Real-time Form 4 intelligence. Smarter insider tracking.
YoY shift: Neutral
Year-over-year tone shift - average net-tone change across Risk Factors and MD&A vs the prior 10-K. This filing is -0.02pp more bearish than last year's.
Why YoY instead of absolute: the LM lexicon has ~6.6× more negative words than positive (legal/risk-disclosure language is heavy on hedging), so every 10-K reads bearish on raw tone. Year-over-year change strips that bias and surfaces the actual shift in management's framing.
Tone shift by section
The two components the gauge averages: how Risk Factors and MD&A each shifted in net tone versus last year's 10-K. The headline above is their average, so a green needle over a soft section just means the other section carried it.
Risk Factors
-0.02pp
Flat
Net-tone change vs last year's 10-K.
MD&A
-0.02pp
Flat
Net-tone change vs last year's 10-K.
Per-snippet highlights
Sentence-level sentiment highlighting with category and subcategory filters is coming once the snippet-scoring pipeline lands. For now, dig into the actual section text on the Sections tab.
Language change vs prior 10-K
Risk Factors (Item 1A) - words with the biggest YoY frequency increase
Negative rising
unable+2
adversely+1
conflicts+1
liquidate+1
limitation+1
Positive rising
No words rose this year.
Risk Factors (Item 1A)
28,298 words
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the prospectus associated with our Initial Public Offering and the Registration Statement, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could , and you could all or part of your investment.
Language change vs prior 10-K
MD&A (Item 7) - words with the biggest YoY frequency increase
Unless otherwise stated, the Risk Factors described below do not assume the closing of the Sio Business Combination. References to the term “initial business combination” in this section include the Sio Business Combination where context requires.
Risks Relating to our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination
We are a blank check company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
We are a blank check company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.
Our public shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, and even if we hold a vote, holders of our Founder Shares will participate in such vote, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public shareholders do not support such a combination.
While we plan to hold a meeting of our shareholders to approve the Sio Business Combination, we may choose not to hold a shareholder vote to approve an alternative business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. In such case, the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Even if we seek shareholder approval, the holders of our Founder Shares will participate in the vote on such approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.
Your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.
At the time of your investment in us, you were not provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. If we do not complete the Sio Business Combination, our board of directors may complete an initial business combination without seeking shareholder approval, in which case, public shareholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such shareholder vote. Accordingly, your only opportunity to effect your investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our Sponsor and management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.
Our Sponsor currently owns approximately 77% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Our Sponsor and management team also may, from time to time, purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our Articles provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company, including the Founder Shares. As a result, we would not need any outstanding public shares sold in the Initial Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our Sponsor and management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive an ordinary resolution, being the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.
The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.
The definitive agreement for our initial business combination transaction, including the Sio Business Combination Agreement, may contain minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination, unless such condition was modified or waived. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, including the Sio Business Combination Agreement, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to meet such requirements, or arrange for third party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the Trust Account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.
The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the Trust Account until we liquidate the Trust Account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your shares in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the Trust Account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with your exercise of redemption rights until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date 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, including Sio, will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.
Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by 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 target 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, geopolitical unrest, including war, terrorist activity and acts of civil or international hostility are increasing. Similarly, other events outside of our control, including natural disasters, climate-related events, pandemics or health 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 chains), 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 consummate a business combination could be materially and 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 to us or at all.
We may not be able to complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.
We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein, including, without limitation, as a result of terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infection diseases. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any) and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the other requirements of applicable law.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the Sponsor, directors, officers and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the closing of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of public shares and/or public warrants our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law. However, other than as previously disclosed, 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. In the event our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their 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 including, in pertinent part, through adherence to the following:
Our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would disclose the possibility that our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may purchase public shares from public shareholders outside the redemption process, along with the purpose of such purchases;
if our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates were to purchase public shares from public shareholders, they would do so at a price no higher than the price offered through our redemption process;
our registration statement/proxy statement filed for our business combination transaction would include a representation that any of our securities purchased by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates would not be voted in favor of approving the business combination transaction;
our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates would not possess any redemption rights with respect to our securities or, if they do acquire and possess redemption rights, they would waive such rights; and
we would disclose in a Form 8-K, before our security holder meeting to approve the business combination transaction, the following material items:
the amount of our securities purchased outside of the redemption offer by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates, along with the purchase price;
the purpose of the purchases by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates;
the impact, if any, of the purchases by our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved;
the identities of our security holders who sold to our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates (if not purchased on the open market) or the nature of our security holders (e.g., 5% security holders) who sold to our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates; and
the number of our securities for which we have received redemption requests pursuant to our redemption offer.
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 and 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. None of the funds held in the Trust Account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. 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, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material non-public information), our Sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their 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, 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.
The purpose of any such transactions could be to increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, or satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target, including the Business Combination Agreement, 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. Any such transactions may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.
If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for submitting or tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or submit public shares for redemption. For example, we intend to require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to, at the holder’s option, either deliver their share certificates to our transfer agent, or to deliver their shares to our transfer agent electronically prior to the date set forth in the proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable. In the case of proxy materials, this date may be up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination. In addition, if we conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote, we intend to require a public shareholder seeking redemption of its public shares to also submit a written request for redemption to our transfer agent two business days prior to the scheduled vote in which the name of the beneficial owner of such shares is included. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures disclosed in the proxy or tender offer materials, as applicable, its shares may not be redeemed.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, including the Sio Business Combination, and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our Articles provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Public Offering, 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.
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If have not completed our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess similar or greater technical, human and other resources to ours or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. Additionally, the number of blank check companies looking for business combination targets has increased compared to recent years and many of these blank check companies are sponsored by entities or persons that have significant experience with completing business combinations. While we believe there are numerous other target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, if the Sio Business Combination does not close, 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 other 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. Potential target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination, if needed. 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, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
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 targets for their initial business combination, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, more effort and more resources to identify a suitable target and 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 target 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 altogether.
If the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate at least until the Extended Date, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from the Sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.
Of the net proceeds of the Public Offering and the Private Placement, only approximately $1,000,000 was made available to us initially outside Trust Account to fund our working capital requirements, together with up to $1,500,000 in IPO Working Capital Loans (as defined herein) committed by the Sponsor. While we believe that the funds available to us outside of the Trust Account will be sufficient to allow us to operate at least until the Extended Date, 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. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to an alternative target business, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we enter into a letter of intent or merger agreement for an alternative transaction where we pay for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.
If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from the Sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Except for the committed Sponsor loans, neither the Sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates are under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the Trust Account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans (which amount includes the committed Sponsor loans) may be convertible into Private Placement Warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our Trust Account. If we have not completed our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.25 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.
If third parties bring claimsagainst us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.25 per share.
Our placing of funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third party claimsagainst us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claimsagainst the Trust Account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claimschallenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gainadvantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the Trust Account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account, our management will consider whether competitive alternatives are reasonably available to us and will only enter into an agreement with such third party if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be in the best interests of the Company under the circumstances. The underwriter of the Public Offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.25 per public share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement the form of which is filed as an exhibit to this Annual Report, the Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.25 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.25 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriter of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked the Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether the Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that the Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our Company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations.
As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the Trust Account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.25 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of the 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) $10.25 per share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account if less than $10.25 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and the Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy his obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against the Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against the 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 $10.25 per share.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntarybankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy or insolvency court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitivedamages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntarybankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy or insolvency laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy or insolvency court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitivedamages, by paying public shareholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntarybankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy or winding-up petition or an involuntarybankruptcy or winding-up petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in Trust Account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy or insolvency law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcyclaimsdeplete the Trust Account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations, including the Sio Business Combination.
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 and numerous complex tax laws. 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 special purpose acquisition companies or “SPACs” (the “SPAC Rules”) requiring, among other items, (i) additional disclosures relating to SPAC business combination transactions; (ii) additional disclosures relating to dilution and to conflicts of interest involving sponsors and their affiliates in both SPAC initial public offerings and de-SPAC transactions; (iii) the use of projections by SPACs in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; and (iv) both the SPAC and the target company’s status as co-registrants on de-SPAC registration statements.
