Exhibit 4.5
DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES
The following description of Berto Acquisition Corp.’s (the “Company,” “we” or “us”) securities is a summary and does not purport to be complete. It is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “articles”), which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Report”) of which this exhibit is a part. We encourage you to read the articles and the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, as amended, of the Cayman Islands (the “Companies Act”) for additional information. Terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meaning assigned to them in the Report of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part.
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our articles, we are authorized to issue 550,000,000 ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value each, including 550,000,000 ordinary shares, as well as 5,000,000 preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes certain terms of our capital stock as set out more particularly in our articles. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.
As of March 30, 2026, Berto Acquisition Corp. has three classes of securities registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”): (1) our units, each of which consists of one ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant; (2) our ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share; and (3) warrants entitling the holder to purchase one ordinary share at a price of $10.50 per share within the first 12 months following the closing of an initial business combination or $11.50 per share after the 12-month anniversary of the closing of the initial business combination, subject to adjustment.
Units
Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant, when exercisable, entitles the holder thereof to purchase one ordinary share at a price of $10.50 per share within the first 12 months following the closing of an initial business combination or $11.50 per share after the 12-month anniversary of the closing of the initial business combination, subject to adjustment as described in the prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29, 2025 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) (File No. 333-286023) (the “prospectus”). Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of the company’s ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. For example, if a warrant holder holds one-half of one warrant to purchase an ordinary share, such warrant will not be exercisable. If a warrant holder holds two-halves of one warrant, such whole warrant will be exercisable for one ordinary share at the applicable exercise price.
The ordinary shares and warrants comprising the units began separate trading on June 5, 2025.
Ordinary Shares
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Unless specified in our articles, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our ordinary shares that are represented in person or by proxy and are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, passed by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares which are represented in person or represented by proxy and are voted at a general meeting of the company, and pursuant to our articles; such actions include amending our articles and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being appointed in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our articles authorize the issuance of up to 550,000,000 ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of ordinary shares which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until no later than one year after our first full fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings or appoint directors. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
We will provide our public shareholders (excluding our sponsor, sponsor affiliates, directors and officers to the extent they acquire public shares) with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, all or a portion of their public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes paid or taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors, and the consultant who owns founder shares have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares they hold and public shares the sponsor, sponsor affiliates, officers and directors hold in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Unlike many SPACs that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a shareholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our articles, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our articles will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many SPACs, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, passed by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares represented in person or represented by proxy and are voted at a general meeting of the company. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, a special resolution passed by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares which are represented in person or by proxy and are voted at a general meeting of the company will need to be passed by our shareholders approving a plan of merger. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in the prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of an ordinary resolution, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. Our articles require that at least five days’ notice will be given of any general meeting.
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 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 redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. 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. Our shareholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
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If we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares they hold and any public shares purchased during or after the IPO in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 11,255,626 or 37.5% of the 30,015,000 public shares sold in the IPO 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 and the parties to the letter agreement do not acquire any public shares). Assuming that only the holders of one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our articles, vote their shares at a general meeting of the company, we will not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to approve an initial business combination. However, if our initial business combination is structured as a statutory merger or consolidation with another company under Cayman Islands law, a special resolution, passed by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares represented in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting of the company and are voted at a general meeting of the company will need to be passed by our shareholders approving a plan of merger. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or whether they do not vote or abstain from voting on the proposed transaction, or whether they were a public shareholder on the record date for the general meeting held to approve the proposed transaction.
