UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:None.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
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As of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value for the registrant’s Class A common stock outstanding, other than the shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing sales price for the Class A common stock on June 30, 2022, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market, was approximately$
As of March 30, 2023,
Documents Incorporated by Reference:
None.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i
PART I
Item 1.Business.
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Form 10-K”), references to “DTOC” or the “Company” and to “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp.
Company Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on November 17, 2020 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “business combination”). Our sponsor is Digital Transformation Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).
The registration statement for our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) was declared effective on March 9, 2021. On March 12, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 33,350,000 units (“Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, which includes 3,350,000 Units as a result of the underwriter’s partial exercise of its option to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, generating gross proceeds of $333.5 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $18.9 million, inclusive of $11.7 million in deferred underwriting commissions.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 6,113,333 warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant (“Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $9.2 million.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement on March 12, 2021, $333.5 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
On March 2, 2023, the Company held a special meeting of stockholders (the “Special Meeting”). The purpose of the Special Meeting was to approve the following proposals: (1) to amend the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and Investment Management Trust Agreement, to extend the date by which the Company has to consummate a business combination (the “Combination Period”) from March 12, 2023 to June 30, 2023 (the “Extension Amendment Proposal” and “Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal”, respectively), conditioned on the deposit of $150,000 by the Sponsor into the Trust Account (the “Initial Contribution”) and to give the Sponsor the option to further extend the Combination Period beyond June 30, 2023 up to three (3) times for an additional one (1) month each time to September 30, 2023 (the “Extended Date”) upon the deposit into the Trust Account of $50,000 for each calendar month (each, an “Extension Option”), (2) to amend the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to eliminate the limitation that the Company may not redeem Public Shares to the extent that such redemption would result in DTOC having net tangible assets (as determined in accordance with Rule 3a51-1(g)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”)) of less than $5,000,001 (the “Redemption Limitation”) in order to allow the Company to redeem Public Shares irrespective of whether such redemption would exceed the Redemption Limitation (the “Redemption Limitation Amendment Proposal”), and (3) to adjourn the Special Meeting to a later date or dates, if necessary, to permit further solicitation and vote of proxies if, based upon the tabulated vote at the time of the Special Meeting, there are not sufficient votes to approve the Extension Amendment Proposal, Trust Amendment Agreement Proposal, and the Redemption Limitation Amendment Proposal (collectively, the “Extension Proposals”). On March 2, 2023, the Company’s Sponsor contributed to the Trust Account $150,000 to fund the Extension Proposals. In connection with the approval of the Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal and Extension Amendment Proposal, the Sponsor and Chief Financial Officer converted all of their respective Founder Shares (as described in Note 5) into an aggregate of 8,262,500 shares of DTOC Class A common stock. Following conversion, such shares will vote together with the Public Shares on the AON Business Combination (as defined below); however, as such shares were not issued as part of the IPO, such shares are not entitled to any funds held in the Trust Account, including any interest thereon.
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In connection with the extension, stockholders holding 31,502,931 shares of Class A common stock exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Trust Account. As a result, $321,160,140 (approximately $10.19 per share), was removed from the Trust Account to pay such holders. Following these redemptions, the Company had 1,847,069 shares of Class A common stock outstanding and the aggregate amount remaining in the Trust Account at the time was $18,830,151.
On October 5, 2022, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), with American Oncology Network, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“AON”) pursuant to which the combined company will be organized in an umbrella partnership C corporation structure, in which substantially all of the assets and the business of the combined company will be held by AON (the “AON Business Combination”). Upon the consummation of the AON Business Combination, the members of AON will include DTOC and the current unitholders of AON, and DTOC will be renamed American Oncology Network, Inc. (the “New AON”).
On January 6, 2023, we amended and restated the Business Combination Agreement (as amended, the “Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement”) to provide, among other things, that the board of managers of AON following the AON Business Combination will consist of (a) two managers designated by holders representing more than 50% of the AON common units and (b) three managers designated by New AON. In addition, the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement provides that AON unitholders may elect to receive, in lieu of any number of shares of New AON Class B common stock to which an AON unitholder would otherwise be entitled to receive, warrants to acquire such number of shares of New AON Class B common stock, by submitting an election in accordance with the procedures set forth in Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement. In connection with entering into the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement, DTOC and AON also revised the form of Amended and Restated Company LLC Agreement included as an exhibit to the Business Combination Agreement. The revised form of Amended and Restated Company LLC Agreement includes, among other revisions, certain additions and modifications in order to reflect the changes in the AON board of managers following the completion of the AON Business Combination (as described above).
In connection with the AON Business Combination, we may raise additional capital of up to $100 million in the form of convertible preferred securities (the “PIPE Investment”). Furthermore, the Business Combination Agreement provides that the obligation of AON to consummate the AON Business Combination is subject to the sum of the following amounts (collectively, the “Available Closing Acquiror Cash”) equaling or exceeding $60 million as of the Closing (the “Minimum Cash Condition”): (i) the aggregate cash proceeds available from the Trust Account (after giving effect to all redemptions of shares of DTOC Class A common stock), plus (ii) the cash funded to DTOC, AON or any subsidiary of AON during the period between signing of the Business Combination Agreement and Closing, or that will be funded to DTOC concurrently with the Closing, in each case pursuant to any equity or debt financing agreement or arrangement other than borrowings under the AON PNC Loans, plus (iii) the aggregate amount of capital offered in the PIPE Investment, but that is unreasonably rejected by AON (as further described in the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement).
The Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement is further described in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by us on January 6, 2023.
If we have not completed a business combination by June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all the Extension Options are exercised), 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 to pay our franchise and income taxes (less 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 Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
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Our Management Team and Board of Directors
Our management team and Board of Directors includes Kevin Nazemi, Kyle Francis, Bradley Fluegel, Jim Moffatt, and Heather Zynczak. We believe that our team collectively has deep healthcare and technology industry experience as entrepreneurs, operators, executives, board members and investors. Through our collective access to contacts and relationships, ranging from owners of private and public companies, private equity and venture capital funds, investment bankers, attorneys, accountants and business brokers, DTOC is well positioned to take advantage of the growing set of acquisition opportunities focused on the healthcare industry to consummate an attractive transaction for our stockholders and to execute upon various value creation initiatives after successful completion of our business combination.
Mr. Kevin Nazemi serves as our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Nazemi has worked in the healthcare and technology sectors for over 15 years and has focused his career on leveraging technology to improve the delivery and quality of healthcare. Mr. Nazemi currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Charlie Financial Incorporated, a banking technology services company, and as Partner at Lobby 7 Capital Inc., a startup investment and incubation firm. Mr. Nazemi co-founded two different companies in the healthcare technology space—Oscar Health (a technology-driven health insurance company) and Renew Health (a technology-driven health platform focused on retirees). Mr. Nazemi co-founded Renew in January 2016 and served as the Chief Executive Officer from January 2016 to January 2020. Prior to Renew, Mr. Nazemi co-founded Oscar Health in October 2012 and served as the Co-Chief Executive Officer from December 2012 to March 2015. Mr. Nazemi started his career at Microsoft Corporation in June 2003, where he served in numerous roles across the organization.
Mr. Nazemi currently serves as a Partner at Lobby 7 Capital, a startup investment and incubation firm, and on the Board of Directors of Premera Blue Cross, the largest health plan in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Nazemi completed a joint MBA/MPP program offered by the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Zuckerman Fellow, and the Harvard Business School, where he was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. Mr. Nazemi has a BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr. Kyle Francis serves as our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. Mr. Francis is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in the healthcare industry and financial operations. Mr. Francis recently served as an executive at Southern California Reproductive Center, a leading chain of fertility clinics, as Chief Executive Officer from September 2015 to June 2020 and Chief Financial Officer from May 2014 to September 2015. Mr. Francis negotiated and oversaw the sale of the business to Women’s Care Enterprises in December 2019. Mr. Francis served as Chief Financial Officer from December 2010 to May 2014 and EVP Business Development from November 2008 to December 2010 of Apollo Medical Holdings, a publicly traded healthcare management company. Mr. Francis also served as an investment banker at CIBC World Markets for 8 years from March 2000 to September 2008 in the middle market and capital markets groups.
Mr. Francis currently serves as a director for Racerocks, Inc., a Canadian technology company focused on VR Training and remote learning for the defense industry. Mr. Francis also acts as an executive advisor to a number of private healthcare companies, assisting founders to develop growth strategies and expand business lines. Mr. Francis has a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University.