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 its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals.
Compliance with the SPAC Rules and related guidance may increase the costs of and the time needed to negotiate and complete an initial business combination and may constrain the circumstances under which we could complete an initial business combination.
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 or force us to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination, including the Sio Business Combination.
The SEC’s adopting release with respect to the SPAC Rules provided guidance describing the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. Whether a SPAC is an investment company will be a question of facts and circumstances. If our facts and circumstances change over time, we will update our disclosure to reflect how those changes impact the risk that we may be considered to be operating as an unregistered investment company. We can give no assurance that a claim will not be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company.
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), we may have to change our operations, wind down our operations, or register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Our activities may be restricted, including:
restrictions on the nature of our investments; and
restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.
In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:
registration as an investment company;
adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and
reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.
In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading 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 a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not intend to spend a considerable amount of time actively managing the assets in the Trust Account for the primary purpose of achieving investment returns. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.
We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be held as cash, including in demand deposit accounts at a bank, or invested in U.S. “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended business combination and may at any time be held as cash or cash items, including in demand deposit accounts at a bank. 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. This 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 an amendment of the Articles (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 have not consummated our initial business combination by the Extended Date or (B) with respect to any other provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity; or (iii) absent an initial business combination within the completion window, our return of the funds held in the Trust Account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act.
Further, under the subjective test of a “investment company” pursuant to Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, even if the funds deposited in the Trust Account were invested in the assets discussed above (U.S. government securities or money market funds registered under the Investment Company Act), such assets, other than cash, are “securities” for purposes of the Investment Company Act and, therefore, nevertheless, there is a risk that we could be deemed an unregistered investment company and subject to the Investment Company Act at any time.
In the adopting release for the SPAC Rules, the SEC provided guidance that a SPAC’s potential status as an “investment company” depends on a variety of factors, such as a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities and “is a question of facts and circumstances” requiring individualized analysis. If we were deemed to be an unregistered investment company and subject to compliance with and regulation under the Investment Company Act, we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and expenses for which we have not allotted funds. Unless we are able to modify our activities so that we would not be deemed an investment company, we would either register as an investment company or wind-down and abandon our efforts to complete a business combination and instead liquidate the Trust Account. As a result, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders and would be unable to realize the potential benefits of an initial business combination, including the possible appreciation of the combined company’s securities.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination by April 29, 2026, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such date before redemption from our Trust Account.
If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination within 30 months of the Public Offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the Trust Account will be effected automatically by function of our Articles prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the Trust Account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond the April 29, 2026 outside date before the redemption proceeds of our Trust Account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our Trust Account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.
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 insolventliquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our Company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine of approximately $18,293 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.
We may not hold an annual general meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination, which could delay the opportunity for our shareholders to appoint directors.
There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual meeting of shareholders, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to appoint directors and to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being appointed in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term.
You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares or certain exemptions are available.
If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants and such warrants may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units.
We have registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants in the Public Offering because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, which may be within one year of the Public Offering. However, because the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act following the consummation of our initial business combination under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the Public Offering registration statement or a new registration statement covering the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order.
If the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants will not be permitted to do so for cash and, instead, will be required to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption.
In no event will warrants be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available.
If our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of “covered securities” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, not permit holders of warrants who seek to exercise their warrants to do so for cash and, instead, require them to do so on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act; in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement or register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws, and in the event we do not so elect, we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities (other than upon a cashless exercise as described above) or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws.
The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable 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 warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within fifteen business days of the closing of an initial business combination.
The grant of registration rights to our Sponsor and holders of our Private Placement Warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.
Pursuant to the registration rights agreement entered into at the Public Offering, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of IPO Working Capital Loans and the First Extension Note may demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the ordinary shares owned by our Sponsor, holders of our Private Placement Warrants or holders of our IPO Working Capital Loans or the First Extension Note or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
Because we are not limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector you may be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Our efforts to identify a prospective initial business combination target have not been limited to a particular industry, sector or geographic region. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we intend to target companies that serve the growing segments in the energy transition ecosystem. Specifically, we seek to focus on differentiated targets that provide products, services, equipment, and technologies that support a variety of energy transition solutions. These include, but are not limited to renewable power generation, energy storage, the electrical grid, zero-emission transportation, renewable fuels, carbon capture, utilization and storage, and zero/low-carbon industrial applications. Our Articles prohibit us from effectuating a business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, including the Sio Business Combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, we may combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors have and will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, including Sio, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in our business combination target. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the 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 initial business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not completed our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may seek business combination opportunities with an entity lacking an established record of revenue, cash flow or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues, cash flows or earnings or difficulty in retaining key personnel.
To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all 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 investment banking firm or from a valuation or appraisal firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.
Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity or our board of directors cannot independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses (including with the assistance of financial advisors), we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which 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 proxy materials or tender offer documents, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.
Our letter agreement with the Sponsor, officers and directors may be amended without shareholder approval.
Our letter agreement with the Sponsor, officers and directors contains provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants, indemnification of the Trust Account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the Trust Account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval. 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.
Our Sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our Sponsor currently owns approximately 77% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares. Accordingly, it may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our Articles. In addition, prior to the closing of our initial business combination, only holders of our Founder Shares will have the right to vote to continue the company in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands (including any special resolution required to amend the constitutional documents of the Company or to adopt new constitutional documents of the Company, in each case, as a result of the Company approving a transfer by way of continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands). This provision of our Articles may only be amended by a special resolution passed by not less than 90% of our ordinary shares which are represented in person or by proxy and are voted at our general meeting. As a result, you will not have any influence over our continuation in a jurisdiction outside the Cayman Islands prior to our initial business combination.
If our Sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our Sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors is and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term for three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. We may not hold an annual or extraordinary 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 its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our Sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If (i) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per Class A ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value of our Class A ordinary shares is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with this Annual Report. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.
We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval by special resolution under the Companies Act, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. For example, the Sio Business Combination contemplates the Domestication pursuant to which we will transfer by way of continuation from the Cayman Islands to Alberta in accordance with the Companies Act and continue as an Alberta corporation in accordance with the applicable provisions of the ABCA. The transaction may require a shareholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders to pay such taxes. Shareholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.
We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. For example, the Sio Business Combination contemplates the Domestication pursuant to which we will transfer by way of continuation from the Cayman Islands to Alberta in accordance with the Companies Act and continue as an Alberta corporation in accordance with the applicable provisions of the ABCA. 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.
We may not be able to complete an initial business combination since such initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirements, including pursuant to foreign investment regulations and review by governmental entities such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”), and may ultimately be prohibited.
Our initial business combination may be subject to regulatory review and approval requirements by governmental entities, and ultimately prohibited. For example, CFIUS has authority to review certain direct or indirect foreign investments in U.S. businesses. Among other things, CFIUS requires mandatory filings for certain investments and is empowered to charge filing fees related to filings and to self-initiate national security reviews of certain foreign direct and indirect investments in U.S. businesses if the parties choose not to file voluntarily. If CFIUS determines that an investment subject to its jurisdiction presents national security risks, CFIUS has the power to require mitigation measures on the investment or can recommend that the president of the United States prohibit the transaction or order divestment. Whether CFIUS has jurisdiction to review an acquisition or investment transaction depends on, among other factors, the nature and structure of the transaction, the nationality of the parties, the level of beneficial ownership interest and the nature of any information or governance rights involved.
We are organized in the Cayman Islands. Our Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company controlled by two managers, each of whom are U.S. citizens (Messrs. Duroc-Danner and Gustafson).
