting of the company), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders. In a vote to transfer the Company by way of continuation out of the British Virgin Islands to another jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, the approval of the organizational documents of the Company in such other jurisdiction), which requires a resolution of members, holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have ten votes for every Class B ordinary share and holders of our Class A ordinary shares will have one vote for every Class A ordinary share and, as a result, our Sponsor will be able to approve any such proposal without the vote of any other shareholder.
To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.
Certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions, including those related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of private placement units into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances), may be amended if approved by holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote on the matter at a general meeting of the company, or by way of unanimous written member resolution, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of the majority our ordinary shares (other than amendments relating to provisions governing the appointment or removal of directors prior to our initial business combination, which require the approval of at least 90% of holders of our ordinary shares who, being eligible, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote at a general meeting of the company). Our initial shareholders, who will collectively beneficially own 25% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in the Initial Public Offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete our initial business combination with which you do not agree. In certain circumstances, our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.
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We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
Although we believe that the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate.
In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our directors, officers or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, which may only be approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account, and our rights will expire worthless.
Our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our shareholders and rights holders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.
Although we will attempt to structure our initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. For example, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to any requisite shareholder approval, we may structure our business combination in a manner that requires shareholders and/or rights holders to recognize gain or income for tax purposes, effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, or reincorporate in a different jurisdiction (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located). We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or rights holders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a shareholder or a rights holder may need to satisfy any liability resulting from our initial business combination with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of the shares or rights received. In addition, shareholders and rights holders may also be subject to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after our initial business combination.
In addition, we may effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the United States, and possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions. If we effect such a business combination, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in other jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. taxing authorities. This additional complexity and risk could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition.
Our initial shareholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial shareholders own shares representing approximately 33.2% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (not including the shares of Class A common stock underlying the Private Placement Warrants). Accordingly, as a result of their substantial ownership, our initial shareholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial shareholders purchase any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, holders of our Founder Shares will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the election of directors during such time; provided, however, that with respect to the election of directors in connection with a meeting of the shareholders of the company in which a business combination is submitted to our shareholders for approval, holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock, voting together as a single class, shall have the exclusive right to vote for the election of directors. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended if approved by a majority of the Class B common stock then outstanding. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the initial business combination. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
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Our Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for the Founder Shares, or approximately $0.011 per founder share. As a result, our Sponsor, its affiliates and our management team stand to make a substantial profit even if an initial business combination subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public shareholders, and may have an incentive to recommend such an initial business combination to our shareholders.
As a result of the low acquisition cost of our Founder Shares, our Sponsor, its affiliates and our management team could make a substantial profit even if we select and consummate an initial business combination with an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for our public shareholders. Thus, such parties may have more of an economic incentive for us to enter into an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or financially unstable business, or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, than would be the case if such parties had paid the full offering price for their Founder Shares, or if such a fee were not potentially payable.
Unlike many other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional shares of Class A common stock if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.
The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities convertible or exercisable for Class A common stock, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in our Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which Founder Shares shall convert into Class A common stock will be adjusted so that the number of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, approximately 25% of the total number of all outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of the initial business combination, excluding the underlying Class A common stock, the Representative Shares, any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination and any private placement-equivalent warrants and their underlying Class A common stock issued to our Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to us. This is different from most other similarly structured special purpose acquisition companies in which the initial shareholder will only be issued an aggregate of 25% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination. Additionally, the aforementioned adjustment will not take into account any shares of Class A common stock redeemed in connection with the business combination. Accordingly, the holders of the Founder Shares could receive additional shares of Class A common stock even if the additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities convertible or exercisable for Class A common stock, are issued or deemed issued solely to replace those shares that were redeemed in connection with the business combination. The foregoing may make it more difficult and expensive for us to consummate an initial business combination.
Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such financial statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.
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Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation or, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post Business Combination Risks
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present in connection with a particular target business that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write down or write off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholder who chooses to remain a shareholder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
We may be able to complete only one business combination with the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The gross proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement units provides us with $100,600,000 (or $115,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (which includes $4,000,000 (or up to $4,600,000 if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account, and excludes estimated offering expenses of $700,000).
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
· | solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or |
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· | dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. |
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This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may have limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information.
Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholder who chooses to remain a shareholder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value, unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The departure of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
If our management team following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our founding team may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the business combination partner will may assume the roles of executive officers and directors of our company. Such officers and directors may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If our new management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
After our initial business combination, our results of operations and prospects could be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political, social and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
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We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the U.S. to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
Risks Relating to Our Management Team
Our directors and officers will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our directors and officers are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Our officers are engaged in several other business endeavors for which they may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Certain of our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs, which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, because Pacifico Acquisition Corp. and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. have completed their business combinations and because the other entities to which our executive officers and directors owe fiduciary duties or contractual obligations are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our executive officers and directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs, please see “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Officers and Directors.”
We are dependent upon our directors and officers and their departure could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and in particular, Edward Cong Wang, our Chief Executive Officer and Ziqi Zhao, our Chief Financial Officer. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our directors and officers, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our directors and officers are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
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Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of our or a target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the directors and officers of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of our initial business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.
Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Following the completion of the Initial Public Offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our Sponsor, directors and officers are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Our Sponsor, directors and officers are also not prohibited from sponsoring, or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies prior to us completing our initial business combination. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our Board of Directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions, independent accounting firm or independent investment banking firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
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Our directors and officers also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and the other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to other entities prior to its presentation to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other.
In addition, our Sponsor, directors and officers may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies with acquisition objectives that are similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. As a result, our Sponsor, directors and officers could have conflicts of interest in determining whether to present business combination opportunities to us or to any other special purpose acquisition company with which they may become involved. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, because Pacifico Acquisition Corp. and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. have completed their business combinations and because the other entities to which our executive officers and directors owe fiduciary duties or contractual obligations are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our executive officers and directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Officers and Directors,” “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
Our directors, officers, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with either of our Sponsor, directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination target. However, because Pacifico Acquisition Corp. and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. have completed their business combinations and because the other entities to which our executive officers and directors owe fiduciary duties or contractual obligations are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our executive officers and directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination..
In particular, affiliates of our Sponsor have invested in a diverse set of industries. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would make an attractive target for such other affiliates.
In addition, members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement units following the Initial Public Offering, as set forth in “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters,” and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of British Virgin Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
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We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, directors or officers which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of our Sponsor, directors and officers with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, directors or officers. Certain of our directors and officers also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Conflicts of Interest.” Our Sponsor, directors and officers may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our Sponsor, directors and officers are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in “Item 1 Business - Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement that we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or valuation or appraisal firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, directors or officers, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Our letter agreement with our Sponsor, directors and officers may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with our Sponsor, directors and officers contains provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement units, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction not to transfer the founder shares for 180 days following the completion of our initial business combination will require the prior written consent of the underwriter). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreement. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
Since our Sponsor, directors and officers and any other holder of our founder shares, will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may acquire during or after the Initial Public Offering), and because our Sponsor, directors and officers and any other holder of our founder shares, directly or indirectly may profit substantially from a business combination as a result of their ownership of founder shares even under circumstances where our public shareholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination, including in connection with the shareholder vote in respect thereto.
On September 9, 2024, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.0043 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares. Prior to this initial investment in us by the Sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. Subsequently, on March 18, 2025, our Sponsor surrendered for no consideration and we canceled 1,916,667 of such Class B ordinary shares, resulting in 3,833,333 Class B ordinary shares remaining outstanding.
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Up to 500,000 of the founder shares are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will collectively beneficially own approximately 25% of our issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in the Initial Public Offering).
Our Sponsor and CCM have committed to purchase from us an aggregate of 330,000 units, or “private placement units,” at $10.00 per private placement unit, of which 230,000 private placement units will be purchased by our Sponsor and 100,000 private placement units will be purchased by CCM (for a total purchase price of $3,300,000). These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering. All of the proceeds we receive from this purchase of private placement units will be placed in the trust account described below. Our Sponsor and CCM has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter, they will each purchase from us up to an aggregate of an additional 15,000 private placement units (up to a maximum of 30,000 additional private placement units in total) at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit. These additional private placement units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The proceeds from the purchase of these private placement units will be added to the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and placed in the same trust account described in this Annual Report maintained by Efficiency, as trustee.
If we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement units will expire worthless.
Given the differential in the purchase price paid for the founder shares as compared to the initial public offering price of the public shares and the substantial number of Class A ordinary shares that holders of our founder shares would receive upon conversion of the founder shares upon a business combination, the founder shares may have significant value after the business combination even if our Class A ordinary shares trade below the initial public offering price and holders of our public shares have a substantial loss on their investment. Our initial shareholders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to redeem any founder shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. In addition, we may obtain loans from either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers.
The personal and financial interests of our Sponsor, directors and officers and any holders of our founder shares or our private placement units may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination and may result in a misalignment of interests between the holders of our founder shares, and our officers and directors, on the one hand, and our public shareholders, on the other. These risks may become more acute as the deadline to complete our initial business combination nears. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at a purchase price of approximately $0.0065 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including certain of our directors and officers that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public shareholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their Class A ordinary shares (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). For example, a holder of 1,000 founder shares would have paid approximately $6.50 to purchase such shares. At the time of an initial business combination, such holder would be able to convert such founder shares into 1,000 Class A ordinary shares, and would receive the same consideration in connection with our initial business combination as a public shareholder for the same number of Class A ordinary shares. If the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares on a post-combination basis (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination) were to decrease to $5.00 per Class A ordinary share, such holder of our founder shares would obtain a profit of approximately $4,993.50 on account of the 1,000 founder shares that the holder had converted into Class A ordinary shares in connection with the initial business combination. By contrast, a public shareholder holding 1,000 Class A ordinary shares acquired in the Initial Public Offering would lose approximately $5,000 in connection with the same transaction.