Pursuant to our articles, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, we will, (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds, 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes paid or payable and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will constitute full and complete payment and completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distribution or other distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; 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 the requirements of other applicable law. Our initial shareholders have entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from assets outside the trust account. However, if our initial shareholders or management team acquire public shares in or after the IPO, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our public shareholders (excluding our sponsor, sponsor affiliates, directors and officers to the extent they acquire public shares) with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash at a per share price equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are, except as described below, identical to the public shares included in the units sold in the IPO, and holders of founder shares have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) the founder shares are entitled to registration rights; and (iii) our sponsor, sponsor affiliates, officers and directors, and the consultant who owns founder shares have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to (A) waive their redemption rights with respect to the founder shares they hold and the public shares held by the sponsor, sponsor affiliates, officers and directors in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) waive their redemption rights with respect to the founder shares they hold and the public shares held by the sponsor, sponsor affiliates, officers and directors in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our 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 an initial business combination within the completion window or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to the rights of holders of our ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, (C) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account and to liquidating distributions from assets outside the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period and (D) vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased by the sponsor, sponsor affiliates, officers and directors during or after the IPO (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination.
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With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier to occur of (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property; except to certain permitted transferees and under certain circumstances as described in the prospectus under “Principal Shareholders — Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants.” Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders with respect to any founder shares.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (1) the closing price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading-day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (2) if we consummate a transaction after our initial business combination which results in our shareholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities or other property, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.
Preference Shares
Our articles authorize 5,000,000 preference shares and provide that preference shares may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Before any preference shares of any series are issued, our board of directors shall fix, by resolution or resolutions, the following provisions of such series: (a) the designation of such series and the number of preference shares to constitute such series; (b) whether the shares of such series shall have voting rights, in addition to any voting rights provided by the Companies Act, and, if so, the terms of such voting rights, which may be general or limited; (c) the dividends, if any, payable on such series, whether any such dividends shall be cumulative, and, if so, from what dates, the conditions and dates upon which such dividends shall be payable, the preference or relation which such dividends shall bear to the dividends payable on any shares of any other class of shares or any other series of preference shares; (d) whether the preference shares or such series shall be subject to redemption by the Company, and, if so, the times, prices and other conditions of such redemption; (e) the amount or amounts payable upon preference shares of such series upon, and the rights of the holders of such series in, a voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, or upon any distribution of the assets, of the company; (f) whether the preference shares of such series shall be subject to the operation of a retirement or sinking fund and, if so, the extent to and manner in which any such retirement or sinking fund shall be applied to the purchase or redemption of the preference shares of such series for retirement or other corporate purposes and the terms and provisions relative to the operation of the retirement or sinking fund; (g) whether the preference shares of such series shall be convertible into, or exchangeable for, shares of any other class of shares or any other series of preference shares or any other securities and, if so, the price or prices or the rate or rates of conversion or exchange and the method, if any, of adjusting the same, and any other terms and conditions of conversion or exchange; (h) the limitations and restrictions, if any, to be effective while any preference shares or such series are outstanding upon the payment of dividends or the making of other distributions on, and upon the purchase, redemption or other acquisition by the Company of, the existing shares or shares of any other class of shares or any other series of preference shares; (i) the conditions or restrictions, if any, upon the creation of indebtedness of the company or upon the issue of any additional shares, including additional shares of such series or of any other class of shares or any other series of preference shares; and (j) any other powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and other special rights, and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions of any other class of shares or any other series of preference shares. Accordingly, our board of directors is able to, without shareholder approval, issue preference shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preference shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preference shares outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue preference shares, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No preference shares were issued or registered in the IPO.
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Warrants
Public Shareholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant, when exercisable, entitles the registered holder to purchase one ordinary share at a price of $10.50 per share within the first 12 months following the closing of an initial business combination or $11.50 per share after the 12-month anniversary of the closing of the initial business combination, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, provided that no warrant will be exercisable for cash and we will not be obligated to issue ordinary shares upon exercise of a warrant unless the ordinary shares issuable upon such warrant exercise have been registered on a registration statement on Form S-1, Form S-3, Form F-1, or Form F-3, as applicable, following our initial business combination, qualified or deemed exempt from registration or qualification under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration or qualification is available. In the event that such condition is not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant for cash and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless, in which case the purchaser of a unit containing public warrants will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the ordinary shares underlying the unit. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant.