By virtue of being organized in the Cayman Islands and for so long as the Sponsor retains a material ownership interest in us, we may be deemed a “foreign person” under the CFIUS regulations. If CFIUS considers us to be a “foreign person,” our initial business combination could be subject to CFIUS review. If our initial business combination is subject to CFIUS jurisdiction, the parties may be required to make a mandatory filing or determine to submit a voluntary filing with CFIUS, or to proceed with such initial business combination without notifying CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing such initial business combination. In connection with a review, CFIUS may decide to delay the business combination, require conditions to mitigate national security concerns with respect to the business combination, or recommend that the president of the United States block the business combination or order divestment if the parties proceeded without first obtaining CFIUS approval. Accordingly, the potential impact of a CFIUS review may prevent us from consummating the initial business combination. Additionally, the laws and regulations of other government entities may impose review or approval procedures on account of any foreign ownership by us or the Sponsor. The pool of potential targets with which we could complete an initial business combination may be limited as a result of any such regulatory requirements or restrictions.
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, including as a result of extended regulatory review, 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 Cayman 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 potential appreciation in value of such investment. Additionally, our warrants will become worthless.
Risks Relating to the Post-Business Combination Company
Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our share price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
We cannot assure you that the due diligence we conduct on a target business, including Sio, will identify all material issues that may be present within a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, the combined company 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 the combined company’s liquidity, the fact that such company report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about it or its securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause the combined company to violate net worth or other covenants to which it may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
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, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not completed our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.
Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpectedloss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.
In addition, the officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.
It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminalpenalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.
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 combined company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.
The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.
The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.
We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding share capital, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger portion of the Company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.
We 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 report (other than the committed Sponsor loans) to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt following the Public Offering, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the Trust Account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the Trust Account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;
acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand;
our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding;
our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares;
using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;
limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;
increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and
limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.
The net proceeds from the Public Offering and the Private Placement initially provided us with $197,837,500 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $8,443,750 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the Trust Account). After redemptions in connection with the Company’s first, second, and third extensions of its deadline to consummate an initial business combination, approximately $18.1 million remains in the Trust Account.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:
solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset, or
dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.
This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we decide 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.
We may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company, such as Sio. 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 our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.
Our definitive business combination agreement, including the Sio Business Combination Agreement, may impose a minimum cash requirement for (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to the Sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us and such conditions are not otherwise modified or waived, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our Articles or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination and that our shareholders may not support.
In order to effectuate a business combination, special purpose acquisition companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, special purpose acquisition companies have amended the definition of “business combination,” increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our Articles will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the Private Placement Warrants, 50% of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants. In addition, our Articles require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our Articles (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete an initial business combination by the Extended Date or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments or extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our Articles that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company (or 65% of our ordinary shares with respect to amendments to the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account), which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other special purpose acquisition companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our Articles to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.
Our Articles provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the Public Offering and the Private Placement into the Trust Account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of at least two-thirds of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the Company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our ordinary shares. Our Sponsor, which currently beneficially owns approximately 77% of our ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our Articles 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 Articles which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other special purpose acquisition companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our Articles.
Our Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our Articles (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against the Sponsor, officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
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.
If the cash portion of the purchase price for a target business exceeds the amount available from the Trust Account, net of amounts needed to satisfy any redemption by public shareholders, we may be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination, including the Sio Business Combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, we may be required to obtain additional financing in connection with the closing of our initial business combination for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, or to fund the purchase of other companies. If we have not completed our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders are required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.
Risks Relating to Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries
If we effect our initial business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may adversely affect us.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.
If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations and complying with different commercial and legal requirements of overseas markets;
rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;
complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;
laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;
exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;
tariffs and trade barriers;
regulations related to customs and import/export matters;
local or regional economic policies and market conditions;
unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
challenges in managing and staffing international operations;
longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;
currency fluctuations and exchange controls;
rates of inflation;
challenges in collecting accounts receivable;
cultural and language differences;
employment regulations;
underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;
corruption;
protection of intellectual property;
social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;
regime changes and political upheaval;
terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and
deterioration of political relations with the United States.
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such initial business combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects may 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.
Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’s ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.
In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.
Risks Relating to our Management Team
None of the Sponsor, officers or directors has any experience with a blank check company or special purpose acquisition company in the past.
None of the Sponsor, officers or directors have had experience with a blank check company or special purpose acquisition company in the past. Accordingly, you may not have sufficient information with which to evaluate their ability to identify and consummate a business combination using the proceeds of Public Offering. Our management’s lack of experience in operating a special purpose acquisition corporation could adversely affect our ability to consummate a business combination and could result in our not completing a business combination in the prescribed time frame.
We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers.
We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the Trust Account and to not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the Trust Account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigationagainst 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.
Any failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could harm us.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on an annual and quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls.
Our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2023 and each quarterly period thereafter, including as of December 31, 2024, because of an identified material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In particular, our management concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex financial instruments issued by the Company was not effectively designed or maintained.
If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures, our ability to record, process and report financial information accurately, and to prepare financial statements within required time periods could be adversely affected, which could subject us to litigation or investigations requiring management resources and payment of legal and other expenses, negatively affect investor confidence in our financial statements and adversely impact our stock price. If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or when required in the future, if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an unqualified opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our securities could be adversely affected and we could become subject to litigation or investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.
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.”
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $1,173 in cash and no cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $1,253 in cash and no cash equivalents. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. If the Company’s estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence, and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business prior to an initial business combination. The liquidation deadline for the Company is also within the next twelve months if an initial Business Combination is not consummated. The Company cannot assure that its plans to consummate an initial Business Combination will be successful.
As a result of the above, in connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-15, “Disclosures of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” management has determined that the liquidity conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern through approximately one year from the date of filing. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
Past performance by our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the Company.
Information regarding our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance by our management team and their affiliates and the businesses with which they have been associated, is not a guarantee that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination, that we will be able to provide positive returns to our shareholders, or of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical experiences of our management team and their affiliates, including investments and transactions in which they have participated and businesses with which they have been associated, as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or as indicative of every prior investment by each of the members of our management team or their affiliates. The market price of our securities may be influenced by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, and our shareholders may experience losses on their investment in our securities.
Members of our management team and our board of directors have significant experience as founders, board members, officers, executives and employees of other businesses. Certain of these individuals have been, may be, or may become subject to media coverage or involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including related to such businesses or otherwise. This may have an adverse effect on us, which could impede our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
Members of our management team and our board of directors have been involved in a wide variety of businesses. Certain of these individuals have been, may be, or may become subject to media coverage or involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including related to such businesses or otherwise. Any media coverage, litigation, investigations or other proceedings could divert the attention and resources of our management team and board of directors away from identifying and selecting a target business or businesses for our initial business combination, and could negatively affect our reputation or otherwise have an adverse effect on us, which could impede our ability to complete an initial business combination.
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 Public Offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Annual Report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to ascertain or assess adequately all of the relevant risk factors. Accordingly, any 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.
Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses and closing the proposed Sio Business Combination. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our Articles 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, the Sponsor and our officers and directors may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. However, our officers and directors have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date.
Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.
We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with the Sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.
The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it could be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.
We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with the Sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement of the Sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with the Sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our Sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm regarding the fairness to our Company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with the Sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
We have and may in the future engage our Public Offering underwriter or one of its affiliates to provide additional services to us, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. If 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, this financial incentive may cause it to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.
We have engaged and may engage our Public Offering underwriter or one of its affiliates to provide additional services to us, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial 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. For example, as described elsewhere in this Annual Report, on June 8, 2023, we entered into an engagement letter with UBS, the sole underwriter of our Public Offering, which was subsequently amended on October 26, 2023, pursuant to which we engaged UBS to act as its exclusive capital markets advisor with respect to the Sio Business Combination. Pursuant to such engagement letter, UBS agreed to waive the $8,443,750 of deferred underwriting commission owed to it in connection with the Public Offering in exchange for the right to receive a transaction fee of $5,000,000, plus an incentive fee of up to $3,443,750, each of which is payable upon the closing of the Sio Business Combination. To the extent the underwriter’s or its affiliate’s 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.