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Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Officers and Directors,” “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”
The value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our ordinary shares at such time is substantially less than $10.00 per share.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor and certain of our independent directors will have invested in us an aggregate of $2,325,000, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the founder shares and the $2,300,000 purchase price for the private placement units (assuming no exercise of the over-allotment option). Assuming a trading price of $10.00 per share upon consummation of our initial business combination, the 3,333,333 founder shares and 230,000 private placement shares (assuming the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised) would have an aggregate value of $35,633,330. Even if the trading price of our ordinary shares was as low as approximately $0.65 per share, and the private placement units were worthless, the value of the founder shares would be equal to our Sponsor’s, and directors’ initial investment in us. As a result, our Sponsor and certain of our independent directors are likely to be able to recoup their investment in us and make a substantial profit on that investment, even if our public shares have lost significant value. Accordingly, our management team, which owns interests in our Sponsor, as applicable, may have an economic incentive that differs from that of the public shareholders to pursue and consummate an initial business combination rather than to liquidate and to return all of the cash in the trust to the public shareholders, even if that business combination were with a riskier or less-established target business. For the foregoing reasons, you should consider our management team’s financial incentive to complete an initial business combination when evaluating whether to redeem your shares prior to or in connection with the initial business combination.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will complete such business combination only if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new ordinary shares in exchange for all of the issued and outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity securities of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain our control of the target business.
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Risks Relating to Our Securities
We may amend the terms of the rights in a way that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights.
Our rights will be issued in registered form under a rights agreement between Efficiency, as rights agent, and us. The rights agreement provides that the terms of the rights may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision. The rights agreement requires the approval by the holders of a majority of the then outstanding rights in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
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 shareholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such shareholder 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 submit public shares for redemption. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the tender or proxy materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares, potentially at a loss.
Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our units are listed and have commenced trading on Nasdaq. Following the date that the Class A ordinary shares and public rights are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the Class A ordinary shares and public rights will be separately listed on Nasdaq. Although after giving effect to the Initial Public Offering we expect to meet, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum market value of listed securities (generally $50,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 400 public holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, unless we decide to list on a different Nasdaq tier such as the Nasdaq Capital Market which has different initial listing requirements, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our shareholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5.0 million, and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders of our unrestricted securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
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If Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
· | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
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· | reduced liquidity for our securities with the potential for higher volatility than more liquid securities; |
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· | a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
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· | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
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· | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A ordinary shares, public rights will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares, public rights will qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under such statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.
The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
The proceeds held in the trust account will be invested or held only in either (i) U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less, or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations, (ii) as uninvested cash, or (iii) an interest bearing bank demand deposit account or other accounts at a bank. To mitigate the risk that we might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer we hold investments in the trust account, we may, at any time (and will no later than 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering) instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account. For more information about the risk of the company being considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company, see “— If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.” While short-term U.S. government treasury obligations currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in the recent past. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income, net of permitted withdrawals (less, in the case we are unable to complete our initial business combination, $100,000 of interest). Negative interest rates could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
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Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include three-year director terms and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
An investment in our securities may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences.
An investment in our securities may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, because there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we are issuing in the Initial Public Offering, the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the Class A ordinary share and one-seventh of one right included in each unit could be challenged by the IRS or courts. In addition, it is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our Class A ordinary shares suspend the running of a U.S. Holder’s holding period for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss realized by such holder on the sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividend we pay would be considered “qualified dividend income” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Moreover, the treatment of the rights to acquire Class A ordinary shares is uncertain and the tax consequences of an acquisition of our Class A ordinary shares pursuant to rights or the expiration or extinguishment of rights are unclear and will depend on the treatment of any initial business combination. Prospective investors are urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to these and other tax consequences when acquiring, owning or disposing of our securities.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you may lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering without our prior written consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
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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 shareholders may be less than $10.00 per share.
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the company under the circumstances. Our independent registered accounting firm and the underwriter will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Our independent registered accounting firm and the underwriter will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.
Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy their respective indemnity obligations and believe that Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked Sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn for permitted withdrawals, and 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 Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
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If we have not completed our initial business combination within 18 months of the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 18 months or any such Extension Period before redemption from our trust account.
If we have not completed our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or during any Extension Period, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of permitted withdrawals), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall be effected as required by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to windup, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the initial 18 months or any Extension Period before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and then only in cases where investors have properly sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior thereto.
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the 18-month period, we may seek an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the period of time we have to complete an initial business combination beyond 18 months. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires at least a resolution of members, meaning that such an amendment must be approved by holders of in excess of 50% of the votes of our ordinary shares who, being entitled to do so, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote on the matter at a shareholder meeting of the company, or by way of a written member resolution approved by holders in excess of 50% of the votes of our ordinary shares. If we seek shareholder approval to extend the initial 18-month period in which to complete an initial business combination to a later date, we will offer our public shareholders the right to have their public ordinary shares redeemed for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, as described in greater detail in this Annual Report.
Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out while we were unable to satisfy the solvency test (that is - the value of our assets exceeds our liabilities and we are able to pay our debts as they fall due) may be guilty of an offence and may be personally liable to us to repay so much of the distribution as is not able to be recovered from members.
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The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders, CCM and their permitted transferees may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into on or prior to the closing of the Initial Public Offering, at or after the time of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, Sponsor and their respective permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement units and the Class A ordinary shares underlying such private placement units, and holders of Class A ordinary shares that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale the Class A ordinary shares.
We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees, holders of our private placement units or holders of our Class A ordinary shares issued in connection with working capital loans are registered for resale.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with no par value, 10,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with no par value, and 5,000,000 undesignated preference shares with no par value. Immediately after the Initial Public Offering, there will be 189,670,000 and 6,666,667 (assuming in each case that the underwriter has not exercised its over-allotment option) authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance. Class B ordinary shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holder, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after the Initial Public Offering, there will be no preference shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares, and may issue preference shares, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional ordinary shares or preference shares:
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· | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the Initial Public Offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares; |
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· | may subordinate the rights of holders of ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our ordinary shares; |
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· | could cause a change of control if a substantial number of our ordinary shares is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present directors and officers; |
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· | may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and |
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· | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units and/or ordinary shares. |
Our initial shareholders paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.0065 per founder share and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A ordinary shares.
The difference between the public offering price per share and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A ordinary shares after the Initial Public Offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in the Initial Public Offering. Sponsor and our other initial shareholders acquired the founder shares at a final price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon closing of the Initial Public Offering, you and the other public shareholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 107.9% (or $9.25 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share after the Initial Public Offering of $(0.68) and the initial offering price of $8.75 per unit (adjusted to exclude the value of the rights and assuming maximum redemption). This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the founder shares result in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier at the option of the holders thereof, and would become exacerbated to the extent that public shareholders seek redemptions from the trust for their public shares. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A ordinary shares.
Holders of our founder shares will control the appointment of our board of directors until consummation of our initial business combination and will hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will appoint all of our directors prior to our initial business combination and may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units in the Initial Public Offering). Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. This potential concentration of influence could be disadvantageous to other shareholders with interests different from those of our Sponsor. In addition, prior to our initial business combination, holders of the founder shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and may remove members of the board of directors for any reason. Holders of our public shares will have no right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a resolution of members passed by at least 90% of holders of our ordinary shares who, being eligible, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote at a general meeting of the company. As a result, you will not have any influence over the appointment of directors prior to our initial business combination.
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Neither our initial shareholders nor, to our knowledge, any of our directors or officers, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, as a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial shareholders may exert a substantial influence on other actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of major corporate transactions. If our initial shareholders purchase any Class A ordinary shares in the Initial Public Offering or in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over these actions.
In addition, our board of directors, whose members were appointed by the Sponsor, is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual general meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for appointment and our Sponsor, because of their ownership position and control of Sponsor, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination.
Accordingly, holders of our founder shares will exert significant influence over actions requiring a shareholder vote at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Our rights agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our rights, which could limit the ability of rights holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.
Our rights agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the rights agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced exclusively in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of our rights agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our rights shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our rights agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the rights agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (for purposes of this subsection, a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our rights, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (for purposes of this subsection, an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such rights holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such rights holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such rights holder. The exclusive forum provision could apply, however, to a suit that falls within one or more of the categories enumerated in the exclusive forum provision and asserts claims under the Securities Act, inasmuch as Section 22 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision with respect to claims under the Securities Act, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a rights holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our rights agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
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Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our initial shareholders will beneficially own 25% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. This is different from some other similarly situated blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.
Our rights and founder shares may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
Our initial shareholders currently hold 3,833,333 Class B ordinary shares (up to 500,000 of which are subject to forfeiture by the holders thereof depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised), and will purchase 230,000 units in connection with the closing of the Initial Public Offering (assuming no exercise of the over-allotment option). The founder shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Each unit is comprised of one Class A ordinary shares and one-seventh (1/7) of one right (which are convertible into one Class A ordinary shares at the closing of a business combination). In addition, if either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers make any working capital loans, up to $1,500,000 of such loans for each such person may be converted into Class A ordinary shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination at the price of $10.00 per share. To the extent we issue Class A ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of these rights or conversion of these working capital loans into our securities could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our rights and founder shares may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
The private placement units are identical to the units sold in the Initial Public Offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) the ordinary shares underlying the units will not be redeemable by us, and (ii) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the private placement rights) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until the completion of our initial business combination.
The rights may become convertible for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.
In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the rights may become convertible for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, you may receive securities from a company about which you currently have no information.
Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign market, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
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If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
· | costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets; |
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· | rules and regulations regarding currency redemption; |
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· | complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals; |
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· | laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected; |
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· | tariffs and trade barriers; |
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· | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
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· | longer payment cycles; |
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· | tax consequences, such as tax law changes, including termination or reduction of tax and other incentives that the applicable government provides to domestic companies, and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
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· | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
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· | rates of inflation; |
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· | challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
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· | cultural and language differences; |
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· | employment regulations; |
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· | crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; |
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· | deterioration of political relations with the United States; |
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· | obligatory military service by personnel; and |
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· | government appropriation of assets. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
We may reincorporate in or transfer by way of continuation to another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may, subject to applicable law and the requisite shareholder approval by resolution of members under the Companies Act (with respect to which holders of Class B ordinary shares will be entitled to ten votes for every Class B ordinary share of which such person is the holder and a holder of Class A ordinary shares will be entitled to one vote for every Class A ordinary share of which such person is the holder) relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the British Virgin Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.