Mr. Bradley Fluegel has served as a director since our Initial Public Offering. Mr. Fluegel currently advises a number of technology-enabled healthcare companies including Interwell Health, Galileo, Hims & Hers, Pager, Covera Health and VillageMD. Mr. Fluegel was most recently the Senior Vice President, Chief Healthcare Commercial Market Development Officer and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer for Walgreens from October 2012 to January 2018. Prior to Walgreens, Mr. Fluegel served as an executive in residence at Health Evolution Partners from April 2011 to September 2012, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer of Anthem from October 2007 to December 2010, Senior Vice President of National Accounts and Vice President of Enterprise Strategy at Aetna from March 2005 to September 2007, and Principal and then Chief Executive Officer for Reden & Anders (Optum Consulting) from October 2002 to February 2005. Mr. Fluegel currently serves on the Board of Directors of MJHS Health in New York City, Performant Financial Corporation, AdhereHealth, NeuroMetrix, and Premera Blue Cross, among others. Mr. Fluegel formerly served on the Board of Directors of Fitbit prior to Google’s acquisition of the company. Mr. Fluegel earned a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BBA from the University of Washington. Mr. Fluegel also serves as a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
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Mr. Jim Moffatt has served as a director since our Initial Public Offering. Mr. Moffatt had an extensive career at Deloitte spanning nearly 32 years in which he held numerous leadership roles, including: Vice Chairman of Deloitte Consulting from January 2018 to December 2018, Global Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Consulting from June 2015 to December 2017, Deputy Chief Executive Officer —Global for Deloitte U.S. from April 2015 to March 2017, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Deloitte Consulting U.S. from May 2011 to December 2015, Managing Principal for Deloitte U.S. Consulting Clients & Industries from June 2009 to May 2011, and National Managing Director Consulting Client Excellence and Regions Leader from June 2007 to May 2009. Mr. Moffatt joined Deloitte Consulting in 1987 and was admitted as Principal in June 1994. While at Deloitte, Mr. Moffatt advised a number of leading companies in the healthcare and technology sectors and was recognized as a talent cultivator, for his ability to drive growth at any scale, and for his leadership in a networked economy. Mr. Moffatt currently serves on several boards including Henry Schein One, First Hawaiian, Inc. and its principal subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank, AmplifAI, Icertis and Optiv Security, Inc. He is also a Board Partner to Greycoft and a Senior Advisor to KKR. Mr. Moffatt serves as an advisor to Centre for Neuro Skills, SparkCognition, Bridgepoint LLC, TenOneTen, and March Capital, among others. He also serves on committees for organizations including the UCLA Anderson School and UC San Diego Foundation Board. Mr. Moffatt previously served on the UCLA Chancellor's Cabinet Council and Corporate Council of the American Film Institute. Mr. Moffatt holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA from University of California, San Diego.
Ms. Heather Zynczak has served as a director since our Initial Public Offering. Ms. Zynczak was formerly the Chief Marketing Officer of Pluralsight from August 2016 to October 2020, where she helped lead the company to a successful IPO in May 2018. Prior to Pluralsight, Ms. Zynczak served as Chief Marketing Officer of Domo from March 2012 to August 2016, Global Vice President of Marketing of SAP from February 2006 to March 2012, and Senior Director of Product Strategy of Oracle from September 2001 to February 2006. Prior to serving in these executive roles, Ms. Zynczak served in consulting roles with Booz Allen and Hamilton from June 1998 to July 1999, The Boston Consulting Group from June 1997 to August 1997, and Accenture from June 1993 to July 1996. Ms. Zynczak currently serves on the Board of Directors of Thryv, Demandbase, D2L, and Akrose Labs. Ms. Zynczak has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA from University of Texas at Austin.
We believe that our broad network of relationships, including investors in private and public equity as well as seasoned operators, uniquely positions us to capitalize on the technology revolution that is changing the healthcare system. Our broad team has been constructed with a diverse set of skills and knowledge that we believe will drive to a successful business combination with a leading healthcare technology company. Our broad team has the following attributes, which we believe are a distinct competitive advantage in our ability to source and consummate a transaction:
| ● | Deep healthcare industry relationships across the entire spectrum of stakeholders, including with payors, provider groups, investment firms, leading companies, and industry thought leaders. |
| ● | Differentiated approach to driving long-term value creation, honed through years of operating and investment experience in high growth sectors of healthcare such as value-based healthcare and consumer-driven healthcare. |
| ● | Robust pipeline of potential targets that meet our acquisition criteria through our broad network of relationships and meticulous approach to defining and refining our target opportunity set. |
| ● | Experience positioning private companies for public markets. |
| ● | Connectivity to key decision makers in the healthcare technology executive and investor community through our collective network. |
| ● | Ability to drive value creation post-transaction through a strategic playbook that embraces the role of technology to improve the healthcare system. |
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With respect to the above, past experience or performance of our management team and their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of future performance. Our management team and their respective affiliates have been involved with a large number of public and private companies in addition to those identified above, not all of which have achieved similar performance levels. See “Risk Factors—Past performance by our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.” No member of our management team has any experience in operating special purpose acquisition vehicles.
Business Strategy
Our strategy is to merge with a high growth company that has leveraged technology to make a significant improvement to the healthcare industry and has achieved or is expected to achieve leadership in its target market. We believe that there are numerous target opportunities available to DTOC which exhibit attractive growth characteristics, are meaningful in scale, and are driving digital transformation of various sectors of the healthcare industry. These target opportunities include companies supporting or enabling healthcare providers, healthcare facilities, practice management, billings & collections, health insurance, managed care, drug development, pharmaceuticals including digital therapeutics, healthcare financing solutions, and pharmacies.
We have a thematic and proactive investment strategy to identify and merge with a target company. We will leverage our deep healthcare and technology sector expertise to identify the companies that we think are best positioned in their respective sectors to capture leading market share and long-term growth. We will leverage our relationships with company founders and venture capital and growth equity investment firms to continue to source and build a pipeline of such well-positioned companies. We have cultivated a high priority list of potential targets that fit our investment criteria that we plan to pursue following our offering. We also plan to draw on the broad network and experience of our advisors to support our sourcing, diligence and transaction execution process. We will select a company that fits our acquisition criteria and that we expect to have sustainable long-term equity value appreciation as a public company.
We are particularly focused on targets that are benefiting from long-term, secular tailwinds in healthcare, including the migration to consumer-driven healthcare and value-based healthcare.
Acquisition Criteria
Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines:
| ● | Technology-first Business Model—the target business has a strong technology foundation that will enable continued scaling as technology is leveraged to serve customers in a manner that is superior to the status quo. |
| ● | Compelling Customer Value Proposition—the target business has a customer-centric focus reflected in a strong NPS and customer loyalty, which creates a sustainable competitive advantage. |
| ● | Strong Competitive Position—the target business uses scale, brand, and technology to differentiate its offering vis-à-vis competitors. |
| ● | Favorable Industry Tailwinds—the target business is supported by long-term consumer- and industry-specific tailwinds and focused on sectors with resilient or growing demand characteristics. |
| ● | Attractive and Repeatable Unit Economics—the target business has unit economics that are attractive and can be scaled without a material decline in return on growth investments. |
| ● | Entrepreneurial Management Team—the management team of the target business is entrepreneurial, data-driven, and committed to the long-term growth of the business. |
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These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that from time to time our management may deem relevant.
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
Initial Business Combination
Nasdaq listing rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the Trust Account (excluding any deferred underwriting fees and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% of fair market value test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% of fair market value test, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of the 80% of fair market value test. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.
Other Considerations
In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.
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We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, to the extent required by applicable law or based upon the direction of our board of directors or a committee thereof, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), or from another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Members of our management team directly or indirectly own our securities, and accordingly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.
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 management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Certain of our directors presently have, and any of our officers and directors in the future may have, additional fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties to one or more other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entities. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer of our company unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for one or more entities to which he or she has fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties, he or she will honor these obligations and duties to present such business combination opportunity to such entities first, and only present it to us if such entities reject the opportunity and he or she determines to present the opportunity to us.
While our Sponsor and its affiliates will not have any duty to offer acquisition opportunities to us, our Sponsor and its affiliates may become aware of a potential transaction that is an attractive opportunity for us, which it may decide to share with us. Conflicts may arise from our Sponsor’s sponsorship of our company, as well as from actions undertaken by our Sponsor or any of its affiliates for their own account. When acting for their own account, our Sponsor or any of its affiliates’ other activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on us, and the interests of our Sponsor or any of its affiliates may at times be adverse to ours.