Since the Sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may acquire after the Public Offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination. Additionally, since our Sponsor only paid approximately $0.004 per Founder Share, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value.
On February 24, 2021, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 for certain expenses on our behalf in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 Founder Shares, or approximately $0.004 per share. On September 29, 2021, the Sponsor surrendered 718,750 Founder Shares to us for cancelation for no consideration, resulting in an aggregate of 5,031,250 Founder Shares outstanding. Prior to the initial investment in the Company of $25,000 by the Sponsor, the Company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the Founder Shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to the Company by the number of Founder Shares issued. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the expectation that the total size of the Public Offering would be a maximum of 20,125,000 Units if the underwriter’s over-allotment option is exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Public Offering.
The Founder Shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 10,156,250 warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $10,156,250, or $1.00 per warrant. The Private Placement Warrants will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination. The personal and financial interests of our Sponsor as well as our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the deadline for our completion of an initial business combination nears.
Additionally, since our Sponsor only paid approximately $0.004 per Founder Share, our Sponsor and its permitted transferees could potentially make a substantial profit even if we acquire a target business that subsequently declines in value and is unprofitable for public investors. Thus, such parties may have more of an economic incentive for us to enter into an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing entity 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.
If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.
Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the Company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.
Risks Relating to our Securities
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the Trust Account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations and the conditions described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Articles (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by the Extended Date or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination by the Extended Date, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the Trust Account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the Trust Account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our securities will in all likelihood be thinly traded and as a result you may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all if you need to liquidate your securities.
On October 30, 2024, the NYSE suspended the trading of our Units, Class A ordinary shares and public warrants, and our securities are currently traded on the over-the-counter market and are listed on the OTC Pink tier of the OTC Marketplace under the symbols “PHYTUF”, “PHYTF” and “PHYTWF”, respectively. As a result of the delisting, we may face significant material adverse consequences, including:
a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
reduced liquidity for our securities;
a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
We cannot give you any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market for our securities will develop or be sustained, or that any trading levels will be sustained.
We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the Founder Shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained therein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.
Our Articles authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preferred shares, par value $0.0001 per share. There are 188,678,039 and 20,000,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares concurrently with or immediately following the consummation of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein and in our Articles, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. Immediately after the Public Offering, there will be no preferred shares issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preferred shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth therein. However, our Articles provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the Trust Account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our Articles, like all provisions of our Articles, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preferred shares:
may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the Public Offering;
may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preferred shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares;
could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants.
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, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, consultants and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, including the Sio 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, including Sio, 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, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder of public warrants if holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least a majority of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or shares, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our Company.
Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our Company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.
Our Articles provide that the courts of the Cayman Islands will be the exclusive forums for certain disputes between us and our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for complaintsagainst us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our Articles provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the courts of the Cayman Islands shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim or dispute arising out of or in connection with our Articles or otherwise related in any way to each shareholder’s shareholding in us, including but not limited to (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of any fiduciary or other duty owed by any of our current or former director, officer or other employee to us or our shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Companies Act or our Articles, or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine (as such concept is recognized under the laws of the United States of America) and that each shareholder irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Cayman Islands over all such claims or disputes. The forum selection provision in our Articles will not apply to actions or suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act, Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are, as a matter of the laws of the United States of America, the sole and exclusive forum for determination of such a claim.
Our Articles also provide that, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies that we may have, each of our shareholders acknowledges that damages alone would not be an adequate remedy for any breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum and that accordingly we shall be entitled, without proof of special damages, to the remedies of injunction, specific performance or other equitable relief for any threatened or actual breach of the selection of the courts of the Cayman Islands as exclusive forum.
This choice of forum provision may increase a shareholder’s cost and limit the shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any of our shares or other securities, whether by transfer, sale, operation of law or otherwise, shall be deemed to have notice of and have irrevocably agreed and consented to these provisions. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. It is possible that a court could find this type of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision in our Articles to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could have adverse effect on our business and financial performance.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send notice of such redemption to the warrants holders and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
In addition, we have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption and provided that certain other conditions are met, including that holders will be able to exercise their warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A ordinary shares determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The value received upon exercise of the warrants (1) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the value of the warrants, including because the number of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
None of the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 10,062,500 of our Class A ordinary shares as part of the Units sold in the Public Offering and, simultaneously with the Public Offering, we issued in a Private Placement an aggregate of 10,156,250 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. In addition, the Sponsor may convert any of the IPO Working Capital Loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 Private Placement Warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant and it may also convert the First Extension Note into up to 1,920,000 Private Placement Warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant. To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business combination transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and use outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants included in the Units sold in the Public Offering, except that, so long as they are held by their initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by the Company, (ii) they (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the Company completes its initial business combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) they will be entitled to registration rights.
Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
We issued an aggregate of 20,218,750 warrants in connection with the Public Offering and Private Placement. We have accounted for these warrants as a warrant liability and record at fair value upon issuance any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings as determined by us based upon a valuation report obtained from our independent third party valuation firm. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, potential targets may prefer combining with a special purpose acquisition company that does not have warrants that are accounted for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.
General Risk Factors
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor internal controls attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Provisions in our Articles 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 Articles contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors and the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make the removal of management more difficult and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.
Our Sponsor, which has committed to provide certain loans to us, may not have the necessary funds to do so.
While the Sponsor has committed to loan us an aggregate of $1,500,000 for working capital purposes at any time upon our request and $1.08 million to fund the Second Extension Contributions. We cannot provide any assurances that such funding will occur. We are an early-stage company without operating revenues or significant financial support. Accordingly, a failure by the Sponsor to fund such committed sponsor loans may impact our ability to obtain director and officer insurance on favorable terms, fund our activities or consummate an initial business combination.
Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. Federal courts may be limited.
We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.
Our corporate affairs will be governed by our Articles, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We will also be subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.
We have been advised by Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
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.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us or third parties 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, the systems or infrastructure or the cloud that we utilize, including those of third parties, 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.
The Excise Tax could be imposed on redemptions of our stock if we were to become a “covered corporation” in the future.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, among other things, generally imposes 1% U.S. federal excise tax (the “Excise Tax”) on certain repurchases of stock by “covered corporations” (which include publicly traded domestic (i.e., U.S.) corporations and certain domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) corporations). The Excise Tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which the stock is repurchased. The amount of the Excise Tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the Excise Tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year (the “netting rule”). In addition, certain exceptions apply to the Excise Tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of, the Excise Tax. On April 12, 2024, the Treasury issued proposed regulations on which taxpayers may rely until final Treasury regulations addressing the Excise Tax are published, which generally adopt (but in some respects expand or modify) the rules and guidance set forth in the 2023 IRS notice providing initial guidance regarding the application of the Excise Tax. On June 28, 2024, the Treasury finalized certain of the proposed regulations (those relating to procedures for reporting and paying the Excise Tax). The remaining regulations (largely relating to the computation of the Excise Tax) remain in proposed form. The Treasury intends to finalize these proposed regulations at a later date and, until such time, taxpayers may continue to rely on the proposed regulations. Although the 2023 IRS notice and proposed Treasury regulations clarify certain aspects of the Excise Tax, the interpretation and operation of certain other aspects of the Excise Tax remain unclear. There can be no assurance that final Treasury regulations will not adversely affect the accuracy of the below description of the Excise Tax considerations that may be applicable to us if we were to become a “covered corporation” in the future.