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We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.
We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities.
Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in certain of our target regions may fluctuate and may be affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.
The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.
Risks Relating to Our Status as a Foreign Entity
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.
We are a business company incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the British Virgin Islands. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under British Virgin Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the British Virgin Islands. The common law of the British Virgin Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the British Virgin Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the British Virgin Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under British Virgin Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the British Virgin Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, British Virgin Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a federal court of the United States.
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We have been advised by Forbes Hare, our British Virgin Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the British Virgin Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the British Virgin Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the British Virgin Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the British Virgin Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the British Virgin Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a British Virgin Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the British Virgin Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A British Virgin Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all or substantially all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all or substantially all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, any or all of our management could resign from their positions as officers of the company, and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination could remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with U.S. securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with U.S. securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
We employ a mail forwarding service, which may delay or disrupt our ability to receive mail in a timely manner.
Mail addressed to the company and received at its registered office will be forwarded unopened to the forwarding address supplied by company to be dealt with. None of the company, its directors, officers, advisors or service providers (including the organization which provides registered office services in the British Virgin Islands) will bear any responsibility for any delay howsoever caused in mail reaching the forwarding address, which may impair your ability to communicate with us.
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Economic Substance Risk Warning
The British Virgin Islands, together with several other non-European Union jurisdictions, have recently introduced legislation aimed at addressing concerns raised by the Council of the European Union as to offshore structures engaged in certain activities which attract profits without real economic activity. With effect from January 1, 2019, the Economic Substance (Companies and Limited Partnerships) Act, (Revised Edition 2020) as amended (the “Economic Substance Act”) came into force in the British Virgin Islands introducing certain economic substance requirements for British Virgin Islands tax resident companies which are engaged in certain “relevant activities.” However, companies such as us whose shares are listed on a recognized exchange such as Nasdaq are exempt persons for the purpose of the Economic Substance Act and it is not anticipated that the Company itself will be subject to any such material requirements prior to any business combination and thereafter the Company may still remain out of scope of the legislation or else be subject to more limited substance requirements. Although it is presently anticipated that the Economic Substance Act will have little material impact on Company or its operations, as the legislation is new and remains subject to further clarification and interpretation it is not currently possible to ascertain the precise impact of these legislative changes on the Company.
General Risk Factors
We have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a BVI business company incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through the Initial Public Offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
We have a working capital deficiency and a weak cash position.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $485,927 in cash. Further, we expect to incur significant costs in pursuit of our acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through the Initial Public Offering are discussed in the section of this Annual Report titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These factors, among others, increase the risk that our independent registered public accounting firm could raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate the Initial Public Offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company.
Information regarding performance by our management team and their affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team and their affiliates is not a guarantee that (1) we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (2) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their affiliates or any related investment’s performance as indicative of our future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward.
You are not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.
Although we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units have become immediately tradable and we have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule have prohibited the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.
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Changes in laws or regulations or in how such laws or regulations are interpreted or applied, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.
On January 24, 2024, the SEC adopted a series of new rules relating to SPACs (the “SPAC Rules”), effective as of 125 days following the publication of the SPAC Rules in the Federal Register, that formally adopted some of the SEC’s proposed rules for SPACs that were released on March 30, 2022. The SPAC Rules, among other items, impose additional disclosure requirements in SPAC initial public offerings and business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies; additional disclosure requirements relating to dilution and to conflicts of interest involving sponsors and their affiliates in both SPAC initial public offerings and de-SPAC transactions; update and expand guidance regarding the general use of projections by SPACs in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; and require both the SPAC and the target company’s status as co-registrants on de-SPAC transaction registration statements, which could increase the potential liability of participants in proposed business combination transactions. In addition, the SEC’s adopting release provided guidance describing circumstances in which a SPAC could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, including as a result of its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals. Compliance with such rules and related guidance may increase the costs and the time needed to negotiate and complete an initial business combination, may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination or otherwise impair our ability to complete a business combination.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
We may not hold an annual general meeting until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors until after the consummation of our initial business combination.
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We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.
If we are treated as a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our ordinary shares or rights (regardless of whether we remain a PFIC for subsequent taxable years), the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend upon, among others, the status of an acquired company pursuant to a business combination, the amount of our passive income and assets in the year of the business combination, the amount of passive income and assets of the acquired business and whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the start-up exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, moreover, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. If we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor upon written request by a U.S. Holder to provide to such U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”) election with respect to its Class A ordinary shares, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would likely be unavailable with respect to our rights in all cases. The rules dealing with PFICs and with the QEF election are very complex and are affected by various factors in addition to those described in this Annual Report. We urge U.S. Holders to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules them in their particular circumstances. For a more detailed explanation of the tax consequences of PFIC classification to U.S. Holders.
The 1% U.S. federal excise tax on stock buybacks could be imposed on redemptions of our stock if we were to become a “covered corporation” in the future.
The IRA provides for, among other things, a new 1% U.S. federal excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded U.S. corporations after December 31, 2022 (the “stock buyback tax”), subject to certain exceptions. If applicable, the amount of the stock buyback tax is generally 1% of the aggregate fair market value of any stock repurchased by the corporation during a taxable year, net of the aggregate fair market value of certain new stock issuances by the repurchasing corporation during the same taxable year. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS have released preliminary guidance and proposed regulations on the stock buyback tax that would potentially cause a non-U.S. corporation’s U.S. subsidiaries to be subject to the stock buyback tax with respect to any share repurchases made by the non-U.S. corporation under certain circumstances.
As an entity incorporated as a British Virgin Islands exempted company, the stock buyback tax is currently not expected to apply to redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares (absent any regulations or other additional guidance that may be issued in the future). However, in connection with an initial business combination involving a company organized under the laws of the United States (or any subdivision thereof), it is possible that we domesticate and continue as a Delaware corporation prior to certain redemptions. Because we expect that, following such a domestication, our securities would continue to trade on Nasdaq, in such a case we could be subject to the stock buyback tax with respect to any subsequent redemptions (including redemptions in connection with the initial business combination) that are treated as repurchases for this purpose. In all cases, whether and to what extent we would be subject to the stock buyback tax will depend on a number of factors, including (i) the structure of the initial business combination, including the extent to which the initial business combination involves a U.S. corporation and the extent to which we issue shares in the initial business combination or otherwise during the same taxable year that are eligible to offset any redemptions or other repurchases, (ii) the fair market value of the shares redeemed and (iii) the extent such redemptions could be treated as dividends and not as repurchases. The applicability of the stock buyback tax to us could be further affected by the content of any final regulations, clarifications or other additional guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department that may be issued and applicable to the redemptions.
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Any stock buyback tax that becomes payable as a result of any redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares (or other shares into which such Class A ordinary shares may be converted) in connection with our initial business combination or otherwise would be payable by us and not by the redeeming holder. To the extent such taxes are applicable, the amount of cash available to pay redemptions or to transfer to the target business in connection with our initial business combination may be reduced, which could result in our inability to meet conditions in the agreement relating to our initial business combination related to a minimum cash requirement, if any, or otherwise result in the shareholders of the combined company (including any of our shareholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with the initial business combination) to economically bear the impact of such stock buyback tax.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five (5) years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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Since only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, upon the listing of our shares on the Nasdaq, the Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
After completion of the Initial Public Offering, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, the Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
· | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the Nasdaq; |
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· | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
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· | a majority of the independent directors recommend director nominees for selection by the board of directors. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Item 1C. CYBERSECURITY
We are a special purpose acquisition company with no business operations. Since our Initial Public Offering, our sole business activity has been identifying and evaluating suitable acquisition transaction candidates. Therefore, we do not consider that we face significant cybersecurity risk and have not adopted any cybersecurity risk management program or formal processes for assessing cybersecurity risk. Our board of directors is generally
Item 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal executive offices are located at 521 Fifth Avenue 17th Floor, New York, NY 10175, and our telephone number is +1 646-886-8892. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
To the knowledge of our management, there is no litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.
Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Information
Our Units began trading on The Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “LKSPU”, on October 8, 2025. On October 31, 2025, we announced that holders of our Units could elect to separately trade our Class A Common Stock and Rights included in the Units commencing on or about November 6, 2025. On November 6, 2025, our shares of common stock and Rights became available for separate trading on Nasdaq under the symbols “LKSP,” and “LKSPR,” respectively.
Shareholders
As of February 12, 2026, we had 11,860,000 outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, 3,833,333 outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock, one holder of record of our Class A Common Stock and six holders of record of our Class B Common Stock.
Unregistered Sales of Securities
On September 9, 2024, the Company issued 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”) to the Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.0043 per share. In March 2025, the Sponsor reduced its purchase of Founder Shares from 5,750,000 shares to 3,833,333 shares for the same aggregate purchase price of $25,000, including up to 500,000 Founder Shares that were subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised.
The number of Founder Shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such Founder Shares would represent approximately 25% of the Company’s outstanding ordinary shares upon completion of the initial public offering. As a result of the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option on October 8, 2025, no Founder Shares remain subject to forfeiture.
The issuance of the Founder Shares was made pursuant to the exemption from registration provided under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid in connection with such issuance.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
We did not repurchase any of our equity securities during the year ended December 31, 2025.
Item 6. [RESERVED]
Item 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
References to the “Company,” “LKSPU,” “us,” “our,” or “we” refer to Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and related notes herein.
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated as a BVI business company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not selected any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt. We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.