We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary, contractual or other obligations or duties of our officers or directors or our Sponsor and its affiliates, will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
Corporate Information
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.
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We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the aggregate worldwide market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to emerging growth company will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.
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 aggregate worldwide market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the aggregate worldwide market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates equaled or exceeded $700 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements and other disclosures with other public companies difficult or impossible.
Competition
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic business combinations. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation may give others with greater resources an advantage in pursuing the initial business combination of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.
Facilities
Our executive offices are located at 10250 Constellation Blvd, Suite 23126, Los Angeles, CA 90067 and our telephone number is (360) 949-1111. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Website
We maintain an Internet website at www.dtocorp.com. The information contained on our website or that can be accessed through our website does not constitute a part of this report.
Employees
We currently have two executive officers, our chief executive officer and our chief financial officer. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.
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Item 1A.Risk Factors.
References in this section to the amount distributable from the Trust Account upon the redemption of Public Shares in connection with our initial business combination (including the proposed AON Business Combination) or our liquidation, do not include interest earned on the amount held in the Trust Account and not otherwise released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes.
Risks Related to Our Business and the Initial Business Combination
Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed AON Business Combination, even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.
While we intend to seek stockholder approval of the proposed AON Business Combination, we may choose not to hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the initial business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing rules or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, Nasdaq rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders 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 stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our Public Shares do not approve of the initial business combination we complete.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, as we plan to do in the proposed AON Business Combination, our initial stockholders have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.
As of the date hereof, the shares owned by our initial stockholders represents approximately 81.9% of the voting power of the outstanding common stock. Pursuant to the letter agreement, our Sponsor and each of our officers and directors have agreed to vote their shares of Class B common stock, as well as any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions), in favor of our initial business combination. Accordingly, the agreement by our Sponsor and each of our officers and directors to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval of the Business Combination and the transactions contemplated thereby.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors to approve our initial business combination, which may have the effect of delaying or preventing a business combination that our public stockholders would consider favorable.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires the affirmative vote of a majority of our board of directors, which must include a majority of our independent directors to approve our initial business combination. Accordingly, it is unlikely that we will be able to enter into an initial business combination unless our Sponsor’s members find the target and the business combination attractive. This may make it more difficult for us to approve and enter into an initial business combination than other blank check companies and could result in us not pursuing an acquisition target or other board or corporate action that our public stockholders would find favorable.
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If we do not complete the proposed AON Business Combination and instead pursue an alternate initial Business Combination, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the initial business combination.
At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Since our board of directors may complete an initial business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the initial business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote.
Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.
The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into an initial business combination with a target.
We may seek to enter into an initial business combination agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. For example, the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement with AON includes a closing condition that must have at least $60 million of cash available at closing after giving effect to redemptions and the cash funded to DTOC, AON or any subsidiary of AON during the period between signing of the Business Combination Agreement and Closing. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the initial business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of this risk and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into an initial business combination with us.
The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.
At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, like the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement does, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, as in the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement, 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, such as the PIPE Investment, 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 amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.
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The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination, including the proposed AON Business Combination, would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.
If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the Trust Account to pay the purchase price, like the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement, 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 stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the Trust Account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.
The requirement that we complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating an initial business combination and may decrease our ability to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.
Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning an initial business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised). Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating an initial 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 June 30, 2023(or September 30, 2023 if all of the extension options are exercised). 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 the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted, and other infectious diseases could result, in a widespread health crisis that has and could continue to adversely affect the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination may also be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete a business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, or vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for a business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity and spread of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.
In addition, our ability to consummate a business combination may be dependent on the ability to raise equity and debt financing, which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.
The COVID-19 pandemic may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities and any cross-border transactions.
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We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our Public Shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.08 per share (or $ if all of the Extension Options are exercised), in each case excluding accrued interest, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we must complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023. We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period. If we have not completed our initial business combination by June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised or such date is further extended upon approval of our stockholders), 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 to pay our franchise and income taxes (less 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may only receive $10.08 per share, and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.08 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share” and other risk factors below.
The nominal purchase price paid by our Sponsor for the shares of Class B common stock may significantly dilute the implied value of your Public Shares in the event we complete an initial business combination. In addition, the value of the Sponsor’s shares of Class B common stock will be significantly greater than the amount our Sponsor paid to purchase such shares in the event we complete an initial business combination, even if the business combination causes the trading price of our Class A common stock to materially decline.
Our Sponsor invested an aggregate of $9,195,000 in us in connection with our Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, comprised of the $25,000 purchase price for the shares of Class B common stock and the $9,170,000 purchase price for the Private Placement Warrants. We offered our Units to the public at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, and the amount in our Trust Account is currently approximately $10.08 per Public Share, implying an initial value of $1.83 per Public Share.
The following table shows the public stockholders’ and our Sponsor’s investment per share and how these compare to the implied value of one share of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination. The following table assumes that (i) our valuation is $18,620,690 (which is the amount in the Trust Account as of March 8, 2023, after giving effect to the initial contribution of $150,000 by the Sponsor following approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal), (ii) no interest is earned on the funds held in the Trust Account, and (iii) no Public Shares are redeemed in connection with our initial business combination, and does not take into account other potential impacts on our valuation at the time of the initial business combination such as (a) the value of our public and Private Placement Warrants, (b) the trading price of our Class A common stock, (c) the initial business combination transaction costs (including payment of the deferred underwriting commissions), (d) any equity issued or cash paid to the target’s sellers, (e) any equity issued to other third party investors, or (f) the target’s business itself.
Public shares |
| 1,847,069 shares | |
Founder shares (including shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion thereof) | 8,337,500 shares | ||
Total shares of common stock | 10,184,569 shares | ||
Total funds in trust at the initial business combination | $ | 18,620,690 | |
Public stockholders’ investment per share of Class A common stock(1) | $ | 10.00 | |
Our Sponsor’s investment per share of Class B common stock(2) | $ | 1.10 | |
Implied value per share of Class A common stock upon the initial business combination(3) | $ | 1.83 |
| (1) | While the public stockholders’ investment is in both the Public Shares and the public warrants, for purposes of this table the full investment amount is ascribed to the Public Shares only. |
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| (2) | The Sponsor’s total investment in the equity of the company, inclusive of the shares of Class B common stock and the Sponsor’s $9,170,000 investment in the Private Placement Warrants, is $9,195,000. |
| (3) | On March 7, 2023, our Sponsor converted 8,262,500 shares of Class B common stock into shares of Class A common stock upon approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal. |
Based on these assumptions, each share of Class A common stock would have an implied value of $1.83 per share upon completion of our initial business combination, representing an 82% decrease from the initial implied value of $10.00 per Public Share. As a result, even if the trading price of our shares of Class A common stock significantly declines, the value of the shares of Class B common stock may be significantly greater than the amount our Sponsor paid to purchase such shares. In addition, our Sponsor could potentially recoup its entire investment in our company even if the trading price of our shares of Class A common stock after the initial business combination is as low as $1.00 per share. As a result, our Sponsor may earn a substantial profit on its investment in us upon disposition of its shares of Class A common stock even if the trading price of our shares of Class A common stock declines after we complete our initial business combination. Our Sponsor may therefore be economically incentivized to complete an initial business combination with a riskier, weaker-performing or less-established target business than would be the case if our Sponsor had paid the same per share price for the shares of Class B common stock as our public stockholders paid for their Public Shares.
This dilution would increase to the extent that public stockholders seek redemptions from the trust for their Public Shares. In addition, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would exacerbate the dilution to our shares of Class A common stock.
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, 2022, we had $374,340 cash and working capital deficit, net of taxes, of $1,655,967. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our finance and acquisition plans. Our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination may not be successful. We have until June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised), to complete the AON Business Combination. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this report do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to continue as a going concern.
Members of our management team and board of directors have significant experience as founders, board members, officers, executives or employees of other companies. Certain of those persons have been, may be, or may become, involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including related to those companies or otherwise. This may have an adverse effect on us, which may impede our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
During the course of their careers, members of our management team and board of directors have had significant experience as founders, board members, officers, executives or employees of other companies. Certain of those persons have been, may be or may in the future become involved in litigation, investigations or other proceedings, including relating to the business affairs of such companies, transactions entered into by such companies, or otherwise. Any such litigation, investigations or other proceedings may 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 may negatively affect our reputation, which may impede our ability to complete an initial business combination.