We are currently not a “covered corporation” for purposes of the Excise Tax. Accordingly, we generally would not be subject to the Excise Tax on a redemption of our stock, whether in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination or otherwise. If we were to become a “covered corporation” in the future, whether in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination with a U.S. company (including if we were to redomicile as a U.S. corporation in connection therewith) or otherwise, whether and to what extent we would be subject to the Excise Tax on a redemption of our stock would depend on a number of factors, including (i) whether the redemption is treated as a repurchase of stock for purposes of the Excise Tax, (ii) the fair market value of the redemption treated as a repurchase of stock, (iii) the structure of our initial business combination, (iv) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances (whether in connection with our initial business combination or otherwise) issued within the same taxable year of a redemption treated as a repurchase of stock and (v) the content of forthcoming regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. As noted above, the Excise Tax would be payable by the repurchasing corporation, and not by the redeeming holder. The imposition of the Excise Tax on us as a result of redemptions by us could, however, reduce the amount of cash available to the target business in connection with our initial business combination, which could cause investors in our securities who do not redeem or the other shareholders of the combined company to economically bear the impact of such Excise Tax. However, we will not use the proceeds placed in the trust account, or the interest earned on the proceeds placed in the trust account, to pay for possible Excise Tax or any other fees or taxes that may be levied on us on any redemptions or stock buybacks by us pursuant to any current, pending or further rules or laws, including without limitation any Excise Tax, prior to release of such funds from the trust account following our initial business combination.
We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting during the year ended December 31, 2024 related to our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and financial results .
In connection with the preparation and audit of our financial statements, material weaknesses were identified in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024.
We experienced difficulty in the accounting and reporting related to the existence of assets, the accounting and reporting for the completeness and accuracy of our liabilities and the corresponding expenses, as well as the accounting for complex financial instruments, and related party transactions which we experienced and reported as a material weakness in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We have and continue to take steps to remediate the material weakness, but there is no assurance that any remediation efforts will ultimately have the intended effects.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such newly identified material weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure stockholders that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
MD&A (Item 7)
7,999 words
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
References to the “Company,” “us,” “our” or “we” refer Pyrophyte Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included herein.
All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report including, without limitation, statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this Annual Report, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or the Company’s management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company’s management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward- looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on the Company’s behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.
Overview
We are a blank check company formed under the laws of Cayman Islands on February 12, 2021 for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. While we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any industry or sector, we will seek targets around the world that we believe are market leaders in facilitating energy transition toward decarbonization and sustainable use of energy and natural resources, and are positioned to generate long-term value and growing cash flows. In particular, we will seek to identify companies provide the necessary products, equipment, services and technologies to support the energy transition, without the need to have their business rely solely on a single type of technology. We believe our leadership team’s broad and diverse global network of transaction sources and relationships across a wide spectrum of renewable energy sectors will allow us to effectively and efficiently identify and evaluate potential opportunities for our initial business combination.
We intend to effectuate our initial business combination, including the Sio Business Combination, using cash from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, and our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt. Our registration statement for the Initial Public Offering became effective on October 26, 2021. We consummated the Initial Public Offering of 20,125,000 Units on October 29, 2021. Each Unit consisted of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, including the issuance of 2,625,000 Units as a result of the underwriter’s exercise of its over-allotment option in full. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each public warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share for $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units were sold at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $201,250,000, and incurred $11,068,750 in underwriting fees (inclusive of $8,443,750 in deferred underwriting fees).
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering on October 29, 2021, we completed the closing of the Private Placement of an aggregate 10,156,250 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant to the Sponsor, generating proceeds of $10,156,250.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the over-allotment and the Private Placement, $206,281,250 ($10.25 per unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering, the over-allotment and the Private Placement were placed in the Trust Account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. Such proceeds were invested in United States government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. Treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, as determined by us, until April 2024, when the trustee liquidated such investments and moved the proceeds to an interest-bearing demand deposit account. The proceeds will be held in such account until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
On April 24, 2023, we held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “First Extension Meeting”), pursuant to which our shareholders approved an amendment to the Articles to extend the date by which the Company must complete initial business combination from April 29, 2023 to April 29, 2024 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors and included in a public announcement) (the “Extension”). In connection therewith, the Sponsor agreed to loan us $160,000 for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2023 and ending on the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the date of the our liquidation in accordance with the terms of the Extension, up to a maximum aggregate amount of $1.92 million (the “Extension Contribution”). On May 4, 2023, we issued a convertible promissory note (the “First Extension Note”) to the Sponsor with a principal amount up to $1.92 million. Pursuant to the First Extension Note, the Sponsor may convert the outstanding principal into Private Placement Warrants at $1.00 per warrant. The Sponsor deposited the first Extension Contribution on April 30, 2023. On April 22, 2024, the Company deposited $960,000 into the Trust Account, which amount reflected the payment in full of the Company’s remaining commitment to make an aggregate of $1.92 million of cash contributions to the Trust Account in connection with the Extension. In connection with the vote to approve the Extension, the holders of 11,151,163 Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.56 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $118 million, resulting in 8,973,837 public shares remaining.
At the First Extension Meeting, the shareholders also approved a proposal to provide the holders of the Class B ordinary shares with the right to convert such shares into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis prior to the closing of an initial business combination at the election of such holder. On April 28, 2023, the Sponsor elected to convert 5,031,250 Class B ordinary shares held by it, which represented all of the Class B ordinary shares outstanding into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis for no consideration.
On April 24, 2024, we entered into an amendment to the Trust Agreement, to permit the Trustee to hold the assets in the Trust Account in an interest-bearing demand deposit account or cash until the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination or the Company’s liquidation. The Company then instructed the Trustee to liquidate the Trust Account and move the proceeds into an interest-bearing demand deposit account.
On April 26, 2024, we held another extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Second Extension Meeting”) to vote on an amendment to its Articles to further extend the date on which we had to consummate an initial business combination from April 29, 2024 to April 29, 2025. The shareholders voted to approve the amendment. The Sponsor agreed that if such amendment was approved and implemented, then it or its designee would deposit (the “Second Extension Contributions”) into the Trust Account as a loan $90,000 per month beginning on April 30, 2024 and ending on the earlier of (i) the Company’s liquidation, (ii) the consummation of an initial business combination and (iii) April 30, 2025. In connection with the Second Extension Meeting, holders of 2,683,126 Class A Ordinary Shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.35 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $30.4 million, resulting in 6,290,711 public shares remaining. On April 26, 2024, in connection with the Second Extension Meeting, we issued a promissory note (the “Second Extension Note”) to the Sponsor in the amount of $1.08 million in connection with the Second Extension Contributions. As of December 31, 2024, $2,370,000 had been drawn on the First Extension Note and Second Extension Note and there were Trust Account deposits totaling $2,370,000.
On April 25, 2025, we had an extraordinary general meeting of our shareholders (the “Third Extension Meeting”) to vote on another amendment to the Articles to extend the deadline by which we have to complete an initial business combination from April 29, 2025 to April 29, 2026 (the “Third Extension”). In connection with the Extraordinary General Meeting, shareholders holding an aggregate of 4,776,757 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares at a price of approximately $11.95 per share from the funds held in the Trust Account, leaving approximately $18.1 million in cash in the Trust Account after satisfaction of such redemptions. In connection with the Third Extension Meeting, the Sponsor agreed to loan us lesser of (i) $0.05 per Public Share or (ii) $150,000 for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2025 and ending on the earlier of (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the date of the our liquidation in accordance with the terms of the Third Extension (the “Third Extension Contribution”), and on April 25, 2025, the Company issued a promissory note (the “Third Extension Note”, together with the First and Second Extension Notes, the “Extension Notes”) to the Sponsor in the amount of $1.5 million in connection with the Second Extension Contributions. The Third Extension Note will fund extension deposit of the lesser of (i) $0.05 per Public Share or (ii) $150,000, for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2025 until April 29, 2026.
Our Units, Class A ordinary shares and public warrants had been traded on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) since our Initial Public Offering under the symbols “PHYT.U”, “PHYT” and “PHYT WS”, respectively. On October 30, 2024, the NYSE suspended the trading of our securities. The NYSE determined to suspend the trading of our securities because Sections 102.06e and 802.01B of the NYSE’s Listed Company Manual do not permit a special purpose acquisition company, such as us, to remain listed for more than three years after the company’s initial public offering without completing an initial business combination. The Company has not completed an initial business combination before October 29, 2024, which is the three-year anniversary of the Initial Public Offering. Following the suspension of trading on the NYSE, our Units, Class A ordinary shares and public warrants began immediately trading over-the-counter market and are listed on the OTC Pink tier of the OTC Marketplace under the symbols “PHYTUF,” “PHYTF” and “PHYTWF,” respectively.