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Initial Public Offering and Private Placement
On October 8, 2025, the Company consummated the IPO of 11,500,000 units (the “Units”), including the full exercise of the over-allotment option of 1,500,000 Units granted to the underwriters. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share, no par value per share and one right to receive one-seventh (1/7) of one Class A ordinary share upon the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $115,000,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO and the sale of the Units, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 360,000 units (the “Private Placement Units”) to the Sponsor (245,000 Private Placement Units) and the underwriter (115,000 Private Placement Units), Cohen & Company Capital Markets (“CCM”), a division of Cohen & Company Securities, LLC, at a price of $10.00 per Private Placement Unit, generating total proceeds of $3,600,000.
The proceeds of $115,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the IPO and the sale of the Private Placement Units was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) with Lucky Lucko, Inc. d/b/a Efficiency acting as trustee. Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the proceeds of the IPO and the Private Placement that are held out of the Trust Account, although substantially all the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally towards consummating a business combination and working capital.
Proposed Business Combination with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd
On January 23, 2026, the Company entered into a definitive Plan of Merger and Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd, an Australian proprietary limited company (“OMG”), and BMYG OMG Pty Ltd, an Australian proprietary limited company (the “Seller”) and such other persons who are contemplated to later join this Agreement as the “Purchaser” and “Merger Sub” therein, which are sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and, collectively, as the “Parties.” All capitalized terms used herein and not defined shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Merger Agreement.
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the Parties will cause the Predecessor shall be merged with Merger Sub, the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub shall cease and Predecessor shall continue as the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Purchaser (the “Initial Merger”). As a result of the Initial Merger, (i) each issued and outstanding Company Share will convert into the right to receive one ordinary share of the Purchaser (the “Purchaser Shares”); (ii) each Company Unit shall convert into the right to receive one unit of the Purchaser, comprised of one Purchaser Share and one right to receive one-seventh of one Purchaser Share upon the Closing (each a “Purchaser Right”); and (iii) each Purchaser Right shall be converted into the right to receive one Purchaser Right. Following the Initial Merger, the Company and the Purchaser will cause the Company to liquidate, such that all assets of the Company are, or shall be, transferred to the Purchaser and all liabilities of the Company are, or shall be, assumed by the Purchaser (the “Liquidation”). Additionally, the Company will cause all of its contracts to be assigned to and assumed by the Purchaser. Following the Initial Merger, the Seller will contribute all of the issued and outstanding equity securities of OMG (the “OMG Shares”) to the Purchaser in exchange for approximately 30,000,000 Purchaser Shares (the “Exchange Consideration”), which shares shall have a deemed value of $10.00 per share for the purposes of all calculations and adjustments under the Business Combination Agreement, with such Exchange Consideration subject to adjustment based on OMG’s net indebtedness, working capital, and indemnification obligations following the Closing as detailed in the Business Combination Agreement (the “Acquisition Contribution and Exchange”). Further, in addition to the Exchange Consideration, up to an additional 70,000,000 Purchaser Shares may be paid to the Seller based on certain milestone following the Closing as detailed in the Business Combination Agreement. The Initial Merger, the Acquisition Contribution and Exchange and the other transactions to be consummated under the Merger Agreement are collectively referred to as the “Business Combination.”
Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for the IPO. Following the IPO, we have not generated any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after the IPO. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After the IPO, we incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for expenses associated with the search for target opportunities.
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For the year ended December 31, 2025, we had a net income of $666,033, which consisted of interest income from the Trust Account of $1,026,206 offset by general and administrative expenses of $360,173.
For the period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, we had a net loss of $62,691, all of which consisted of general and administrative expenses.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2025, we had $485,927 of cash held outside of the Trust Account, after payment of costs related to the IPO, and available for working capital purposes.
We intend to use substantially all of the net proceeds of the IPO, including the funds held in the Trust Account, to acquire a target business or businesses and to pay our expenses relating thereto. To the extent that our share capital is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account as well as any other net proceeds not expended will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business. Such working capital funds could be used in a variety of ways including continuing or expanding the target business’ operations, for strategic acquisitions and for marketing, research and development of existing or new products. Such funds could also be used to repay any operating expenses or finders’ fees which we had incurred prior to the completion of our initial business combination if the funds available to us outside of the Trust Account were insufficient to cover such expenses.
If our estimates of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating our initial business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, or the amount of interest available to us from the Trust Account is less than we expect as a result of the current interest rate environment, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to consummate our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only consummate such financing simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination. Following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.
As of December 31, 2025, we had $485,927 and a working capital of $431,882. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant professional costs to remain as a publicly traded company and to incur significant transaction costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. The Company currently has no commitments to receive such financing and there is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital will be successful. In addition, the Company has until April 8, 2027 (unless the Company extends such period by amending its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association) to consummate the initial Business Combination. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will trigger an automatic winding up, dissolution and liquidation pursuant to the terms of the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards “Codification Subtopic 205-40, Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern”, management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and potential subsequent dissolution, along with the need to receive additional financing, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of the Business Combination or the date the Company is required to liquidate. The audited financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the Company’s inability to continue as a going concern.
Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements
We have no obligations, assets or liabilities that would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2025. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.
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Contractual Obligations
As of December 31, 2025, we do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities.
The Founder Shares, the Class A Ordinary Shares included in the Private Units, and any Class A Ordinary Shares that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and Extension Loans (and any underlying securities) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement entered into in connection with the IPO. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
In preparing these audited financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP, management makes estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the audited financial statements and the reported expenses during the reporting period.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, actual results may differ from these estimates. We have not identified any critical accounting estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (ASC 480). Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) will be classified as a liability instrument and will be measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) will be classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares will be classified as stockholders’ equity. In accordance with ASC 480-10-S99, the Company classifies Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption outside of permanent equity as the redemption provisions are not solely within the control of the Company. Given that the 11,500,000 ordinary shares sold as part of the Units in the IPO were issued with other freestanding instruments (i.e., rights), the initial carrying value of Class A ordinary shares classified as temporary equity has been allocated to the proceeds determined in accordance with ASC 470-20. If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, the Company has the option to either (i) accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or (ii) recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. The Company has elected to recognize the changes immediately. Immediately upon the closing of the IPO, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption value. The change in the carrying value of redeemable shares will result in charges against additional paid-in capital (to the extent available) and charge to accumulated deficit. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2025, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheet.
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Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC 260, Earnings Per Share. The Company has two outstanding classes of shares, which are referred to as redeemable ordinary shares and non-redeemable ordinary shares. Net income (loss) is shared pro rata between the two classes of ordinary shares. Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period.
The calculation of diluted income per ordinary share does not consider the effect of the rights issued in connection with the IPO and the Private Units since the exercise of the rights is contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As of December 31, 2025, the Company did not have any dilutive securities or other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares that then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share is the same as basic net income (loss) per ordinary share for the periods presented.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Item 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information called for by this item.
Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
This information appears following Item 16 of this Report and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
Not applicable.
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Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Annual Report, is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2025, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that during the period covered by this Annual Report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.
Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in the internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act), during the most recently completed fiscal quarter, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
During the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, no director or officer
Item 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
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PART III
Item 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Officers and Directors
Our officers and directors are as follows:
Name |
| Age |
| Title |
Edward Cong Wang |
| 41 |
| Chief Executive Officer and Chairman |
Ziqi Zhao |
| 40 |
| Chief Financial Officer |
Raymond J. Gibbs |
| 71 |
| Independent Director |
Manuel C. Menendez III | 68 | Independent Director | ||
Stephen Yas | 75 | Independent Director |
Edward Cong Wang is our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. Mr. Wang previously served as the Chief Financial Officer at Redwoods Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RWOD), from March 2022 to June 2024 prior to its business combination with ANEW Medical, Inc., a pharmaceutical company specializes in the development of patented, novel disease-modifying technologies to include key developments in treating neurodegenerative and age-related disorders. Mr. Wang previously served as the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Pacifico Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PAFO), from March 2021 to December 2022, prior to its business combination with Caravelle, an ocean technology company providing international shipping services and carbon-neutral solutions for wood desiccation. Mr. Wang has also served as the managing partner at Pacifico Financial Group since July 2024. He served as the managing partner at The Balloch (Holding) Group from March 2020 to June 2024. Before that, he was a partner at Prestige Financial Holdings Group Limited from August 2018 to September 2019. Mr. Wang served as a partner at Shenzhen Bode Chuangfu Investment Management Co. Ltd., from January 2017 to July 2018. Mr. Wang served as the chief executive officer of ZS Fur & Leather Fashion Co., a family-owned business, from July 2014 to December 2016. Prior to ZS Fur, he worked at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated as a vice president from July 2011 to June 2014. Mr. Wang received a bachelor’s degree in Economics / Finance from Stony Brook State University in 2006 and graduated with a master’s degree of Statistics from Columbia University in 2010.
Ziqi Zhao is our Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Zhao currently serves as Assistant to the General Manager and Head of Overseas Business Department since April 2024. From April 2015 to April 2024, Mr. Zhao served as a Director of Investment Banking for Guotai Junan Securities, one of China’s largest securities firms. With around 10 years of experience in the A-share investment banking sector, he has led and participated in various core business lines, including IPOs, refinancing, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate bonds. He has overseen numerous projects, managing all stages from initiation to issuance; this includes responsibilities such as project initiation, internal review, application, report supplementation, responses to regulatory feedback, and post-meeting documentation. From 2008 to 2014, before joining Guotai Junan, Mr. Zhao worked in Red Star Macalline and Shanghai Sacred Food Co., LTD. as a General Manager Assistant. From 2011 to 2012, Mr. Zhao studied for his Master of International Business from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Mr. Zhao has also completed a Bachelor of Environment Engineering from Donghua University in Shanghai between 2004 to 2008. Mr. Zhao’s relevant transaction experience and financial mastery make him a strong asset to the team.
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Independent Directors
We have chosen our independent directors for the purposes of assisting our Sponsor with sourcing and evaluating business combination opportunities and developing plans and strategies to optimize any business that we acquire.