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If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our Public Shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.
We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, 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 redeem Public Shares, which may include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initial vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See the section of this report entitled “Business—Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination-Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”
If we seek stockholder 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 stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the Initial Public Offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
Because of our special purpose acquisition company structure and limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share on our redemption of our Public Shares, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities 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 technical, human and other resources to ours, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, because we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock which our public stockholders redeem in connection with our initial business combination, target companies will be aware that this may present closing risk by reducing the resources available to us for our initial business combination.
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Additionally, potential target companies may be less inclined to consummate a transaction with us because definitive documentation for such a transaction will preclude any recourse against our Trust Account, meaning that potential counterparties may determine that they do not have adequate contractual remedies in the event a transaction fails to close. These factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.08 per share upon our liquidation. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share” and other risk factors below.
If the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement not being held in the Trust Account are insufficient to allow us to operate until June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all the Extension Options are exercised), we may be unable to complete our initial business combination, including the proposed AON Business Combination, in which case our public stockholders may only receive $10.08 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.
The funds available to us outside of the Trust Account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate until June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all the Extension Options are exercised), assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the Trust Account will be sufficient to allow us to operate until June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extensions Options are exercised); however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. 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 on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed initial business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or other agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.08 per share upon our liquidation. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share” and other risk factors below.
Subsequent to the 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 stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
Even though we conducted extensive due diligence in connection with our consideration of the AON Business Combination, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues that may be present inside a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining debt financing to partially finance the initial business combination. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the initial business combination constituted an actionable material misstatement or omission.
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If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share.
Our placing of funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the Trust Account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the Trust Account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue. Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering, will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the Trust Account.
Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason. Upon redemption of our Public Shares, if we do not complete 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 ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the Trust Account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to the letter agreement, our Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our Sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the Trust Account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per Public Share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your Public Shares. None of our officers, directors or members of our Sponsor 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 our Sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders.
In the event that the proceeds in the Trust Account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our Sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations.
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While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our Sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the Trust Account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.
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 (and any other persons who may become an officer or director prior to the initial business combination will also be required to waive) any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the Trust Account and not to seek recourse against the Trust Account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the Trust Account due to their ownership of Public Shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the Trust Account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and we and our board may be exposed to claims of punitive damages.
If, after we distribute the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the Trust Account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
If, before distributing the proceeds in the Trust Account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the Trust Account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.
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The SEC has recently issued proposed rules relating to certain activities of SPACs. Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with such proposals may increase our costs and the time needed to complete a business combination and may make it more difficult to complete a business combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals (as hereinafter defined) may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust Account or liquidate the Company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”) that would, among other items, impose additional disclosure requirements in business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies; amend the financial statement requirements applicable to business combination transactions involving such companies; update and expand guidance regarding the general use of projections in SEC filings, as well as when projections are disclosed in connection with proposed business combination transactions; increase the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and impact the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), including a proposed rule that would provide SPACs a safe harbor from treatment as an investment company if they satisfy certain conditions that limit a SPAC’s duration, asset composition, business purpose and activities. The SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted and may be adopted in the proposed form or in a different form that could impose additional regulatory requirements on SPACs.
Certain of the procedures that we, a potential business combination target, or others may determine to undertake in connection with the SPAC Rule Proposals, or pursuant to the SEC’s views expressed in the SPAC Rule Proposals, may increase the costs and time of negotiating and completing a business combination, and may make it more difficult to complete a business combination. The need for compliance with the SPAC Rule Proposals may cause us to liquidate the funds in the Trust Account or liquidate the Company at an earlier time than we might otherwise choose.
If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act we would be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities would be severely restricted and as a result, we may abandon our efforts to consummate a business combination and liquidate the Company.
As described further above, the SPAC Rule Proposals relate, among other matters, to the circumstances in which SPACs such as the Company could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a SPAC satisfies certain criteria, including a limited time period to announce and complete a business combination. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a company to file a report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for a business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of the registration statement relating to the IPO (the “IPO Registration Statement”). The company would then be required to complete a business combination no later than 24 months after the effectiveness of the IPO Registration Statement.
Because the SPAC Rule Proposals have not yet been adopted, there is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a SPAC, including a company like ours, that has not entered into a definitive agreement within 18 months after the effective date of its IPO registration statement or that does not complete its initial business combination within 24 months. As a result, it is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company, although we intend to convert all of our investments in the Trust Account into cash, which will remain in the Trust Account, on or prior to the 24-month anniversary of the consummation of the IPO (see the risk factor entitled “We do not intend to continue to invest the proceeds held in the Trust Account in interest-bearing securities, which will limit the interest income available for payment of taxes and dissolution expenses or for distribution to public stockholders” below). If we are deemed to be an investment company and subject to compliance with and regulation under the Investment Company Act, our activities would be severely restricted. In addition, we would be subject to additional burdensome regulatory requirements and expenses for which we have not allotted funds. As a result, if we are deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may abandon our efforts to consummate a business combination and instead liquidate the Company.
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A new 1% U.S. federal excise tax would be imposed on the Company in connection with redemptions of shares of DTOC common stock.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “Inflation Reduction Act”) was signed into federal law. The Inflation Reduction Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded domestic (i.e., U.S.) corporations and certain domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations (each, a “covered corporation”) that occur after December 31, 2022. Because the Company is a Delaware corporation and its securities are traded on Nasdaq, the Company is a “covered corporation” for this purpose. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the stock repurchase excise tax base of a covered corporation during a taxable year. The stock repurchase excise tax base generally equals the fair market value of the shares repurchased (at the time of the repurchase) by the covered corporation during the taxable year. However, for purposes of calculating the stock repurchase excise tax base, 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. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax. On December 27, 2022, the IRS and the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued Notice 2023-2 to provide taxpayers with interim guidance addressing the application of the 1% excise tax. Notice 2023-2 provides an exclusive list of redemptions that are not treated as repurchases for purposes of the excise tax, including liquidations under Code Section 331.
Any redemptions in connection with the Extension Amendment Proposal and the Redemption Limitation Amendment Proposal will likely be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent the Company would be subject to the excise tax would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the Business Combination, (ii) the nature and amount of any financing or equity issuances in connection with the Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with the business combination but issued within the same taxable year of the business combination) and (iii) the content of regulations and other additional guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by the Company and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a business combination and could negatively impact the Company’s ability to complete the Business Combination.
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.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly.
Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time 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.
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Because we are not limited to a particular industry, sector or any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.
Although we intend to focus our search on a target business in the healthcare industry, we may complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector. However, we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. There is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in us will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.
Under the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our Public Shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination prior to June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our Public Shares as soon as reasonably possible following June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with the foregoing procedures.
Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the ten years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our Trust Account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our Public Shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination prior to June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.
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We may seek business combination opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management team’s area of expertise.
Although we intend to focus on identifying companies focusing on our target industry and related industries, we will consider an initial business combination outside of our management team’s area of expertise if an initial business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive business combination opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in this sector after having expanded a reasonable amount of time and effort in an attempt to do so. Although our management team 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 than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in an initial business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue a business combination outside of the areas of our management team’s expertise, our management team’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this report regarding the areas of our management team’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management team may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors associated with such an initial business combination. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes 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 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 stockholders 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 stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.08 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “— If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share” and other risk factors below.
We may seek business combination opportunities with a financially unstable business or 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 early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenues, cash flows or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
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We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting 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 company from a financial point of view.
We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination or subsequent transaction with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, or our officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination or, subject to certain exceptions, subsequent material transactions with a company that is affiliated with our Sponsor, or our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, to the extent required by applicable law or based upon the direction of our board of directors or a committee thereof, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination or transaction is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders 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. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm. However, our stockholders may not be provided with a copy of such opinion, nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.
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 do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire without value to the holder.
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 do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share on the liquidation of our Trust Account and our warrants will expire without value to the holder. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.08 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share” and other risk factors below.
We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of services and limited operating activities. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operating results and profitability.
We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. In addition, we intend to primarily focus our search for an initial business combination in 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. |
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This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.
If we do not complete the proposed AON Business Combination, we may attempt to concurrently complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.
If we determine to concurrently 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. We do not, however, intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with 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 are attempting to complete the proposed AON Business Combination with a private company, AON. If we do not complete such business combination, we may seek to effectuate an alternative initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in an initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
We are attempting to complete the proposed AON Business Combination. In pursuing our initial business combination strategy, if we do not complete the proposed AON Business Combination, we may seek to effectuate an alternative initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in an initial business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.
Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination.
We may structure an initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders 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 stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares of Class A common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock 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 shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management team will not be able to maintain our control of the target business. 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.
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We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete the proposed AON Business Combination, which could compel us to restructure or abandon such business combination.
In connection with the proposed AON Business Combination, we are required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. Further, the amount of additional financing we may be required to obtain could increase as a result of future growth capital needs for any particular transaction, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of Public Shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination and/or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase Public Shares in connection with our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.08 per share plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes on the liquidation of our Trust Account, 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 stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive approximately $10.08 per share on the liquidation of our Trust Account, and our warrants will expire worthless. Furthermore, as described in the risk factor entitled “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the Trust Account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.08 per share,” under certain circumstances our public stockholders may receive less than $10.08 per share upon the liquidation of the Trust Account.
Our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial stockholders own shares representing approximately 81.9% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor. Accordingly, our initial stockholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.
Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.
The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on an initial business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We would include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with any tender offer documents. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such financial statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy or tender offer rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe.
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Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate our initial business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an initial business combination.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2022. 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 company 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.
If we do not consummate the proposed AON Business Combination and we effect an alternative initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.
If we do not consummate the proposed AON Business Combination and we effect our initial business combination with a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:
| ● | higher 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; |
| ● | tariffs and trade barriers; |
| ● | regulations related to customs and import/export matters; |
| ● | longer payment cycles and challenges in collecting accounts receivable; |
| ● | tax issues, including but not limited to tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States; |
| ● | currency fluctuations and exchange controls; |
| ● | rates of inflation; |
| ● | cultural and language differences; |
| ● | employment regulations; |
| ● | data privacy; |
| ● | changes in industry, regulatory or environmental standards within the jurisdictions where we operate; |
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| ● | public health or safety concerns and governmental restrictions, including those caused by outbreaks of pandemic disease such as the COVID-19 pandemic; |
| ● | crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; |
| ● | deterioration of political relations with the United States; and |
| ● | government appropriations of assets. |
We may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer, which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.
If we consummate a business combination with a target company with substantially all of its operations or opportunities outside of the United States, substantially all of our assets could be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue could be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects could 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 ultimately 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.
We may face risks related to the healthcare industry.
Business combinations with businesses in the healthcare industry and related industries may involve special considerations and risks. If we complete our initial business combination with a business in such industries, we will be subject to the following risks, any of which could be detrimental to us and the business we acquire:
| ● | Competition could reduce profit margins. |
| ● | Our inability to comply with governmental regulations affecting the healthcare industry could negatively affect our operations. |
| ● | An inability to license or enforce intellectual property rights on which our business may depend. |
| ● | The success of our planned business following consummation of our initial business combination may depend on maintaining a well-secured business and technology infrastructure. |
| ● | If we are required to obtain governmental approval of our products, the production of our products could be delayed and we could be required to engage in a lengthy and expensive approval process that may not ultimately be successful. |
| ● | Continuing government and private efforts to contain healthcare costs, including through the implementation of legal and regulatory changes, may reduce our future revenue and our profitability following such business combination. |
| ● | Changes in the healthcare related wellness industry and markets for such products affecting our customers or retailing practices could negatively impact customer relationships and our results of operations. |
| ● | The healthcare industry is susceptible to significant liability exposure. If liability claims are brought against us following a business combination, it could materially adversely affect our operations. |
| ● | Dependence of our operations upon third-party suppliers, manufacturers or contractors whose failure to perform adequately could disrupt our business. |
| ● | A disruption in supply could adversely impact our business. |
Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following our initial business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to businesses in our target industries. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks will likely not affect us and we will be subject to other risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, none of which can be presently ascertained.
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Our current officers may not remain in their positions following our initial business combination. We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may complete our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
We do not intend to continue to invest the proceeds held in the Trust Account in interest-bearing securities, which will limit the interest income available for payment of taxes and dissolution expenses or for distribution to public stockholders.
Following the IPO, the proceeds from the IPO and the simultaneous private placement were being held in the Trust Account in the United States maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee, invested in U.S. “government securities”, within the meaning set forth in 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 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. As a result of the extension of the period by which the Company is required to consummate its initial business combination, the Company has determined that it will convert all of its investments in the Trust Account into cash, which will remain in the Trust Account. We intend to maintain the funds in the Trust Account in cash in an interest-bearing demand deposit account at a U.S.-bank until the earlier of the consummation of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation. We will receive lower interest on the funds held in such deposit account (as compared to continuing to invest such funds in interest-bearing U.S. government securities), which deposit account is expected to bear interest at a rate of 4% per annum based on current interest rates. However, we cannot assure you that such rate on the deposit account will not decrease or increase significantly. As a result, the decision to liquidate the investments held in the Trust Account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account in an interest-bearing demand deposit account would reduce the dollar amount our public stockholders would receive upon any redemption of Public Shares or our liquidation.
You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the Trust Account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your Public Shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.
Our public stockholders 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 shares of Class A common stock that such stockholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any Public Shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (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 prior to June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) the redemption of our Public Shares if we do not complete an initial business combination prior to June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the Trust Account. Holders of warrants will not have any 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.
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Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
Our securities are listed on Nasdaq. We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination, especially in light of the significant redemptions in connection with the extension of the period during which we have to complete an initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum of 300 public holders. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share, our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5,000,000 and we would be required to have a minimum of 300 round-lot holders of our unrestricted securities (with at least 50% of such round-lot holders holding unrestricted securities with a market value of at least $2,500). We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time. If Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
| ● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; |
| ● | reduced liquidity for our securities; |
| ● | a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities; |
| ● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and |
| ● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our Units are, and we expect that eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be, listed on Nasdaq, our Units, Class A common stock and warrants will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities, including in connection with our initial business combination.
Our initial stockholders hold a substantial interest in us. As a result, they will may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.
Our initial stockholders own shares of Class B common stock representing 81.9% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. As a result of their substantial ownership in our company, our initial stockholders may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our Sponsor.
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You will not be permitted to exercise your warrants unless we register and qualify the issuance of the underlying shares of Class A common stock or certain exemptions are available.
Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case the number of shares of our Class A common stock that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula subject to a maximum number of shares equal to 0.361 shares of our Class A common stock per warrant (subject to adjustment). However, no warrant will 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 state registration is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities 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 applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant 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 shares of Class A common stock included in the Units. 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.
If you exercise your public warrants on a “cashless basis,” you will receive fewer shares of Class A common stock from such exercise than if you were to exercise such warrants for cash.
There are circumstances in which the exercise of the public warrants may be required or permitted to be made on a cashless basis. First, if a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. If this exemption, or another exemption is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis under these circumstances, a holder would pay the warrant exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (defined above) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per whole warrant, and the number of shares of our Class A common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised the warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the shares of our Class A common stock have a fair market value of $17.50 per share when there is no effective registration statement, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 shares of our Class A common stock. The holder would have received 875 shares of our Class A common stock if the exercise price was paid in cash. Second, if we call the public warrants for redemption in the circumstances, holders who wish to exercise their warrants may do so on a cashless basis. In the event of an exercise on a cashless basis under those circumstances, a holder would receive that number of shares determined by reference to an agreed table based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of Class A common stock.
In either case, a cashless exercise will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of shares of our Class A common stock upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold.
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We may issue additional common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. There are 166,500,000 and 11,662,500 authorized but unissued shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock, respectively, available for issuance, which amount does not take into account the shares of Class A common stock reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants. There are no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding. Shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of our Class A common stock initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein, including in certain circumstances in which we issue Class A common stock or equity-linked securities related to our initial business combination. Shares of Class B common stock are also convertible at the option of the holder at any time. In connection with the Special Meeting, certain of the initial stockholders converted their respective shares of Class B common stock into an aggregate of 8,262,500 shares of Class A common stock. There is currently 75,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding.
We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock to redeem the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the Trust Account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with the approval of our stockholders. However, our initial stockholders, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (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 prior to June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per- share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares.
The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:
| ● | may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the Initial Public Offering; |
| ● | may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock; |
| ● | could cause a change of control if a substantial number of shares of our common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and |
| ● | may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Units, Class A common stock and/or warrants. |
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We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete an initial business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
We may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the Trust Account.