Our management and our board of directors have broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering, the over-allotment and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a business combination.
If we have not completed our initial business combination by April 29, 2026, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining shareholders and the board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Business Combination with Sio
On November 13, 2023, Pyrophyte, Sio, Sio Newco and Pyrophyte Newco entered into a Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things and subject to the terms and conditions contained in the Business Combination Agreement and the Plan of Arrangement, (i) Pyrophyte will deregister in the Cayman Islands and transfer by way of continuation from the Cayman Islands to the Province of Alberta, Canada in accordance with the Pyrophyte Articles and the Companies Act and continue as an Alberta corporation in accordance with the applicable provisions of ABCA, (ii) Pyrophyte will amalgamate with Sio Newco, with Sio Newco surviving as Pubco in accordance with the terms of the Plan of Arrangement and (iii) Sio and Pyrophyte Newco will amalgamate, with Sio surviving the Sio Amalgamation as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pubco, and such entity will continue the business operations currently undertaken by Sio.
Subscription Agreements
Concurrently with the execution of the Sio Business Combination Agreement, Pyrophyte, Sio and Sio Newco entered into subscription agreements with (i) a certain accredited investor (the “Non-Insider PIPE Investor”) and (ii) certain other accredited investors who are existing shareholders of Sio or the Company (the “Insider PIPE Investors” and, together with the Non-Insider PIPE Investor, the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which, among other things, Sio Newco agreed to issue and sell, in a private placement to close concurrently with and conditioned upon the effectiveness of the consummation of the Sio Business Combination, an aggregate of 3,114,258 Pubco Class A Common Shares (the “PIPE Investment”) to the PIPE Investors for an aggregate purchase price equal to $20,122,474.
Non-Redemption Agreement
Concurrently with the execution of the Sio Business Combination Agreement, Pyrophyte and Sio Newco entered into a non-redemption agreement (the “Non-Redemption Agreement”) with a Company shareholders with respect to 100,000 Class A ordinary shares held by such shareholder (the “Non-Redemption SPAC Shares”), pursuant to which, among other things, the Company agreed to issue 58,570 Class A ordinary shares to such shareholder in consideration of such shareholder’s commitment not to redeem the Non-Redemption SPAC Shares held by it in connection with the approval of the Sio Business Combination by the Company’s shareholders (the “Non-Redemption Transaction”).
Sponsor Support Agreement
Concurrently with the execution of the Sio Business Combination Agreement, the Sponsor entered into a letter agreement (the “Sponsor Support Agreement”) with Sio, Sio Newco, Pyrophyte and the directors and officers (or otherwise a part of the management team) of Pyrophyte, solely for purposes of amending certain of the terms of the letter agreement signed by them in connection with the Company’s Initial Public Offering, pursuant to which, among other things, the Sponsor agreed to vote all Class A ordinary shares, or any securities convertible into, exercisable or exchangeable for Class A ordinary shares, held by it or acquired after the date of the Sponsor Support Agreement (the “Covered Shares”) at the meeting of Pyrophyte shareholders to be held in connection with the Sio Business Combination in favor of the adoption and approval of the Sio Business Combination and each other proposal related to the Sio and not transfer any Covered Shares (other than Pubco Class A Common Shares issued upon exercise of any Private Placement Warrants held by the Sponsor) until the earlier of (A) one year after the Closing, (B) the first day the last sale price of Pubco Class A Common Shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-day trading period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing or (C) after the Closing, the date on which Pubco completes a liquidation, amalgamation, share exchange or similar transaction resulting in the shareholders of Pubco having the right to exchange their shares for consideration.
In addition, under the terms of the Sponsor Support Agreement, the Sponsor has agreed to subject up to 4,025,000 Class A ordinary shares (“Restricted Owned Shares”) to certain earn out restrictions, if and only to the extent such shares are used to obtain any additional PIPE Financing or other financing arrangements in connection with the consummation of the Sio Business Combination; provided that in no event shall the aggregate number of Restricted Owned Shares equal more than 4,025,000 Class A ordinary shares (the “Maximum Restricted Owned Shares”). If, prior to the Closing, the SPAC Proceeds are less than $70,000,000, then the number of Restricted Owned Shares will be adjusted pursuant to the terms of the Sponsor Support Agreement.
In connection with the Closing, each Restricted Owned Share will be exchanged on a one-for-one basis for Pubco Class A Common Shares pursuant to the Sio Business Combination and the Plan of Arrangement and such shares will be subject to forfeiture or release as follows: (i) half of the Restricted Owned Shares will be released to the Sponsor on the first day that the Trading Price (as defined in the Sio Business Combination Agreement) is at least $12.50, (ii) the other half of the Restricted Owned Shares will be released from forfeiture on the first day that the Trading Price is at least $15.00, in each case during the period commencing on the Closing Date and ending on the date that is three (3) years after the Closing Date (the “End Date”), and (iii) after the End Date, any Restricted Owned Shares that have not been released to the Sponsor pursuant to clauses (i) or (ii) above will be automatically forfeited for no consideration. If a change of control of Pubco occurs at any time between the Closing Date and the End Date and the price achieved per Restricted Owned Shares is at least $12.50 or $15.00, then the vesting conditions outlined will be considered to be met.
Sio Securityholder Support Agreements
In connection with the execution of the Sio Business Combination Agreement, on November 13, 2023, the Company, Sio, and certain securityholders of Sio entered into support agreements (the “Sio Securityholder Support Agreements”), pursuant to which, among other things, such shareholders agreed to vote (or cause to be voted) all of their Sio shares and other voting securities of Sio (“Subject Securities”) in favor of the special resolution of Sio shareholders in respect of the Plan of Arrangement, to be considered at Sio’s shareholders meeting to approve the Sio Business Combination. Additionally, such shareholders have agreed, among other things, not to, prior to the Closing, (a) transfer any of their Subject Securities (or enter into any agreement, arrangement or understanding in connection therewith other than pursuant to the Plan of Arrangement), subject to certain customary exceptions, or (b) enter into any voting arrangement that is inconsistent with the Sio Securityholder Support Agreements. Sio covenants in the Sio Business Combination Agreement that it will use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain Sio Securityholder Support Agreements from at least 66⅔% of its shareholders as promptly as possible, but in any event, within five days of the execution date of the Sio Business Combination Agreement.
On November 12, 2024, we entered into an amendment to the Sio Business Combination Agreement with Sio, Sio Newco and Pyrophyte Newco, pursuant to which the parties thereto agreed to extend the outside date from November 13, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
On December 31, 2024, we entered into a second amendment to Sio Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which the parties agreed to further extend the outside date from December 31, 2024 to April 30, 2025.
Subsequently, on April 30, 2025, we entered into a third amendment to Sio Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which the parties agreed to further extend the outside date from April 30, 2025 to April 29, 2026.
Results of Operations
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since February 12, 2021 (inception) have been organizational activities, the Initial Public Offering and identifying and evaluating a target company for an initial business combination and activities in connection with the Sio Business Combination. and those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering. 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 or dividend income on the investments held in the Trust Account. 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 consolidated financial statements. Since the Initial Public Offering, we have incurred increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we had a net income of $3,505,024, which consists of general and administrative expenses of $1,853,088 offset by a change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities of $1,415,313 and a gain on investments held in Trust Account of $3,942,799.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we had a net income of $2,530,622, which consists of general and administrative expenses of $3,371,589 and a change in fair value of derivative warrant liabilities of $101,094, offset by a gain on investments held in Trust Account of $6,003,305.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
For the year ended December 31, 2024, cash used in operating activities was $918,633. This was made up of a net income of $3,505,024, changes in operating assets and liabilities of $934,455, a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $1,415,313 and a $3,942,799 gain on investments in trust.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, cash used in operating activities was $760,441. This was made up of a net income of $2,530,622, changes in operating assets and liabilities of $2,611,148, offset by a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $101,094 and a $6,003,305 gain on investments held in Trust Account.