Raymond J. Gibbs became our Independent Director on September 30, 2025. Mr. Gibbs previously served as an independent director at Pacifico Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PAFO) March 2021 to December 2022 and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RWOD) from March 2022 to June 2024. He has spent the last 21 years as chief financial officer or commercial director of high technology and fast-moving consumer goods businesses both in the quoted and private arenas. Mr. Gibbs has co-chaired the UK-China Joint Working Group on Graphene Standardization, organized by the BSI Group and the China Standards Authority, and he has served as the chairman of planarTECH LLC since July 2019, and managers of University of Manchester-Graphene and Advanced Materials space since July 2019. In addition, he served as the president of business development and the chief executive officer of Haydale Graphene Industries PLC, a publicly listed company in the UK, from May 2010 to July 2019. Mr. Gibbs is a Chartered Accountant. Mr. Gibbs received a bachelor’s degree from Nottingham Trent University in 1977. We believe Mr. Gibbs is qualified to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive financial, management, and accounting experience, as well as his contacts and relationships.
Manuel C. Menendez III became our Independent Director on September 30, 2025. With nearly 40 years of global experience in international business, Mr. Menendez has a proven track record in diverse markets including China, the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S., Europe, and Central and South America. Mr. Menendez currently serves as the Independent Director at Healthcare AI Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: HAIA) since November 2023. As the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of MCM Group Holdings Ltd., he specializes in international business development and investments, with a particular focus on cross-border investments, trade negotiations, and market entry strategies. Mr. Menendez was notably the CEO of Great Eastern Development (GED), leading the first U.S.-China Equity Joint Venture for a Fortune 100 company in 1980. His extensive involvement in humanitarian efforts includes serving as a pro bono advisor to the United Nations' WHO and UNEP. Mr. Menendez's vast international experience and commitment to sustainable business practices make him an invaluable asset to our board of directors. We believe Mr. Menendez is qualified to serve on our board of directors based on his international investment experience.
Stephen Yas became our Independent Director on September 30, 2025. Mr. Yas is an accomplished architect with over 40 years of experience in the industry, currently serving as Managing Director at Novo Architects. As former Director of China at bKL Architecture, Regional Managing Director of dwp China, and Director of the Leadership in International Finance Group, he has garnered broad global real estate expertise. His project portfolio includes prestigious mixed-use developments, commercial, hospitality, high-rise, and corporate headquarters. He has been involved with many prestigious national and international award-winning projects, receiving recognition from the American Institute of Architects, HUD, Oxford University and Ohio University. He has been a critic and lecturer at many architectural schools, as well as being a much sought-after public speaker and frequent contributor, to architectural publications.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
We currently have four directors. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares will have the right to appoint all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of our public shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a resolution of members passed by at least 90% of holders of our ordinary shares who, being eligible, attend (in person or by proxy) and vote at a general meeting of the company. Each of our directors will generally hold office for a three-year term. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the shareholders, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors or by a majority of the holders of our ordinary shares (or, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares).
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Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We have three “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of Raymond J. Gibbs, Manuel C. Menendez III, and Stephen Yas is an independent director under applicable SEC rules and the Nasdaq listing standards.
Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Officer and Director Compensation
None of our directors or officers has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Our Sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our Sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made from funds held outside the trust account (other than any permitted withdrawals). Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements and other than as set forth under “The Offering - Limited Payments to Insiders,” no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our Sponsor, directors and officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.
After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other compensation from the combined company. All compensation will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the initial proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers after the completion of our initial business combination will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.
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We are not party to any agreements with our directors and officers that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business, and we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination should be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination.
Committees of the Board of Directors
Pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules we have established three standing committees - an audit committee in compliance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act, a compensation committee and a nominating committee, each comprised of independent directors. Under Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1), a company listing in connection with its initial public offering is permitted to phase in its compliance with the independent committee requirements. We do not intend to rely on the phase-in schedules set forth in Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1).
Audit Committee
We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee are Raymond J. Gibbs, Manuel C. Menendez III, and Stephen Yas. Raymond J. Gibbs serves as chair of the audit committee.
Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Raymond J. Gibbs qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.
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We have adopted an audit committee charter, which will detail the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:
· | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) our independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence, and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and independent registered public accounting firm; |
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· | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm and any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
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· | pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
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· | reviewing and discussing with the independent registered public accounting firm all relationships the independent registered public accounting firm has with us in order to evaluate their continued independence; |
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· | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm; |
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· | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
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· | obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (1) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures and (2) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within the preceding five (5) years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues; |
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· | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations;” |
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· | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
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· | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
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Compensation Committee
We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Raymond J. Gibbs, Manuel C. Menendez III, and Stephen Yas. Manuel C. Menendez III serves as chair of the compensation committee. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:
· | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
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· | reviewing and making recommendations to our board of directors with respect to the compensation, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to the board approval of all of our other officers; |
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· | reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans; |
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· | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
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· | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
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· | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
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· | producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
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· | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the obligations of our Sponsor or an affiliate or advisor thereof and reimbursement of expenses, or as set forth under “The Offering - Limited Payments to Insiders”, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing shareholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, independent legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
We have established a nominating and corporate governance committee of the board of directors. The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Raymond J. Gibbs, Manuel C. Menendez III, and Stephen Yas. Stephen Yas serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. We have adopted a nominating and corporate governance committee charter, which details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:
· | identifying, screening and reviewing individuals qualified to serve as directors, consistent with criteria approved by the board of directors, and recommending to the board of directors candidates for nomination for election at the annual general meeting or to fill vacancies on the board of directors; |
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· | developing and recommending to the board of directors and overseeing implementation of our corporate governance guidelines; |
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· | coordinating and overseeing the annual self-evaluation of the board of directors, its committees, individual directors and management in the governance of Inc company; and |
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· | reviewing on a regular basis our overall corporate governance and recommending improvements as and when necessary. |
The charter will also provide that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.
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We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.
Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
None of our officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more officers serving on our board of directors.
Clawback Policy
We have adopted a compensation recovery policy that is compliant with Nasdaq listing rules as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct (our “Code of Ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our form of our Code of Ethics as an exhibit to the registration statement. You will be able to review this document by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of our Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. If we make any amendments to our Code of Ethics other than technical, administrative or other non-substantive amendments, or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Ethics applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions requiring disclosure under applicable SEC or Nasdaq rules, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website. The information included on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC, and any references to our website are intended to be inactive textual references only.
Legal Proceedings Involving Our Officers and Directors
There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.
Conflicts of Interest
Under British Virgin Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:
· | duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole. Sections 120(2) and 120(3) of the Companies Act provide that a director may (where expressly permitted by the company’s articles of association) act in a manner which he believes is in the best interests of the company’s parent company, even though it may not be in the best interests of the subsidiary company; |
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· | duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and shall not act, or agree to the company acting, in a manner that contravenes British Virgin Islands law or the memorandum and articles of association of the company; |
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· | duty to not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion; and |
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· | duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests. |
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In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care, which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to exercise the care, diligence, and skill that a reasonable director would exercise in the same circumstances taking into account the nature of the company, the nature of the decision and the position of the director and his responsibilities.
As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders; provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.
In addition, members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement units following this offering, as set forth in “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters,” and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
Our management team, in their capacities as directors, officers or employees of our Sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by either of our Sponsor or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law and any other applicable fiduciary duties.
Our directors and officers presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, or in the case of a non-compete restriction, may not present such opportunity to us at all, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under British Virgin Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. Our directors and officers are also not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See “Risk Factors - Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.” Because Pacifico Acquisition Corp. and Redwoods Acquisition Corp. have completed their business combinations and because the other entities to which our executive officers and directors owe fiduciary duties or contractual obligations are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations, we do not believe that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our executive officers and directors will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination.
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Potential investors should also be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:
· | None of our directors or officers is required to commit his or her full time to our affairs and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating his or her time among various business activities. |
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· | In the course of their other business activities, our directors and officers may become aware of investment and business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see “- Directors and Officers.” |
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· | Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Additionally, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months after the closing of this offering or during any Extension Period. However, if our initial shareholders (or any of our directors, officers or affiliates) acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement units will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our initial shareholders until 180 days after completion of our initial business combination. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement units (and the Class A ordinary shares or rights issuable upon exercise of such units) will not be transferable, assignable or salable by Sponsor until 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Since our Sponsor and directors and officers may directly or indirectly own ordinary shares following this offering, our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. |
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· | Our directors and officers may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination. |
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· | Our directors and officers may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such directors and officers was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. |
The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.
Currently, Mr. Wang, Mr. Zhao, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Menendez and Mr. Yas do not owe any fiduciary duties, or otherwise have any contractual obligations, to any entity.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, directors or officers, or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with either of our Sponsor, directors or officers. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, or our Board of Directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent firm that commonly renders valuation opinions, independent accounting firm or independent investment banking firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.
In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that such an initial business combination is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. Furthermore, in no event will our Sponsor or any of our directors or existing officers, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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In addition, our Sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination, although our Sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our Sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence Sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial business combination.
In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination.
Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors
British Virgin Islands law does limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of directors. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that the Company may indemnify against all expenses, including legal fees, and against all judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement and reasonably incurred in connection with legal, administrative or investigative proceedings any person who: (1) is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director of the Company; (2) is or was, at the request of the Company, serving as a director of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another company or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, provided that the person acted honestly and in good faith and in what he believed to be in the best interests of the Company and, in the case of criminal proceedings, the person had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful.
We expect to purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors. We also intend to enter into indemnity agreements with them.
Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.
Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
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Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Please see “Officer and Director Compensation” under Item 10 of this Annual Report.
Item 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of February 12, 2025 by:
· | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock; |
|
|
· | each of our executive officers and directors; and |
|
|
· | all our executive officers and directors as a group. |
Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all ordinary shares beneficially owned by them. The following table reflects shares included within the private placement units but does not reflect record or beneficial ownership of the private placement rights as these rights are not convertible within 60 days of February 12, 2026.
The beneficial ownership of our common stock is based on 15,693,333 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of February 12, 2026, consisting of 11,860,000 shares of Class A common stock and 3,833,333 shares of Class B common stock.