As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the Trust Account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:
| ● | default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations; |
| ● | 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 is payable on demand; |
| ● | our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt is outstanding; |
| ● | our inability to pay dividends on our common stock; |
| ● | 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 common stock if declared, our ability to pay expenses, make capital expenditures and acquisitions, and fund 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; |
| ● | limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, and execution of our strategy; and |
| ● | other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt. |
The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders 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 common stock.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the Initial Public Offering, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants held, or to be held, by them. 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 common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders 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 common stock that is expected when the securities owned by our initial stockholders, Sponsor or holders of working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered.
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We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A common stock 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 50% 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 if holders of at least 50% 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 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock 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 of the forum provisions of our 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.
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A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.
If:
| (a) | we issue additional shares of Class A common stock 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 share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, (i) in the case of any such issuance to our Sponsor or any of its affiliates, without taking into account any shares of Class B common stock held by our Sponsor or its affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance, and (ii) to the extent that such issuance is made to our Sponsor or any of its affiliates, without taking into account the transfer of shares of Class B common stock or Private Placement Warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to us and subsequent reissuance by us) by our Sponsor in connection with such issuance); |
| (b) | 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 |
| (c) | the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices 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.
We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants without value.
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 upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that the closing price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption 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. 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 common stock equals or exceeds $10.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like and certain issuances of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we give proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met, including that holders will only be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption for a number of shares of Class A common stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of shares of our Class A common stock. 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 shares received is capped at 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per whole warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the warrants.
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None of the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees.
Our warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock and make it more difficult to effectuate our initial business combination.
We issued warrants to purchase 8,337,500 shares of our Class A common stock as part of the Units offered in the Initial Public Offering and, simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we issued in the Private Placement the Private Placement Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,113,333 shares of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share. In addition, if our Sponsor makes any working capital loans, up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be converted into warrants, at the price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.
To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate an initial business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants and conversion rights could make us a less attractive business combination vehicle to a target business. Any such issuance will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the initial business combination. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate an initial business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.
The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering except that, so long as they are held by our Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) they will not be redeemable by us, (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our Sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) they are entitled to registration rights.
Risks Related to Our Management
Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally 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 employ 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 initial business combination candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of an initial business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post- combination business. The role of an initial business combination 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 initial business combination candidate’s management team will remain associated with the initial business combination candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an initial business combination 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.
We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their departure 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. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.
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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements as well as reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, if any, with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation or reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, if any, following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.
Our key personnel may be able to remain with the company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the initial business combination. Additionally, they may negotiate reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on our behalf prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, should they choose to do so. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the initial 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 initial business combination, or as reimbursement for such out-of-pocket expenses. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in the Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor, upon consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors.
We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company, which could, in turn, negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.
When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following the initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.
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Any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities.
We are attempting to complete the proposed AON Business Combination. If we do not complete such business combination, we will seek to complete an initial business combination with other companies focusing on our target industry and related industries, but may also pursue other business combination opportunities, except that we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our Units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders 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.
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 an initial business combination and their other businesses. Each of our officers and directors is engaged in other business endeavors for which he or she may be entitled to substantial compensation and our officers and directors are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors may also serve as officers or 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.
Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
We are engaged in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our officers and directors are, and may in the future become, affiliated with entities (such as operating companies or investment vehicles) that are engaged in a similar business.
There could be overlap between companies that would be suitable for a business combination with us and companies that present an attractive investment opportunity for our directors or officers, and entities with which they currently are or may in the future be affiliated.
Our officers and directors also may become aware of business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us and other entities to which they owe certain fiduciary or contractual duties. Any such opportunities may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, and our directors and officers 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. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such
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person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.
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 an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our Sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. We do not 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.
We may engage in an initial business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our Sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders which may raise potential conflicts of interest.
In light of the involvement or potential involvement of our Sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, officers, directors or existing holders. Our officers and directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. They may also have investments in target businesses. 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 preliminary discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities, which includes discussions for the AON Business Combination. 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 obligation to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our Sponsor, officers or directors, 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 stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.
Moreover, we may, at our option, pursue an affiliated joint acquisition opportunity with entities to which an officer or director has a fiduciary, contractual or other obligation or duty. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the acquisition by issuing equity to any such parties, which may give rise to certain conflicts of interest.
Since our Sponsor and its investors and our directors will lose their entire at-risk investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.
Following the conversion of its shares of Class B common stock, our Sponsor holds an aggregate of 8,112,500 shares of Class A common stock. As such shares of Class A common stock are entitled to distributions from the Trust Account, such shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our Sponsor has purchased an aggregate of 6,113,333 warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant, which will also be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. Our Sponsor and each of our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us pursuant to which they have agreed to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed initial business combination and to waive their redemption rights with respect to their shares of Class B common stock and Public Shares in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) any stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (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 prior to June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. In addition, we may obtain loans from our Sponsor, affiliates of our Sponsor or an officer or director. The personal and financial interests
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of our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.
Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.
In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trends will not continue.
The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate the proposed AON Business Combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable terms or both. However, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.
In addition, even after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could still be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to the initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate the proposed AON Business Combination on terms favorable to our investors.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
As described elsewhere in this Form 10-K, we have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to complex financial instruments. For a discussion of management’s consideration of the material weakness identified, see “Part II, Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” included in this Form 10-K.
We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.
Certain agreements related to the Initial Public Offering may be amended without stockholder approval.
Certain agreements related to the Initial Public Offering may be amended without stockholder approval. These agreements contain various provisions that our public stockholders might deem to be material. While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to any of these agreements 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 any such agreement in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Any such amendments would not require approval from our stockholders, may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible, and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.
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General Risk Factors
Past performance by our management team, directors and their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in the company or in the future performance of any business we may acquire.
Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, our management team, directors and their respective affiliates is presented for informational purposes only. Past performance by our management team, directors and such affiliates is not a guarantee (i) either of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate or (ii) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination. You should not rely on the historical performance of our management team and directors or that of their respective affiliates as indicative of the future performance of an investment in the company or the returns the company will, or is likely to, generate going forward. Our management team and directors and their respective affiliates have had limited past experience with blank check and special purpose acquisition companies.
We are an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies or smaller reporting companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.
We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders 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 aggregate worldwide market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700,000,000 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 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 common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $250,000,000 as of the prior June 30th, and (2) our annual revenues equal or exceed $100,000,000 during such completed fiscal year or the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700,000,000 as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements and other disclosures with other public companies difficult or impossible.
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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 the proposed AON 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 preparing for an Initial Public Offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination. In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause 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 consummate the proposed AON Business Combination, and may result in our inability to consummate the AON Business Combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.
Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.
Since only holders of our shares of Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.
Only holders of our shares of Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors. As a result, Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that:
| ● | we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of Nasdaq; |
| ● | we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and |
| ● | we have independent director oversight of our director nominations. |
We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.
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In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instrument in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that some of our stockholders or warrant holders may not support.
In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and extended the time to consummate an initial business combination. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments, including to extend the time to consummate an initial business combination in order to effectuate our initial business combination.
The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-initial business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our Trust Account), including an amendment to permit us to withdraw funds from the Trust Account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any redemption or liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated, may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the trust agreement to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that any of its provisions related to pre-initial business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of the Initial 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 stockholders as described herein and including to permit us to withdraw funds from the Trust Account such that the per share amount investors will receive upon any liquidation is substantially reduced or eliminated) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon, 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 common stock entitled to vote thereon. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended by holders of a majority of our outstanding common stock entitled to vote thereon, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. We may not issue additional securities that can vote on amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our initial stockholders will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which govern our pre-initial business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete an initial business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our Sponsor and each of our officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) 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 prior June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares. These agreements are contained in a letter agreement that we have entered into with our Sponsor and each of our officers and directors. Persons who are not party to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our Sponsor or any of our officers or directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, such persons would need to pursue a stockholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.
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Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions will include two-year director terms, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock, and the fact that, prior to the completion of our initial business combination, only holders of shares of our Class B common stock will have the right to vote in the election of directors, 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.
We are also subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, which could delay or prevent a change of control. Together these provisions 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 amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel, which may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) any action created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of, and consented to, the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for any action arising under the Securities Act. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the exclusive forum provision will be applicable to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, subject to certain exceptions. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. As a result, the exclusive forum provision will not apply to suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.
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Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 2.Properties.
We currently maintain our executive offices at 10250 Constellation Blvd, Suite 23126, Los Angeles, CA 90067. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
Item 3.Legal Proceedings.