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account, excluding deferred underwriting commissions, to complete our initial Business Combination. We may withdraw interest from the Trust Account to pay taxes, if any. To the extent that our share capital or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete a Business Combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.
We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Account primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
Going Concern Considerations
As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $1,173 in cash and no cash equivalents. Further, the Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through completing the Sio Business Combination and the IPO Working Capital Loan. The Company cannot assure that its plans to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. If the Company’s estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence, and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate its business prior to an initial business combination. The liquidation deadline for the Company is also currently within the next twelve months if an initial business combination is not consummated. The Company cannot assure that its plans to consummate the Sio Business Combination or any initial business combination will be successful.
The Company is a Special Purpose Acquisition Corporation with a currently scheduled liquidation date of April 29, 2026. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate an initial business combination by April 29, 2026 (or such date as such deadline may be extended). 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,” management has determined that if the Company is unable to complete an initial business combination and raise additional funds to alleviate liquidity needs and since the mandatory liquidation deadline is less than 12 months away, there is substantial doubt that the Company will operate as a going concern. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after the Extended Date. These consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be to continue as a going .
Commitments and Contractual Obligations
For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, we did not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities.
Registration Rights
The holders of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the IPO Working Capital Loan or the Extension Note (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants issued upon conversion of such loans), are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement signed in connection with the Initial Public Offering. These holders are entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights.
The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration rights. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Underwriting Agreement
We granted the underwriter a 45-day option from the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 2,625,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Initial Public Offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. On October 29, 2021, the underwriter fully exercised its over-allotment option.
Additionally, the underwriter is entitled to a deferred underwriting discount of 4% of the gross proceeds of the base portion of the Public Offering and a deferred underwriting discount of 5.5% of the gross proceeds per over-allotment unit upon the completion of the Company’s initial business combination.
On June 8, 2023, the Company modified the terms of UBS’s deferred underwriting discount, which is effective as of the closing of the Sio Business Combination. See “ —Modifications to the Initial Public Offering Underwriters’ Deferred Discount ” for more information.
Administrative Support Agreement
Pursuant to an administrative services agreement, the Company agreed to pay the Sponsor a total of $15,000 per month, commencing on the effective date of the Initial Public Offering, for utilities, secretarial and administrative support services provided to members of the management team (the “Administrative Services Agreement”). On July 1, 2022, the Company amended the Administrative Services Agreement to reduce the fee to $5,000 per month. On September 25, 2024, the Company further amended and restated the Administrative Services Agreement with the Sponsor, with an effective date of May 1, 2024, reinstating the monthly fee at $15,000 per month for office space and secretarial and administrative services as may be reasonably required by the Company. Upon completion of the initial business combination or the liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. The Company incurred $140,000 and $60,000 for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, in Sponsor administrative fees.
Due to Related Party
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company has an outstanding balance of $165,000 and $25,000 respectively due to the Sponsor under the Administrative Services Agreement, respectively.
Extension Note
In connection with the First Extension Meeting, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an amount equal to the lesser of (i) $0.04 per public share multiplied by the number of public shares then outstanding and (ii) $160,000, for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2023 (each an “Extension Contribution”) until the earlier of (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the Company’s liquidation in accordance with the terms of the Extension, up to a maximum aggregate amount of $1.92 million. In connection with the vote to approve the Extension, the holders of 11,151,163 Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.56 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $118 million, resulting in 8,973,837 public shares remaining. As of December 31, 2023, there were Trust Account deposits in connection with the extension loan, totaling $960,000. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had extension deposits of $480,000 due from Sponsor.
On May 4, 2023, we issued a convertible promissory note (the “First Extension Note”) to the Sponsor with a principal amount up to $1.92 million. The Sponsor may convert the principal outstanding into Private Placement Warrants at $1.00 per warrant. The Sponsor deposited the first Extension Contribution on April 30, 2023 into the Trust Account. If the Company does not consummate an initial business combination by the Extended Date, the promissory note will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account or will be forfeited, eliminated or otherwise forgiven. As of December 31, 2023, $960,000 has been drawn on the First Extension Note.
On April 22, 2024, in connection with the Company extension arrangement, the Sponsor advanced $960,000 to the Company, which amount reflected the payment in full of the Company’s remaining commitment to make an aggregate of $1.92 million of cash contributions to the Trust Account in connection with the Extension.
On April 26, 2024, in connection with the Second Extension Meeting, the Company issued a Second Extension Note to the Sponsor in the amount of $1.08 million in connection with the Second Extension Contributions. The Second Extension Note bears no interest and is repayable in full upon the earlier of (i) the date of the consummation of the Company’s initial business combination, (ii) the date of the Company’s liquidation and (iii) April 29, 2025. If the Company does not consummate an initial business combination by April 29, 2025, the Second Extension Note will be repaid only from funds held outside of the Trust Account or will be forfeited, eliminated or otherwise forgiven. As of December 31, 2024, $450,000 has been drawn on the Second Extension Note.
On April 25, 2025, the Company had an extraordinary general meeting of our shareholders (the “Third Extension Meeting”) to vote on another amendment to its Articles to extend the deadline by which it has to complete an initial business combination from April 29, 2025 to April 29, 2026 (the “Third Extension”). In connection with the Extraordinary General Meeting, shareholders holding an aggregate of 4,776,757 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares at a price of approximately $11.95 per share from the funds held in the Trust Account, leaving approximately $18.1 million in cash in the Trust Account after satisfaction of such redemptions. In connection with the Third Extension Meeting, the Sponsor agreed to loan us lesser of (i) $0.05 per Public Share or (ii) $150,000 for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2025 and ending on the earlier of (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the date of the our liquidation in accordance with the terms of the Third Extension, up to a maximum aggregate amount of $1.5 million (the “Third Extension Contribution”), and on April 25, 2025, the Company issued a promissory note (the “Third Extension Note”, together with the First and Second Extension Notes, the “Extension Notes”) to the Sponsor in the amount of $1.5 million in connection with the Second Extension Contributions. The Third Extension Note will fund extension deposit of lesser of (i) $0.05 per Public Share or (ii) $150,000 for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2025 until April 29, 2026.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, $2,370,000 and $960,000 respectively had been drawn on the Extension Notes and there were Trust Account deposits in connection with the Extension Notes, totaling $2,370,000.
Following December 31, 2024, the Company made an aggregate deposit of $1,314,258 in extension contributions.
IPO Working Capital Loan
The Sponsor has committed to loan us up to $1,500,000 for working capital loans (as amended and restated, the “IPO Working Capital Loan”). If the Company completes an initial business combination, the Company would repay the IPO Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. In the event that an initial business combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the IPO Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the IPO Working Capital Loans. The IPO Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of an initial business combination or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such IPO Working Capital Loans may be convertible into Private Placement Warrants of the post-initial business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant.
On April 1, 2024, the Company amended and restated the IPO Working Capital Loan to extend the maturity date thereunder to the earlier of (i) thirty months after the closing of the Public Offering and (ii) the consummation of a Business Combination. The Company also increased the principal amount from $1,500,000 to $1,840,616.
On April 26, 2024, the Company further amended and restated the IPO Working Capital Loan to extend the maturity date thereunder to the earlier of (i) forty-two months after the closing of the Public Offering and (ii) the consummation of a Business Combination.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company had $1,641,875 and $723,322 outstanding under the IPO Working Capital Loan.