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of ordinary shares. This means only a whole warrant may be exercised at a given time by a warrant holder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
We registered the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants in the registration statement of which the prospectus forms a part because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, which may be within one year of the IPO. 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 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1, S-3, F-1, or F-3, as applicable, for the registration under the Securities Act of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If any such registration statement covering the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, then beginning on the 61st business day after the closing of our initial business combination and ending upon such registration statement being declared effective by the SEC, and during any other period when we have failed to maintain an effective registration statement covering the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants, warrant holders will have the right to exercise such public warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the above, if our ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect such registration statement.
Redemption of public warrants for cash
Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the public warrants for redemption for cash:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
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| ● | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
| ● | upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “30-day measurement period”); and |
| ● | if, and only if, the closing price of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of ordinary shares and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending three business days before we send to the notice of redemption to the public warrant holders. |
We will not redeem the public warrants as described above for cash unless an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants and a current prospectus relating to those ordinary shares is available throughout the 30-day measurement period, except if we have elected to require the exercise of the public warrants on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us for cash, we may not exercise our redemption right if the issuance of ordinary shares upon exercise of the public warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or we are unable to effect such registration or qualification. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify such ordinary shares under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which warrants were offered by us in the IPO.
We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the public warrants, each public warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the ordinary shares may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and for certain issuances of ordinary shares and equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination) as well as the warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption procedures and cashless exercise
If we call the warrants for redemption as described above under “— Redemption of public warrants for cash”, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our shareholders of issuing the maximum number of ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering their warrants for that number of ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our ordinary shares (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” will mean the average closing price of the ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of ordinary shares to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination.
Maximum Percentage. A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as specified by the holder) of the ordinary shares outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
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Anti-dilution Adjustments. If the number of outstanding ordinary shares is increased by a share capitalization payable in ordinary shares, or by a split-up of ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such share capitalization, split-up or similar event, the number of ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding ordinary shares. A rights offering to holders of ordinary shares entitling holders to purchase ordinary shares at a price less than the “historical fair market value” (as defined below) will be deemed a share capitalization of a number of ordinary shares equal to the product of (i) the number of ordinary shares actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for ordinary shares) multiplied by (ii) one (1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per ordinary share paid in such rights offering and (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes, if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for ordinary shares, in determining the price payable for ordinary shares, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion. Historical fair market value means the volume weighted average price of ordinary shares as reported during the ten (10) trading-day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the ordinary shares trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.
In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of ordinary shares on account of such ordinary shares (or other securities into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends, (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of public shares in connection with a proposed initial business combination or (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our Charter to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination within the completion window or with respect to any other material provisions relating to the rights of holders of ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, or in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination and any subsequent distribution of assets upon our liquidation, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each ordinary share in respect of such event. “Ordinary cash dividends” means any cash dividend or cash distribution which, when combined on a per share basis, with the per share amounts of all other cash dividends and cash distributions paid on the ordinary shares during the 365-day period ending on the date of declaration of such dividend or distribution to the extent it does not exceed $0.50 (being 5% of the offering price of the units, which amount shall be adjusted to appropriately reflect any of the other anti-dilution events discussed herein and excluding cash dividends or cash distributions that resulted in an adjustment to the exercise price or to the number of ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant) but only with respect to the amount of the aggregate cash dividends or cash distributions equal to or less than $0.50 per share.
If the number of outstanding ordinary shares is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse share split or reclassification of ordinary shares or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse share split, reclassification or similar event, the number of ordinary shares issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding ordinary shares.