NAME AND ADDRESS OF BENEFICIAL OWNER(1) |
| NUMBER OF SHARES BENEFICIALLY OWNED |
|
| APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF OUTSTANDING COMMON STOCK |
| ||
Directors and Executive Officers |
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
Lake Superior Investments LLC (Sponsor) (3) |
|
| 3,893,333 |
|
|
| 19.9 | % |
Edward Cong Wang (4) |
|
| 3,943,333 |
|
|
| 20.2 | % |
Ziqi Zhao |
|
| 40,000 |
|
| * |
| |
Raymond J. Gibbs |
|
| 35,000 |
|
| * |
| |
Manuel C. Menendez III |
|
| 30,000 |
|
| * |
| |
Stephen Yas |
|
| 30,000 |
|
| * |
| |
All executive officers and directors as a group (five individuals) (5) |
|
| 4,078,333 |
|
|
| 20.9 | % |
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* | Less than 1% |
(1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o Lake Superior Acquisition Corp., 521 Fifth Avenue 17th Floor, New York, NY 10175, United States of America. |
(2) | Interests shown consist solely of Founder Shares, classified as Class B common stock. Such shares will automatically convert into Class A common stock concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. |
(3) | Lake Superior Investments LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the shares reported herein. The sole member and director of our Sponsor is Edward Cong Wang, who by virtue of his control of our Sponsor may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the founder shares held by our Sponsor. Edward Cong Wang disclaims beneficial ownership of the founder shares held by our Sponsor. |
(4) | The 3,943,333 shares owned prior to the offering consists of 3,893,333 founder shares held by the Sponsor and 50,000 founder shares held directly by Edward Cong Wang. |
(5) | The 4,078,333 shares owned prior to the offering consists of 3,893,333 founder shares held by the Sponsor and 185,000 founder shares held directly by our officers and directors. |
The holders of the Founder Shares have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed initial business combination and (B) not to redeem any shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination or in connection with a tender offer.
Our Sponsor and our executive officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoters” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.
Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
On September 9, 2024, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.0043 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in exchange for an aggregate of 5,750,000 founder shares. Prior to this initial investment in us by the Sponsor, we had no assets, tangible or intangible. Subsequently, on March 18, 2025, our Sponsor surrendered for no consideration and we canceled 1,916,667 of such Class B ordinary shares, resulting in 3,833,333 Class B ordinary shares remaining outstanding.
Up to 500,000 of the founder shares are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will collectively beneficially own approximately 25% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering).
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity, Capital Resources and Going Concern.”
On September 18, 2024, our Sponsor agreed to loan us up to an aggregate principal amount of $200,000 pursuant to an unsecured promissory note, which was further amended on September 17, 2025 (the “Promissory Note 1”). The Promissory Note 1 is non-interest bearing and is payable on the earlier of: (i) September 17, 2026, (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering, or (iii) the date on which we determine not to proceed with the Proposed Public Offering. The proceeds from the Promissory Note will be used, in part, for transaction costs incurred in connection with the Proposed Public Offering. As of December 31, 2025, there was no amount outstanding under the Promissory Note 1
On September 18, 2024, we entered into an Administrative Services Agreement with our Sponsor (the “Administrative Services Agreement”), pursuant to which we agreed to pay our Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space and administrative and support services. The Administrative Services Agreement will commence on the effective date of this registration statement and continue until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation.
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On June 13, 2025, our Sponsor agreed to loan us up to an aggregate principal amount of $100,000 pursuant to an unsecured promissory note, which was further amended on September 17, 2025 (the “Promissory Note 2”). The Promissory Note 2 is non-interest bearing and is payable on the earlier of: (i) September 17, 2026, (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering, or (iii) the date on which we determine not to proceed with the Proposed Public Offering. The proceeds from the Promissory Note will be used, in part, for transaction costs incurred in connection with the Proposed Public Offering. As of December 31, 2025, $94,360 was outstanding under the Promissory Note 2.
Our Sponsor has paid certain formation and operating costs on our behalf. Additionally, we have received certain funds from our Sponsor. These advances are due on demand, non-interest bearing and unsecured. As of December 31, 2025, no amount was due to our Sponsor for these advances.
Our sponsor and CCM have committed to purchase from us an aggregate of 330,000 units, or “private placement units,” at $10.00 per private placement unit, of which 230,000 private placement units will be purchased by our Sponsor and 100,000 private placement units will be purchased by CCM (for a total purchase price of $3,300,000). These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the closing of this offering. All of the proceeds we receive from this purchase of private placement units will be placed in the trust account described below. Our Sponsor and CCM has also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriter, they will each purchase from us up to an aggregate of an additional 15,000 private placement units (up to a maximum of 30,000 additional private placement units in total) at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit. These additional private placement units will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The proceeds from the purchase of these private placement units will be added to the proceeds of this offering and placed in the same trust account described in this prospectus maintained by Efficiency, as trustee.
As more fully discussed in “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our directors and officers currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.
Members of our management team and our board of directors will directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement units following this offering, as set forth in “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters,” and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.
Our Sponsor, directors and officers, or any of their respective affiliates, will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our Sponsor, directors, officers or our or any of their respective affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.
In addition, in order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, either of our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans for each such person may be converted into Class A ordinary shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination at the price of $10.00 per share. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
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After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other compensation from the combined company. All compensation will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a general meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive officer and director compensation.
The holders of the (i) founder shares, (ii) private placement units, and Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement units, and (iii) any Class A ordinary shares that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register our securities held by them for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A ordinary shares). The registration rights are described under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Registration Rights.”
Related Party Policy
We have not yet adopted a formal policy for the review, approval or ratification of related party transactions. Accordingly, the transactions discussed above were not reviewed, approved or ratified in accordance with any such policy.
We have adopted our Code of Ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board of directors) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we have adopted, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our Sponsor, directors or officers, or our or any of their respective affiliates.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our Sponsor, directors or officers unless we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from a valuation or appraisal firm that our initial business combination is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. In addition, pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.
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Furthermore, there will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made by us to our Sponsor, directors or officers, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units held in the trust account (other than any permitted withdrawals) prior to the completion of our initial business combination:
· | reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and |
|
|
· | repayment of loans which may be made by our Sponsor, any of its affiliates or certain of our directors and officers to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans for each such person may be converted into Class A ordinary shares upon the consummation of our initial business combination at the price of $10.00 per share. The terms of such loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. |
These payments may be funded using the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement units not held in the trust account (other than any permitted withdrawals) or, upon completion of the initial business combination, from any amounts remaining from the proceeds of the trust account released to us in connection therewith.
Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Guangdong Prouden CPAs GP or Prouden, for services rendered. On November 4, 2025, the audit committee approved the dismissal of MaloneBailey, LLP(“MaloneBailey”), effective immediately, and appointed Prouden as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, with immediate effect, for the year ended December 31, 2025, and to re-audit the Company’s financial statements for the period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Prouden in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Prouden for professional services rendered for the audits of our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2025 and for the period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024, reviews of the financial information included in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2025, totaled $34,000. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. For the year ended December 31, 2025, we did not pay Prouden for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.
Tax Fees. We did not pay Prouden for tax planning and tax advice during the year ended December 31, 2025.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Prouden for other services during the year ended December 31, 2025.
Audit Committee Approval
Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit). On November 4, 2025, the audit committee approved the dismissal of MaloneBailey, effective immediately, and appointed Prouden as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, with immediate effect, for the year ended December 31, 2025, and to re-audit the Company’s financial statements for the period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024.
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PART IV
Item 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15(a). The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report:
(1) See “Index to Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules” and (2) Item 8 to this Annual Report.
(2) Other financial statement schedules have not been included because they are not applicable or the information is included in the financial statements or notes thereto.
(3) The following is a list of exhibits filed as part of this Annual Report.
Exhibit Number |
| Exhibit Description |
| Incorporated by Reference herein from Form or Schedule |
| Filing Date |
| SEC File/Reg. Number |
1.1 |
| Underwriting Agreement, dated October 6, 2025, by and between the Company and CCM. |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 1.1) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
3.1 |
| Memorandum and Articles of Association of Lake Superior Acquisition Corp |
| Form S-1/A (Exhibit 3.1) |
| 9/19/2025 |
| 333-287114 |
3.2 |
| Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of Lake Superior Acquisition Corp |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 3.1) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
4.1 |
| Specimen Class A Ordinary Share Certificate |
| Form S-1/A (Exhibit 4.2) |
| 9/19/2025 |
| 333-287114 |
4.2 |
| Specimen Unit Certificate |
| Form S-1/A (Exhibit 4.1) |
| 9/19/2025 |
| 333-287114 |
4.3 |
| Specimen Rights Certificate (included in Exhibit 4.4) |
| Form S-1/A (Exhibit 4.3) |
| 9/19/2025 |
| 333-287114 |
4.4 |
| Rights Agreement, dated October 6, 2025, by and between Efficiency and the Company |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 4.1) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
4.5* |
| Description of Registered Securities |
|
|
| |||
10.1 |
| Letter Agreements, dated October 6, 2025, by and between the Company’s officers, directors, shareholders and Lake Superior Investments LLC |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 10.1) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
10.2 |
| Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated October 6, 2025, by and between Efficiency and the Company. |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 10.2) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
10.3 |
| Registration Rights Agreement, dated October 6, 2025, by and among the Company and the initial shareholders of the Company. |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 10.3) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
10.4 |
| Private Placement Unit Purchase Agreement, dated October 6, 2025, by and between the Company and Lake Superior Investments LLC. |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 10.4) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
10.5 |
| Private Placement Unit Purchase Agreement, dated October 6, 2025, by and between the Company and CCM. |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 10.5) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
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10.6 |
| Indemnity Agreements, dated October 6, 2025, by and between the Company’s officers, directors, shareholders and Lake Superior Investments LLC. |
| Form 8-K (Exhibit 10.6) |
| 10/10/2025 |
| 001-42896 |
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14.1 |
| Form of Code of Ethics and Business Conduct |
| Form S-1/A (Exhibit 14.1) |
| 9/19/2025 |
| 333-287114 |
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19.1* |
| Insider Trading Compliance Policy and Procedures |
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31.1* |
| Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. |
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31.2* |
| Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. |
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32.1* |
| Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. |
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32.2* |
| Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. |
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97 |
| Clawback Policy |
| Form S-1/A (Exhibit 99.1) |
| 9/19/2025 |
| 333-287114 | |
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101.INS* |
| Inline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document) |
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101.SCH* |
| Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document |
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101.CAL* |
| Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document. |
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101.DEF* |
| Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition. |
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101.LAB* |
| Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document. |
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101.PRE* |
| Inline XBRL Taxonomy Presentation Linkbase Document. |
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104* |
| Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101). |
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*Filed herewith.