None.
Item 4.Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not Applicable.
PART II
Item 5.Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our Units, Class A common stock and warrants are traded on Nasdaq under the symbols DTOCU, DTOC and DTOCW, respectively. Our Units commenced public trading on March 10, 2021. The Class A common stock and the Warrants included in the Units traded as a Unit until April 30, 2021, when separate trading of the Class A common stock and Warrants began. No fractional warrants were or will be issued and only whole warrants trade. Holders now have the option to continue to hold Units or separate their Units into the component pieces.
Holders
As of March 30, 2023, there was one holder of record of our Units, three holders of record of our Class A common stock, three holders of record of our Class B common stock and two holders of record of our warrants.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. It is the present intention of our board of directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our board of directors does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
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Use of Proceeds
Our Sponsor was issued an aggregate of 8,625,000 shares of Class B common stock, or Class B common stock, (taking into account a stock dividend of 0.2 shares for each founder share effected on March 9, 2021) for which we received a capital contribution of an aggregate of $25,000. Our Sponsor subsequently transferred a portion of these founders’ shares to certain individuals, including our independent directors and our chief financial officer, for the same per share purchase price originally paid for such shares. In connection with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal on March 2, 2023, our Sponsor and Chief Financial Officer elected to convert their respective DTOC Class B shares into an aggregate of 8,262,500 shares of DTOC Class A common stock. Following the conversion, such shares will vote together with the rest of the DTOC Class A common stock on the Business Combination; however, as such shares were not issued as part of DTOC’s initial public offering, such shares are not entitled to any funds held in the Trust Account, including any interest thereon.
On March 12, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 33,350,000 Units, including 3,350,000 Units issued to the underwriters pursuant to the partial exercise of the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $333.5 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $18.9 million, inclusive of approximately $11.7 million in deferred underwriting commissions. Each Unit consists of one share of our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant, with each whole Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one whole share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per share.
Simultaneously with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering on March 12, 2021, we completed the Private Placement of 6,113,333 Private Placement Warrants at a purchase price of $1.50 per Private Placement Warrant, to our Sponsor, generating gross proceeds to us of approximately $9.2 million.
In connection with the Initial Public Offering, we incurred offering costs of approximately $18.9 million, inclusive of approximately $11.7 million in deferred underwriting commissions. Other incurred offering costs consisted principally of preparation fees related to the Initial Public Offering. After deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion, which amount will be payable upon consummation of the initial business combination, if consummated) and the Initial Public Offering, $333.5 million of the net proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds from the Private Placement (or $10.00 per Unit sold in the Initial Public Offering) have been deposited in a Trust Account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee, established for the benefit of our public stockholders. As of the date of this report, we have approximately $803,309 of cash held outside of the Trust Account for working capital.
Except for the withdrawal from the Trust Account of interest earned on the funds held therein necessary to pay our taxes, if any, the funds in the Trust Account will not be released to us until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or our liquidation upon our failure to consummate a business combination within the required time period (which may not occur until June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised)).
We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Account not previously released to us (less taxes payable and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay our franchise and income taxes, if any. To the extent that our equity or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial 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, and structure, negotiate and complete a business combination.
Purchases of Equity Securities by Issuer and Affiliates
None.
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Item 6.Selected Financial Data.
[Reserved].
Item 7.Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
References to the “Company,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, possible business combinations and the financing thereof, and related matters, as well as all other statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Form 10-K. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings.
Overview
We are a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on November 17, 2020 for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (a “Business Combination”). Our Sponsor is Digital Transformation Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.
The registration statement for our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) was declared effective on March 9, 2021. On March 12, 2021, we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 33,350,000 units (including 3,350,000 units issued to the Underwriters pursuant to the partial exercise of the over-allotment option granted to the Underwriters) (“Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $333.5 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $18.9 million, inclusive of approximately $11.7 million in deferred underwriting commissions.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement (“Private Placement”) of 6,113,333 warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant (“Private Placement Warrants” and, together with the warrants included in the Units, the “Warrants”) to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $9.2 million.
Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement on March 12, 2021, $333.5 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement were placed in a trust account (“Trust Account”) located in the United States with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. “government securities,” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (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, as determined by us until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account as described below.
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On March 6, 2023, following approval by its stockholders at the Special Meeting, the Company entered into an amendment (the “Trust Agreement Amendment”) to the Trust Agreement to allow the extension of the date by which the Company must consummate its initial business combination from March 12, 2023 to June 30, 2023, and the option to further extend the date by which it has to consummate a business combination beyond June 30, 2023 up to three (3) times for an additional (1) month each time to September 30, 2023. In connection with the Extension, the Company’s stockholders holding 31,502,931 public shares exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result, $321,160,140 (approximately $10.19 per share) was removed from the trust account to pay such holders.
On March 6, 2023, in connection with the Special Meeting held to approve the Extension Proposal, the Sponsor deposited $150,000 into the Trust Account to fund the Extension Proposal. As repayment, we issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor for $150,000. The promissory note bears no interest and all unpaid principal under the promissory note will be due and payable in full up upon the consummation of the AON Business Combination.
In connection with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Sponsor elected to convert all their respective DTOC Class B shares into an aggregate of 8,262,500 shares of DTOC Class A common stock. Following the conversion, such shares will vote together with the rest of the DTOC Class A common stock on the Business Combination; however, as such shares were not issued as part of DTOC’s initial public offering, such shares are not entitled to any funds held in the Trust Account, including any interest thereon.
If we have not completed a business combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering 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 to pay our franchise and income taxes (less up to $100,000 of such net interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the remaining stockholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Recent Developments
AON Business Combination
On October 5, 2022, we entered into a Business Combination Agreement (the “Business Combination Agreement”), with American Oncology Network, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“AON”) pursuant to which the combined company will be organized in an umbrella partnership C corporation structure, in which substantially all of the assets and the business of the combined company will be held by AON (the “AON Business Combination”). Upon the consummation of the AON Business Combination, the members of AON will include DTOC and the current unitholders of AON, and DTOC will be renamed American Oncology Network, Inc. (the “New AON”).
On January 6, 2023, we amended and restated the Business Combination Agreement (as amended, the “Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement”) to provide, among other things, that the board of managers of AON following the AON Business Combination will consist of (a) two managers designated by holders representing more than 50% of the AON common units and (b) three managers designated by New AON. In addition, the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement provides that AON unitholders may elect to receive, in lieu of any number of shares of New AON Class B common stock to which an AON unitholder would otherwise be entitled to receive, warrants to acquire such number of shares of New AON Class B common stock, by submitting an election in accordance with the procedures set forth in Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement. In connection with entering into the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement, DTOC and AON also revised the form of Amended and Restated Company LLC Agreement included as an exhibit to the Business Combination Agreement. The revised form of Amended and Restated Company LLC Agreement includes, among other revisions, certain additions and modifications in order to reflect the changes in the AON board of managers following the completion of the AON Business Combination (as described above).
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In connection with the AON Business Combination, we may raise additional capital of up to $100 million in the form of convertible preferred securities (the “PIPE Investment”). Furthermore, the Business Combination Agreement provides that the obligation of AON to consummate the Business Combination is subject to the sum of the following amounts (collectively, the “Available Closing Acquiror Cash”) equaling or exceeding $60 million as of the Closing (the “Minimum Cash Condition”): (i) the aggregate cash proceeds available from the Trust Account (after giving effect to all redemptions of shares of DTOC Class A common stock), plus (ii) the cash funded to DTOC, AON or any subsidiary of AON during the period between signing of the Business Combination Agreement and Closing, or that will be funded to DTOC concurrently with the Closing, in each case pursuant to any equity or debt financing agreement or arrangement other than borrowings under the AON PNC Loans, plus (iii) the aggregate amount of capital offered in the PIPE Investment, but that is unreasonably rejected by AON (as further described in the Business Combination Agreement).
The Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement is further described in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by us on January 6, 2023.
Promissory Note
On March 2, 2023, in connection with the Special Meeting held to approve the Extension Proposal, the Sponsor deposited $150,000 into the Trust Account to fund the Extension Proposal. As repayment, we issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor for $150,000. The promissory note bears no interest and all unpaid principal under the promissory note will be due and payable in full up upon the consummation of the AON Business Combination.