Whenever the number of ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of ordinary shares purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of ordinary shares so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional 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 ordinary share (with the Newly Issued Price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds (including from such issuances and the IPO), and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of our consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of our ordinary shares during the 20 trading-day period starting on the trading day after the day on which we consummate our initial business combination (such price, the Market Value) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the last sales price of the ordinary shares that triggers the Company’s right to redeem the warrants described under “— Redemption of public warrants for cash” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
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In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding ordinary shares (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such ordinary shares), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding ordinary shares), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the ordinary shares immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of ordinary shares or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. If any reclassification also results in a change in ordinary shares covered by the anti-dilution adjustments discussed above, then such adjustment will be made pursuant to both mechanisms. This reclassification adjustment will similarly apply to successive reclassifications, reorganizations, mergers or consolidations, sales or other transfers. In no event will the exercise price be reduced to less than the par value per share issuable upon exercise of the warrants.
Registered Form. The 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 for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or to correct any defective provision or mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the warrants and the warrant agreement set forth in the prospectus, (ii) adjusting the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants, and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants, 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the Report, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants.
The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a cashless basis, if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of ordinary shares and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive ordinary shares. After the issuance of ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by shareholders.
Fractional Shares. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder.
Exclusive Forum. We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement 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 we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors — Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” This provision applies to claims under the Securities Act but does not apply to claims under the Exchange Act or any claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum.
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Private Placement Warrants
Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in the IPO. The private placement warrants (including the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions, to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with the initial purchasers of the private placement warrants) and they will be entitled to registration rights. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us and they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.
In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such working capital loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants.
Underwriter Warrants
Pursuant to the underwriting agreement, we issued 3,750,000 warrants to the representatives of the underwriters or their designees upon the consummation of the IPO as additional compensation. The underwriter warrants have the same terms as the private placement warrants, except the underwriter warrants may not be exercisable more than five years from the commencement of sales in the IPO in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8) and are subject to certain additional restrictions pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8) and FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1) as described herein.
The underwriter warrants (including the underlying shares) are entitled to resale registration rights including one demand and unlimited “piggy-back” rights for periods of five and seven years, respectively, from the commencement of sales of the IPO. In compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8), such registration rights are limited to demand and “piggyback” rights for periods of five and seven years, respectively, from the date of commencement of sales of the IPO, and such demand rights may be exercised on only one occasion.
The underwriter warrants and the underlying shares are deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a lock-up for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of the IPO. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(e)(1), these securities may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or hypothecated, nor may they be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of the IPO except to any underwriter and selected dealer participating in the offering and their officers or partners, registered persons of affiliates or as otherwise permitted under FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2).
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence or intentional misconduct of the indemnified person or entity. Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against the any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.
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Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by the shareholders of the issued shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on such matter at a general meeting of the company and are voted at a general meeting of the company) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that holds issued shares that together represent at least 90% of the votes at a general meeting of the subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company, provided that the parent company is the surviving entity and a copy of the plan of merger is given to every member of each subsidiary company to be merged unless that member otherwise agrees. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted; and (v) there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
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Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidation is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived; (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company; and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
The Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid the fair value of their shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation in certain circumstances if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, where such rights apply, that procedure is as follows: (i) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for their shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (ii) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is authorized by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (iii) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of their shares; (iv) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (ii) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase their shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (v) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree on a price within such 30 day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30 day period expires, the company must (and any dissenting shareholder may) file a petition with the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands to determine the fair value of all dissenting shares and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. A shareholder who dissents must do so in respect of all shares that that person holds in the constituent company. Upon the giving of a notice of dissent under paragraph (iii) above, the shareholder to whom the notice relates shall cease to have any of the rights of a shareholder except the right to be paid the fair value of that person’s shares and certain rights specified in the Companies Act. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenting shareholders holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date, where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
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Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement,” which may be tantamount to a merger. Schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by (i) in relation to a compromise or arrangement between a company and its creditors or any class of them, a majority in number of such creditors or class of creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of such creditors or class of creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting summoned for that purpose; and (ii) in relation to a compromise or arrangement between a company and its shareholders or any class of them, shareholders who represent 75% in value of the company’s shareholders or class of shareholders, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at a meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:
| ● | we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with; |
| ● | the shareholders have been fairly represented at the general meeting in question; |
| ● | the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and |
| ● | the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a “fraud on the minority.” |
If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to dissenters’ rights or appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations.