Item 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
None.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. |
| |
|
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|
|
Date: | By: | /s/ Edward Cong Wang |
|
| Name: | Edward Cong Wang |
|
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
|
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated below and on the dates indicated.
Signature |
| Title |
| Date |
|
|
|
|
|
/s/ Edward Cong Wang |
| Chief Executive Officer |
| February 12, 2026 |
Edward Cong Wang |
| (Principal Executive Officer) and Chairman |
|
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|
|
/s/ Ziqi Zhao |
| Chief Financial Officer |
| February 12, 2026 |
Ziqi Zhao |
| (Principal Financial Officer) |
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|
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/s/ Manuel C. Menendez III |
| Director |
| February 12, 2026 |
Manuel C. Menendez III |
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/s/ Raymond J. Gibbs |
| Director |
| February 12, 2026 |
Raymond J. Gibbs |
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/s/ Stephen Yas |
| Director |
| February 12, 2026 |
Stephen Yas |
|
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LAKE SUPERIOR ACQUISITION CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID: 7254) |
| F-2 |
Financial Statements: |
|
|
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 |
| F-3 |
Statements of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 and for the Period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 |
| F-4 |
Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Deficit for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 and for the Period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 |
| F-5 |
Statements of Cash Flows for the Year Ended December 31, 2025 and for the Period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024 |
| F-6 |
Notes to Financial Statements |
| F-7 |
| F-1 |
| Table of Contents |
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of Lake Superior Acquisition Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2025, and for the period from March 19, 2024 (Inception) through December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2025 and for the period from March 19, 2024 (Inception) through December 31, 2024, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company is a blank check company that was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities on or before April 8, 2027. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans and the Company’s business plan is dependent on the completion of a business combination within a prescribed period of time and if not completed will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statement does not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Guangdong Prouden CPAs GP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2025.
February 12, 2026
PCAOB ID NO.
| F-2 |
| Table of Contents |
LAKE SUPERIOR ACQUISITION CORP.
BALANCE SHEETS
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Assets |
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Cash |
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Prepaid expenses |
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Total current assets |
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Deferred offering costs |
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Investments held in trust account |
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Total Assets |
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Liabilities, Ordinary Shares Subject to Redemption and Shareholders’ Deficit |
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Due to related party |
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Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
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Promissory note - related party |
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Total current liabilities |
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Deferred underwriting fee payable |
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Total Liabilities |
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Commitments and Contingencies (Note 6) |
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Class A ordinary shares, no par value; |
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Shareholders’ Deficit: |
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Preference shares, no par value; |
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Class A ordinary shares, no par value; |
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Class B ordinary shares, no par value; |
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Additional paid-in capital |
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Accumulated deficit |
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Total shareholders’ deficit |
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Total Liabilities, Ordinary Shares Subject to Redemption and Shareholders’ Deficit |
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(1) | Class B ordinary shares have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the reduction of Founder shares (as defined in Note 5) in March 2025, which allowed the Sponsor to reduce the purchase of Class B ordinary shares from 5,750,000 to 3,833,333 shares for $25,000, including an aggregate of up to 500,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5).As a result of the underwriter full exercise of its over-allotment option to purchase 1,500,000 units on October 8, 2025, no shares were subject to forfeiture. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
| F-3 |
| Table of Contents |
LAKE SUPERIOR ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
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General and administrative expenses |
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Loss from Operations |
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Other income: |
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Interest earned on investments held in Trust Account |
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Income (loss) before income taxes |
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Income taxes provision |
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Net Income (Loss) |
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Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
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Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption |
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Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding, Class A and Class B ordinary shares not subject to redemption(1) |
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Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class A and Class B ordinary shares not subject to redemption |
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(1) | Excludes an aggregate of up to 500,000 shares of Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriter (see Note 5). Class B ordinary shares have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the reduction of Founder shares (as defined in Note 5), which allowed the Sponsor to reduce the purchase of Class B ordinary shares from 5,750,000 to 3,833,333 shares for $25,000, including an aggregate of up to 500,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). As a result of the underwriter full exercise of its over-allotment option to purchase 1,500,000 units on October 8, 2025, no shares were subject to forfeiture. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
| F-4 |
| Table of Contents |
LAKE SUPERIOR ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
For the Year Ended December 31, 2025
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Balance as of January 1, 2025 |
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Private placement proceeds |
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Fair value of public rights |
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Allocated value of transaction costs to public rights |
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Subsequent measurement of ordinary shares subject to redemption (interest earned on trust account) |
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Accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption to redemption value |
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Net income |
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Balance as of December 31, 2025 |
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For the Period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2024
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Balance as of March 19, 2024 (Inception) |
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Class B ordinary shares issued to the Sponsor(1) |
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Net loss |
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Balance as of December 31, 2024 |
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(1) | Class B ordinary shares have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the reduction of Founder shares (as defined in Note 5), which allowed the Sponsor to reduce the purchase of Class B ordinary shares from 5,750,000 to 3,833,333 shares for $25,000, including an aggregate of up to 500,000 Class B ordinary shares subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part by the underwriters (see Note 5). As a result of the underwriter full exercise of its over-allotment option to purchase 1,500,000 units on October 8, 2025, no shares were subject to forfeiture. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
| F-5 |
| Table of Contents |
LAKE SUPERIOR ACQUISITION CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
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| For the Year Ended December 31, 2025 |
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Cash Flows from Operating Activities: |
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Net Income (loss) |
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Adjustment to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash used in operating activities: |
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Interest earned on investments held in Trust Account |
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Changes in operating assets and liabilities: |
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Prepaid expenses |
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Accounts payable and accrued expenses |
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Net Cash Used in Operating Activities |
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Cash Flows from Investing Activities: |
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Purchase of investments held in Trust Account |
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Net Cash Used in Investing Activities |
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Cash Flows from Financing Activities: |
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Proceeds from issuance of founder shares to Sponsor |
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Proceeds from Initial Public Offering |
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Proceeds from sale of private placement units |
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Payment of underwriter commissions |
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Payment of deferred offering costs |
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Proceeds from promissory note - related party |
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Repayment of promissory note - related party |
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Repayment of related party advance |
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Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities |
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Net Change in Cash |
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Cash, Beginning of Year |
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Cash, End of Year |
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Supplemental Disclosure of Cash Flow Information: |
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Remeasurement of Class A ordinary share to redemption value |
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Deferred underwriting fee payable |
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Deferred offering costs paid by related party |
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Deferred offering costs in accounts payable and accrued expenses |
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Accounts payable and accrued expenses paid by related party |
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The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
| F-6 |
| Table of Contents |
LAKE SUPERIOR ACQUISITION CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operation
Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a British Virgin Island (“BVI”) business company on March 19, 2024. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (“Business Combination”). The Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, it is subject to all the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.
As of December 31, 2025, the Company had not commenced any operations. For the period from March 19, 2024 (inception) through December 31, 2025, the Company’s efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to the Initial Public Offering (the “IPO”) as defined below, and subsequent to the IPO, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a business combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of dividends and/or interest income from the proceeds derived from the IPO. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.
The Company’s sponsor is Lake Superior Investments LLC (the “Sponsor”), a Delaware limited liability company. The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through the IPO (see Note 3) and Private Placement (as defined below) to the initial shareholder (see Note 4).
The registration statement for the Company’s IPO became effective on September 30, 2025. On October 8, 2025, the Company consummated the IPO of
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO and the sale of the Units, the Company consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of
Transaction costs amounted to $
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the IPO and the sale of Private Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least
| F-7 |
| Table of Contents |
Upon the closing of the IPO on October 8, 2025, an amount of $
The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “Public Shareholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations, if applicable). The Public Shares subject to redemption are recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the IPO in accordance with the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”
If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, it receives a resolution of members under BVI law approving a Business Combination, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who vote at a general meeting of the Company. If a shareholder vote is not required under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and file tender offer documents containing substantially the same information as would be included in a proxy statement with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor has agreed to vote Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5) and any Public Shares purchased in or after the IPO in favor of approving a Business Combination and to waive redemption rights with respect to any such shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve a Business Combination. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its Public Shares, without voting, and if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against a proposed Business Combination.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company seeks shareholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of
The Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive redemption rights with respect to any Founder Shares and Public Shares held by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (i) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem
| F-8 |
| Table of Contents |
The Company will have until 18 months from the closing of the IPO (the “Combination Period”) to complete a Business Combination. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period,
The Sponsor has agreed to waive liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor acquires Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriter has agreed to waive its rights to its deferred underwriting fees (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the initial amount held in the Trust Account ($10.00).
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below $10.00 per Public Share, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a valid and enforceable agreement with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the Trust Account and except as to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriter of IPO against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except for the Company’s independent registered accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.
Going Concern Consideration
As of December 31, 2025, the Company had $
The Company currently has until April 8, 2027 (unless the Company extends such period by amending its Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association) to consummate the initial Business Combination. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the prescribed timeline, the Company will trigger an automatic winding up, dissolution and liquidation pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Financial Accounting Standard Board’s Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” the Company has determined that it has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a Business Combination will be successful within the Combination Period. The Company lacks the financial resources it needs to sustain operations for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be one year from the date of the issuance of the financial statement. Therefore, management has determined that these conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern until the earlier of the consummation of the Business Combination or the date the Company is required to liquidate. The audited financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from outcome of these uncertainties.
| F-9 |
| Table of Contents |
Risks and Uncertainties
Various social and political circumstances in the U.S. and around the world (including tariffs, rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China, and other uncertainties regarding actual and potential shifts in the U.S. and foreign, trade, economic and other policies with other countries), may contribute to increased market volatility and economic uncertainties or deterioration in the U.S. and worldwide.