Other Commitments
On March 18 and March 28, 2022, respectively, the Company engaged UBS, the underwriter in the Initial Public Offering, as a placement agent and to serve as financial advisor and capital markets advisor in connection with a specified de-SPAC transaction. Under that arrangement, the Company agreed to pay UBS a cash fee for such services upon the consummation of such transaction in an amount equal to $3,000,000. The letter of intent related to such potential de-SPAC transaction expired on July 1, 2022 and, as such, rendered the engagement letter void and no future accrual or expense thereunder was booked. The engagement letter also provided for up to $25,000 in reimbursable fees to UBS and as of the expiration date of the agreement, there are no reimbursable fees incurred by the Company.
On June 5, 2023, Sio Silica Corporation entered into an engagement letter with UBS and BMO Capital Markets (“BMO” and together with UBS, the “Placement Agents”), pursuant to which the Placement Agents agreed to serve as co-placement agents in connection with a proposed PIPE offering of securities of Sio NewCo in connection with the Sio Business Combination. Pursuant to a separate letter agreement entered into on the same day between the Company and the Placement Agents, the Company agreed that, in the event that the Sio Business Combination is not consummated, it would reimburse the Placement Agents for its reasonable, documented, out of pocket expenses incurred by such Placement Agent in their role as Placement Agents up to an aggregate amount of $300,000.
Non-Redemption Agreement
Concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, the Company and Sio Newco entered into a non-redemption agreement with a Pyrophyte shareholder with respect to 100,000 Class A ordinary shares held by such shareholder (the “Non-Redemption SPAC Shares”), pursuant to which, among other things, Pyrophyte agreed to issue 58,570 Class A ordinary shares to such shareholder in consideration of such shareholder’s commitment not to redeem the Non-Redemption SPAC Shares held by it in connection with the approval of the Sio Business Combination by Pyrophyte’s shareholders.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption
All of the Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s Charter. In accordance with SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC 480-10-S99, redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Therefore, all Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption have been classified outside of permanent equity.
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable ordinary shares are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net Income Per Ordinary Share
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings Per Share.” Net income per ordinary share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of ordinary share outstanding during the period. The Company has not considered the effect of the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and Private Placements to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the calculation of diluted income per share, since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted income per share is the same as basic income per share for the period presented.
The Company historically had two classes of ordinary shares -- Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares. Upon the conversion event in April 2023 to convert the Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares, the Company now have redeemable and non-redeemable Class A ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the redeemable and non-redeemable Class A ordinary shares. Net income per share, basic and diluted for redeemable Class A ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the pro rata allocation of net income to redeemable Class A ordinary shares for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 by the weighted average number of redeemable Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the periods. Net income per share basic and diluted for non-redeemable Class A ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the pro rata allocation of net income to non-redeemable ordinary shares or the for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 by the weighted average number of non-redeemable Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the periods. Remeasurement associated with the redeemable shares of Class A ordinary shares is excluded from earnings per share as the redemption value approximates fair value.
Derivative Instruments
The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge its exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. Management evaluates all of the Company’s financial instruments, including issued warrants to purchase its Class A ordinary shares, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is re-assessed at the end of each reporting period.
The Company issued 10,062,500 public warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares to investors in the Company’s Initial Public Offering and simultaneously issued 10,156,250 Private Placement Warrants. All of the Company’s outstanding warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40. Accordingly, we recognize the warrant instruments as liabilities at fair value and adjust the instruments to fair value at each reporting period. The liabilities are subject to re- measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in our consolidated statements of income. The Company initially utilized a Monte Carlo simulation model to value the public warrants and Private Placement Warrants at each balance sheet date, with changes in fair value recognized in the consolidated statements of income. Inherent in pricing models are assumptions and inputs used to arrive the fair value of the Public and Private Placement warrants. The subsequent measurements of the public warrants after the detachment of the public warrants from the Units on December 17, 2021 were classified as Level 1 due to the use of an observable market quote in an active market under the ticker PHYT.WS. In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, the Company’s public warrants were delisted from trading. As of December 31, 2024, the fair value of public warrants was value using the listed price on an over-the-counter (“OTC”) market which is considered to be Level 2 fair value measurement. The fair value of the Private Placement Warrants were measured by reference to the trading price of the public warrants which is also considered level 2 fair value instrument.
Both the First Extension Note and the IPO Working Capital Loan (together, the “Promissory Notes”), contain a conversion feature, for which upon maturity, the outstanding principal of the Promissory Notes, at the option of the Sponsor, may be converted into warrants identical to the Private Placement capital warrants. The Company determined that the conversion option should be bifurcated and accounted for as a derivative in accordance with ASC 815. However, the exercise price of the underlying warrants was lesser than the closing price of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares as of December 31, 2024, and when the Promissory Notes were drawn on. The Company believes that the probability of the Sponsor’s exercise of the option to convert the Promissory Notes to warrants is de minimis. As a result, the Company recorded zero liability related to the conversion option on the Promissory Notes.
Investments held in Trust Account
The investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the balance sheet at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of these securities are included in gain on investments held in Trust Account on the statements of income. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
On April 24, 2024, the Company amended the Trust Agreement to permit the Trustee, to hold the assets in the Trust Account in an interest-bearing demand deposit account or cash until the earlier of the consummation of an initial business combination or the Company’s liquidation. On the same day, the Company instructed the Trustee to liquidate the investments held in the Trust Account and move the funds to an interest-bearing demand deposit account, with Continental continuing to act as trustee. As a result, following the liquidation of investments in the Trust Account, the remaining proceeds from the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are no longer invested in U.S. government securities or money market funds.
Recent Accounting Standards
Reference is made to Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.
JOBS Act
On April 5, 2012, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 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 qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act and are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We elected 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 consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
As an “emerging growth company,” we are not required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the consolidated financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis), and (iv) disclose comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five (5) years following the completion of our Public Offering or until we otherwise no longer qualify as an “emerging growth company.”
Recent Developments
On April 25, 2025, we had our Third Extension Meeting. In addition to voting on the Third Extension, shareholders holding an aggregate of 4,776,757 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares at a price of approximately $11.95 per share from the funds held in the Trust Account, leaving approximately $18.1 million in cash in the Trust Account after satisfaction of such redemptions. In connection with the Third Extension Meeting, the Sponsor agreed to loan us lesser of (i) $0.05 per Public Share or (ii) $150,000 for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2025 and ending on the earlier of (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the date of the our liquidation in accordance with the terms of the Third Extension (the “Third Extension Contribution”), and on April 25, 2025, the Company issued the Third Extension Note to the Sponsor in the amount of $1.5 million in connection with the Second Extension Contributions. The Third Extension Note will fund extension deposit of lesser of (i) $0.05 per Public Share or (ii) $150,000 for each calendar month beginning on April 30, 2025 until April 29, 2026.
In addition, on April 25, 2025, the Company amended and restated its Working Capital Convertible Promissory Note with the Sponsor to (a) extend the Maturity Date thereunder from the earlier of (i) April 29, 2025 and (ii) the effective date of an initial business combination to the earlier of (i) the Extended Date and (ii) the effective date of an initial business combination and (b) increase the amount in which the Company may borrow thereunder from $1,840,616 to $2,500,000. The Company may borrow under the Working Capital Convertible Promissory Note for ongoing expenses reasonably related to the business of the Company and the consummation of an initial business combination. The Sponsor will have the option, at any time on or prior to the Maturity Date, to convert up to $1,500,000 outstanding under the Working Capital Convertible Promissory Note into warrants to purchase Class A ordinary shares at a conversion price of $1.00 per warrant, with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one Class A Ordinary Share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to the same adjustments applicable to the private placement warrants sold concurrently with the Company’s initial public offering.
In addition, in connection with the approval of the Third Extension at the Extraordinary Meeting, on April 25, 2025, the Company amended its Trust Agreement to clarify that if the Sponsor fails to make a Third Extension Contribution within 45 days after the date in which a Third Extension Contribution was required to be deposited into the Trust Account, then Continental will be entitled to liquidate the Trust Account and distribute the proceeds thereof to the public shareholders in accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement.