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Squeeze-out Provisions. When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% in value of the shares to whom the offer relates within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period after the expiration of the initial four-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements, of an operating business.
Shareholders’ Suits. Ogier (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
| ● | a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority; |
| ● | the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or |
| ● | those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.” |
A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
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We have been advised by Ogier (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and 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.
Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
| ● | an exempted company does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies; |
| ● | an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection; |
| ● | an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting; |
| ● | an exempted company may issue shares with no par value; |
| ● | an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 30 years in the first instance); |
| ● | an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands; |
| ● | an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and |
| ● | an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company. |
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“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
Articles
The Business Combination Article of our articles contains provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections relating to the initial public offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (i) at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s shareholders at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Our articles provide that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds of our shareholders (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds of the votes cast by such shareholders as, being entitled to do so, vote in person or, where proxies are allowed, by proxy at the applicable general meeting of the company (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders who are entitled to vote on such matter (or such lower threshold as may be allowed under the Companies Law from time to time).
Our initial shareholders, who collectively beneficially own approximately 20% of our ordinary shares upon the closing of the initial public offering (not including the ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants), may participate in any vote to amend our articles and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our articles provide, among other things, that:
| ● | If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the completion window, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds, 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes paid or payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay liquidation expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will constitute full and complete payment and completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions or other distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; 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 the requirements of other applicable law; |
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| ● | 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 as a class with public shares on any initial business combination; |
| ● | Although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the consideration we are paying is fair to our company and its shareholders from a financial point of view; |
| ● | If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act; |
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| ● | If our shareholders approve an amendment to our articles not for the purpose of approving, or in conjunction with the consummation of, an initial business combination (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the completion window, or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to the rights of holders of our ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public shareholders (excluding our sponsor, sponsor affiliates, directors and officers to the extent they acquire public shares) with the opportunity to redeem, regardless of whether they abstain, vote for, or against, our initial business combination, all or a portion of their public shares upon such approval 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes paid or payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein; |
| ● | We will not effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations; and |
| ● | 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. Our articles will 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. 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. This choice of forum provision may limit a 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 such lawsuits. The enforceability of similar exclusive forum provisions (including exclusive federal forum provisions for actions, suits or proceedings asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act) in other companies’ organizational documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and there is uncertainty as to whether courts would enforce the exclusive forum provisions in our articles. Additionally, our shareholders cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. |
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Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Terrorist Financing, Prevention of Proliferation Financing and Financial Sanctions Compliance-Cayman Islands
If any person residing in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or money laundering or is involved with terrorism or terrorist property or proliferation financing or is the business combination partner of a financial sanction and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector, or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering or proliferation financing or is the business combination partner of a financial sanction, or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
In order to comply with legislation or regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering, the company may be required to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering procedures, and may require subscribers to provide evidence to verify their identity. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, the company may also delegate the maintenance of our anti-money laundering procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) to a suitable person.
The company reserves the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a subscriber. In the event of delay or failure on the part of the subscriber in producing any information required for verification purposes, we may refuse to accept the application, in which case any funds received will be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.
The company also reserves the right to refuse to make any redemption payment to a shareholder if directors or officers suspect or are advised that the payment of redemption proceeds to such shareholder might result in a breach of applicable anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, prevention of proliferation financing and financial sanctions or other laws or regulations by any person in any relevant jurisdiction, or if such refusal is considered necessary or appropriate to ensure our compliance with any such laws or regulations in any applicable jurisdiction.