As a result of these circumstances and the ongoing Russia/Ukraine, Hamas/Israel conflicts and/or other future global conflicts, the Company’s ability to consummate a Business Combination, or the operations of a target business with which the Company ultimately consummates a Business Combination, may be materially and adversely affected. Although the length and impact of the ongoing conflicts are highly unpredictable, they could lead to market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions and increased cyberattacks against U.S. companies. Additionally, any resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties.
Note 2 — Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statement is presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.
Emerging Growth Company Status
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the audited financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.
| F-10 |
| Table of Contents |
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had $
Investments Held in Trust Account
As of December 31, 2025, $
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $
Offering Costs Associated with the IPO
Offering costs consist of legal, administrative, and other costs incurred through the IPO that are directly related to the IPO. The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5A, “Expenses of Offering.” Offering costs were allocated to the Public Rights issued in the IPO on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs allocated to the Public Shares were charged to temporary equity, and offering costs allocated to the Public Rights were charged to shareholders’ equity, based on the classification of underlying financial instruments, upon the completion of the IPO.
Related Party
Parties, which can be a corporation or individual, are considered to be related if the Company has the ability, directly or indirectly, to control the other party or exercise significant influence over the other party in making financial and operational decisions. Companies are also considered to be related if they are subject to common control or common significant influence.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets, primarily due to its short-term nature.
| F-11 |
| Table of Contents |
The Company applies ASC 820, which establishes a framework for measuring fair value and clarifies the definition of fair value within that framework. ASC 820 defines fair value as an exit price, which is the price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability in the Company’s principal or most advantageous market in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The fair value hierarchy established in ASC 820 generally requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Observable inputs reflect the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity. Unobservable inputs reflect the entity’s own assumptions based on market data and the entity’s judgments about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability and are to be developed based on the best information available in the circumstances.
| Level 1 — | Assets and liabilities with unadjusted, quoted prices listed on active market exchanges. Inputs to the fair value measurement are observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. |
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| Level 2 — | Inputs to the fair value measurement are determined using prices for recently traded assets and liabilities with similar underlying terms, as well as direct or indirect observable inputs, such as interest rates and yield curves that are observable at commonly quoted intervals. |
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| Level 3 — | Inputs to the fair value measurement are unobservable inputs, such as estimates, assumptions, and valuation techniques when little or no market data exists for the assets or liabilities. |
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” (ASC 480). Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) will be classified as a liability instrument and will be measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) will be classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares will be classified as stockholders’ equity. In accordance with ASC 480-10-S99, the Company classifies Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption outside of permanent equity as the redemption provisions are not solely within the control of the Company. Given that the
| F-12 |
| Table of Contents |
As of December 31, 2025, the Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption reflected in the balance sheet are reconciled in the following table:
Gross proceeds |
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Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC 260, Earnings Per Share. The Company has two outstanding classes of shares, which are referred to as redeemable ordinary shares and non-redeemable ordinary shares. Net income (loss) is shared pro rata between the two classes of ordinary shares. Net income (loss) per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period.
The calculation of diluted income (loss) per ordinary share does not consider the effect of the rights issued in connection with the IPO and the Private Units since the exercise of the rights is contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As of December 31, 2025, the Company did not have any dilutive securities or other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into ordinary shares that then share in the earnings of the Company. As a result, diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share is the same as basic net income (loss) per ordinary share for the periods presented.
The net income (loss) per share presented in the statements of operations is based on the following:
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| F-13 |
| Table of Contents |
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Allocation of net income (loss) |
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Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding |
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Basic and diluted net income (loss) per ordinary share |
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Rights Accounting
The Company accounts for rights as either equity-classified or liability-classified instrument based on an assessment of the right’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815. The assessment considers whether the rights are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the rights meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the rights are indexed to the Company’s own ordinary shares and whether the right holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of right issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the rights are outstanding.
For issued or modified rights that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the rights are required to be recorded as a component of equity at the time of issuance. For issued or modified rights that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, the rights are required to be recorded as liabilities at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of the rights are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations.
As the rights issued upon the closing of the IPO and sale of Private Placement Units have met the criteria for equity classification under ASC 815, therefore, the rights are classified as equity; see Note 7 for detail description.
Income Taxes
The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2025. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.
The Company is considered a British Virgin Islands business company with no connection to any other taxable jurisdiction and is presently not subject to income taxes or income tax filing requirements in the British Virgin Islands or the United States. As such, the Company’s tax provision was zero for the period presented.
| F-14 |
| Table of Contents |
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
The Company’s management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.
Note 3 — Initial Public Offering
On October 8, 2025, the Company sold
Note 4 — Private Placement
Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company’s Sponsor and CCM purchased an aggregate of
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On September 9, 2024, the Company issued
In March 2025,
As of December 31, 2025, there were
| F-15 |
| Table of Contents |
Promissory Note — Related Party
On September 18, 2024 and June 13, 2025, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to an aggregate amount of $
Working Capital Loans
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes the initial Business Combination, the Company may repay the Working Capital Loans. In the event that the initial Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $
Administrative Services Agreement
The Company entered into an Administrative Services Agreement with the Sponsor commencing on the effective date of the registration statement of the initial public offering through the earlier of the consummation by the Company of an initial business combination or the Company’s liquidation, to pay the Sponsor a total of $
Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2025, as well as the holders of the Private Placement Units, Class A Ordinary Shares and any shares of the Company’s insiders, officers, directors or their affiliates may be issued in payment of working capital loans and extension loans made to the Company (and any shares of ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of the underlying the private rights), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the registration statement. The holders of a majority of these securities are entitled to make demands that the Company register such securities. Both the holders of the Founder Shares and the holders of the Private Placement Units as well as shares issued in payment of working capital loans made to the Company, if applicable, will have the ability to elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after the consummation of an initial business combination. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the consummation of an initial business combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriter Agreement
The Company has granted the underwriter a 45-day option from the date of IPO to purchase up to
| F-16 |
| Table of Contents |
The underwriters were paid a cash underwriting discount of two percent (2%) of the gross proceeds of the IPO, or $
Note 7 — Shareholders’ Deficit
Preference Shares — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class A Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class B Ordinary Shares — The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Only holders of Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to the Business Combination. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders except as otherwise required by law.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of a Business Combination or earlier at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts issued in the IPO and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which the Class B ordinary shares will convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the issued and outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such anti-dilution adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis,
Rights —
| F-17 |
| Table of Contents |
If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of rights will not receive any of such funds with respect to their rights, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with respect to such rights, and the rights will expire worthless. Further, there are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities to the holders of the rights upon consummation of a Business Combination. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the rights. Accordingly, holders of the rights might not receive the shares of ordinary shares underlying the rights.
Note 8 — Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2025 (there were no such assets as of December 31, 2024), and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value.
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Investments held in Trust Account |
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Note 9 — Segment Information
ASC Topic 280, “Segment Reporting,” establishes standards for companies to report in their financial statements information about operating segments, products, services, geographic areas, and major customers. Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is available that is regularly evaluated by the Company’s chief operating decision maker, or group, in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company has adopted the guidance in ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, in the accompanying financial statement.
The Company’s chief operating decision maker has been identified as the Chief Executive Officer (“CODM”), who reviews the operating results for the Company as a whole to make decisions about allocating resources and assessing financial performance. Accordingly, management has determined that the Company only has one operating and reportable segment.
The CODM assesses performance for the single segment and decides how to allocate resources. The measure of segment assets is reported on the balance sheet as total assets. When evaluating the Company’s performance and making key decisions regarding resource allocation the CODM reviews several key metrics, which include the following:
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| F-18 |
| Table of Contents |
Note 10 — Subsequent Events
In accordance with ASC 855, “Subsequent Events”, the Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statement was issued. Based on this review, as further disclosed in the footnotes and except as disclosed below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
The Business Combination
On January 23, 2026, the Company entered into a definitive Plan of Merger and Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”) with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd, an Australian proprietary limited company (“OMG”), and BMYG OMG Pty Ltd, an Australian proprietary limited company (the “Seller”) and such other persons who are contemplated to later join this Agreement as the “Purchaser” and “Merger Sub” therein, which are sometimes referred to herein individually as a “Party” and, collectively, as the “Parties.” All capitalized terms used herein and not defined shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Merger Agreement.
Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, the Parties will cause the Predecessor shall be merged with Merger Sub, the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub shall cease and Predecessor shall continue as the surviving corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Purchaser (the “Initial Merger”). As a result of the Initial Merger, (i) each issued and outstanding Company Share will convert into the right to receive one ordinary share of the Purchaser (the “Purchaser Shares”); (ii) each Company Unit shall convert into the right to receive one unit of the Purchaser, comprised of one Purchaser Share and one right to receive one-seventh of one Purchaser Share upon the Closing (each a “Purchaser Right”); and (iii) each Purchaser Right shall be converted into the right to receive one Purchaser Right. Following the Initial Merger, the Company and the Purchaser will cause the Company to liquidate, such that all assets of the Company are, or shall be, transferred to the Purchaser and all liabilities of the Company are, or shall be, assumed by the Purchaser (the “Liquidation”). Additionally, the Company will cause all of its contracts to be assigned to and assumed by the Purchaser. Following the Initial Merger,
| F-19 |
FAQ
What is Lake Superior Acquisition Corp. (LKSP) and what stage is it at?
What business combination has LKSP agreed to with Openmarkets Group Pty Ltd?
How much equity will the OMG seller receive in the LKSP transaction?
What financial position and going-concern risks does LKSP disclose?
What redemption rights do LKSP public shareholders have around a merger?
What milestones trigger additional shares in the LKSP–OMG deal?
What happens if LKSP cannot complete a business combination in time?