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Should a shareholder or its duly authorized delegates or agents be, or become (or is believed by the company or its affiliates (“Agents”) to be or become) at any time while it owns or holds an interest in the company, (a) an individual or entity named on any sanctions list maintained by the United Kingdom (including as extended to the Cayman Islands by Orders in Council) or the Cayman Islands or any similar list maintained under applicable law or is otherwise subject to applicable sanctions in the Cayman Islands (a “Sanctions Subject”) or (b) an entity owned or controlled directly or indirectly by a Sanctions Subject, as determined by the company in its sole discretion, then (i) the company or its Agents may immediately and without notice to the shareholder cease any further dealings with the shareholder or freeze any dealings with the interests or accounts of the shareholder (e.g., by prohibiting payments by or to the shareholder or restricting or suspending dealings with the interests or accounts) or freeze the assets of the company (including interests or accounts of other shareholders who are not Sanctions Subjects), until the relevant person ceases to be a Sanctions Subject or a license is obtained under applicable law to continue such dealings (a “Sanctioned Persons Event”), (ii) the company and its Agents may be required to report such action or failure to comply with information requests and to disclose the shareholder’s identity (and/or the identity of the shareholder’s beneficial owners and control persons) to the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Cayman Islands Financial Reporting Authority, or other applicable governmental or regulatory authorities (without notifying the Subscriber that such information has been so provided) and (iii) the company and its Agents have no liability whatsoever for any liabilities, costs, expenses, damages and/or losses (including but not limited to any direct, indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of reputation and all interest, penalties and legal costs and all other professional costs and expenses) incurred by the shareholder as a result of a Sanctioned Persons Event.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of our Articles
Our articles contain provisions that may delay, defer or discourage another party from acquiring control of us. We expect that these provisions, which are summarized below, will discourage coercive takeover practices or inadequate takeover bids.
Our articles provide that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings. Our authorized but unissued ordinary shares and preference shares are available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
We have 37,518,750 ordinary shares outstanding immediately after the initial public shares. Of these shares, 30,015,000 ordinary shares sold in the initial public offering are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any public shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (7,503,750 founder shares) and all of the outstanding private placement warrants (3,500,000 private placement warrants) are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the founder shares and private placement warrants, are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus. These restricted securities are entitled to registration rights as more fully described below under “— Registration Rights.”
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Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
| ● | 1% of the total number of ordinary shares then outstanding, which equal to 300,150 shares immediately after the initial public offering; or |
| ● | the average weekly reported trading volume of the ordinary shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale. |
Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
| ● | the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; |
| ● | the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Current Reports on Form 8-K; and |
| ● | at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company. |
| ● | As a result, our initial shareholders will be able to sell their founder shares and private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination. |
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Registration Rights
The holders of the (i) founder shares, which were issued in a private placement prior to the closing of the initial public offering, (ii) private placement warrants, which were issued in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering and the ordinary shares underlying such private placement warrants, (iii) underwriter warrants, which will be issued to our representatives or their designees as additional compensation upon closing of the initial public offering, and (iv) private placement warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them prior to the consummation of our initial business combination pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered in connection with the initial public offering. Pursuant to the registration rights agreement, and assuming $1,500,000 of working capital loans are converted into private placement warrants, we will be obligated to register up to 16,253,750 ordinary shares and 9,250,000 warrants. The number of ordinary shares includes (i) 7,503,750 founder shares, (ii) 3,500,000 ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants, (iii) 3,750,000 ordinary shares underlying the underwriter warrants, and (iv) up to 1,500,000 ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The number of warrants includes 3,500,000 private placement warrants, 3,750,000 underwriter warrants, and up to 1,500,000 private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans. The holders of founder shares, private placement warrants and working capital warrants are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders of founder shares, private placement warrants, and working capital warrants have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. The underwriter warrants (including the underlying shares) will be entitled to resale registration rights including one demand and unlimited “piggy-back” rights for periods of five and seven years, respectively, from the commencement of sales of the initial public offering, in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(g)(8). We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Listing of Securities
Our units, ordinary shares and public warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “TACOU,” “TACO” and “TACOW,” respectively.
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