Results of Operations
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of approximately $10.5 million, which included a gain from the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of approximately $8.7 million, interest income of approximately $5.1 million, and unrealized gain on marketable securities of approximately $0.1 million, offset by formation and operating costs of approximately $2.4 million, and provision for income taxes of $1 million. Our business activities from inception to December 31, 2022, consisted primarily of our formation and completing our Initial Public Offering, and since our Initial Public Offering, our activity has been limited to the search for a target to consummate a Business Combination, conducting due diligence on identified targets for a Business Combination and entering into the Business Combination Agreement.
For the year ended December 31, 2021, we had a net income of approximately $8.39 million, which included a loss from operations of $1.63 million, offering cost expense allocated to warrants of $0.66 million, and offset by a gain from the change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $10.66 million and interest income of $0.02 million.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our liquidity needs up to March 12, 2021 had been satisfied through a capital contribution from the Sponsor of $25,000 for the Founder Shares (7,187,500 shares of Class B common stock) and the loan under an unsecured promissory note from the Sponsor of up to $300,000 which was paid in full on March 12, 2021 from the Initial Public Offering proceeds. Subsequent to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, our liquidity needs had been satisfied through the net proceeds from the consummation of the Private Placement not held in the Trust Account. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide us working capital loans. As of December 31, 2022, there were no amounts outstanding under any working capital loan.
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had cash of $374,304 and $803,309, respectively, and working capital deficit and working capital, net of taxes, of $1,655,967 and $443,428, respectively. We have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. We believe it will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating its business and to consummate a business combination. If we are unable to complete a business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. Management has the option to address this uncertainty through working capital loans from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors who may, but are not obligated to, loan our funds as may be required. Up to $2,000,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. In addition, following the business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet its obligations.
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In addition, we have until June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised), to complete the AON Business Combination, unless such period is further extended by our stockholders. It is uncertain that we will be able to consummate an initial business combination by this time. If an initial business combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern one year from the date that these financial statements are issued. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Contractual Obligations
We do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-term liabilities.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
This management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to fair value of financial instruments and accrued expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Except as set forth below, there have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies as discussed in our Form 10-K filed by us with the SEC on April 13, 2022.
Critical accounting estimates made in our financial statements include the estimated fair values of our warrant liability and investments in the trust which can impact the redemption value of our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption. The fair value of our financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that we would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, we seek to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
| ● | Level 1, Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment. |
| ● | Level 2, Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets or liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means. |
| ● | Level 3, Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. |
Warrants Liability
We evaluated the Warrants in accordance with ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity” and concluded that a provision in the Warrant Agreement related to certain tender or exchange offers as well as provisions that provided for potential changes to the settlement amounts dependent upon the characteristics of the holder of the warrant, precludes the Warrants from being accounted for as components of equity. As the Warrants meet the definition of a derivative as contemplated in ASC 815 and are not eligible for an exception from derivative accounting, the Warrants are recorded as derivative liabilities on the Balance Sheets and measured at fair value at inception (on the date of the IPO) and at each reporting date in accordance with ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurement”, with changes in fair value recognized in the Statements of Operations in the period of change.
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Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
All of the 33,350,000 Class A Common Stock sold as part of the Units in the 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 stockholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s second amended and restated certificate of incorporation. 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 common stock subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity. Ordinary liquidation events, which involve the redemption and liquidation of all of the entity’s equity instruments, are excluded from the provisions of ASC 480. Accordingly, at December 31, 2022 and 2021, all shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheets.
We recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
Net Income Per Common Stock
We comply with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. We have two classes of shares, Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. We have not considered the effect of warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement to purchase 14,450,833 shares of common stock in the calculation of diluted income per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events. As a result, diluted net income per common stock is the same as basic net income per common stock for the period presented.
Our statements of operations apply the two-class method in calculating net income per share. Basic and diluted net income per common stock for Class A common stock and Class B common stock is calculated by dividing net income attributable to us by the weighted average number of shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock outstanding, allocated proportionally to each class of common stock.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. For smaller reporting entities, ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on our balance sheet, statement of operations or statement of cash flows.
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions (“ASU 2022-03”), which clarifies the principles of fair value measurement when measuring the fair value of an equity security subject to contractual sale restriction and improves current GAAP by reducing diversity in practice, reducing the cost and complexity in measuring fair value, and increasing comparability of financial information across reporting entities holding those investments. The ASU also introduces new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value under current GAAP. ASU 2022-03 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied prospectively with any adjustments from adoption being recognized in earnings and disclosed on the date of adoption. Early adoption is permitted. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on our balance sheets, statements of operations or statement of cash flows.
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Our management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on our financial statements.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.
JOBS Act
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act are allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, the financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company,” we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things, (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404, (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis) and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our IPO or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.
Item 7A.Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.
Item 8.Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
This information appears following Item 15 of this report and is included herein by reference.
Item 9.Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures.
None.
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Item 9A.Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and accounting officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 (e) and 15d-15 (e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of December 31, 2022, due to the previously reported material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to our accounting for complex financial instruments. 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 the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, the Company’s management has concluded that our control around the interpretation and accounting for certain complex equity and equity-linked instruments issued by the Company was not effectively designed or maintained. Additionally, this material weakness could result in a misstatement of the carrying value of equity, equity-linked instruments and related accounts and disclosures that would result in a material misstatement of the financial statements that would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Accordingly, management believes that the financial statements included in this Form 10-K present fairly in all material respects our financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the period presented. Management understands that the accounting standards applicable to our financial statements are complex and has since the inception of the Company benefited from the support of experienced third-party professionals with whom management has regularly consulted with respect to accounting issues. Management intends to continue to further consult with such professionals in connection with accounting matters.
Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
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Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2022. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022.
Management has implemented remediation steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities and related accounting standards. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B.Other Information.
None.
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PART III
Item 10.Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
Directors and Executive Officers
Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:
Name |
| Age |
| Position |
Kevin Nazemi |
| 41 |
| Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer |
Kyle Francis |
| 49 |
| Chief Financial Officer and Secretary |
Bradley Fluegel |
| 61 |
| Director |
Jim Moffatt |
| 64 |
| Director |
Heather Zynczak |
| 51 |
| Director |
Our executive officers and directors are as follows:
Mr. Kevin Nazemi serves as our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Nazemi currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Charlie Financial Incorporated, a banking technology services company, and as Partner at Lobby 7 Capital Inc., a startup investment and incubation firm. From November 2012 to April 2015, Mr. Nazemi served as the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Oscar Health Insurance, a technology-driven health insurance company. Mr. Nazemi co-founded Oscar Health in November 2012. In January 2016, Mr. Nazemi founded Renew Health Limited, a technology-driven health platform focused on retirees, and served as its Chief Executive Officer from January 2016 to January 2020. From 2003 to 2008, Mr. Nazemi held several positions at Microsoft Corporation. Mr. Nazemi currently serves on the board of directors of Premera Blue Cross, the largest health plan in the Pacific Northwest. Mr. Nazemi completed a joint MBA/MPP program offered by the Kennedy School of Government, where he was a Zuckerman Fellow, and the Harvard Business School, where he was a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. Mr. Nazemi holds a Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr. Kyle Francis serves as our Chief Financial Officer and Secretary. Mr. Francis currently serves as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Development Officer for Spring Fertility. Mr. Francis previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Southern California Reproductive Center, a leading chain of fertility clinics, from September 2015 to June 2020, and as its Chief Financial Officer from May 2014 to September 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Francis served as Chief Financial Officer from December 2010 to May 2014 and as EVP, Business Development from November 2008 to December 2010 of Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded healthcare management company. Prior to Apollo, Mr. Francis was an investment banker at CIBC World Markets Inc. from March 2000 to September 2008, in the middle market healthcare and capital markets groups focused on healthcare, technology and industrials. Mr. Francis currently serves on the board of directors of RaceRocks, a Canadian technology company focused on virtual reality training and remote learning for the defense industry. Mr. Francis also acts as an executive advisor to a number of private healthcare companies. Mr. Francis graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Commerce.
Mr. Bradley Fluegel has served on our board of directors since our Initial Public Offering. Mr. Fluegel currently advises a number of technology-enabled healthcare companies including Interwell Health, Galileo, Hims & Hers, Pager, Covera Health and VillageMD. Mr. Fluegel was most recently the Senior Vice President, Chief Healthcare Commercial Market Development Officer and Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer for Walgreens from October 2012 to January 2018. Prior to Walgreens, Mr. Fluegel served as an executive in residence at Health Evolution Partners from April 2011 to September 2012, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer of Anthem from October 2007 to December 2010, Senior Vice President of National Accounts and Vice President of Enterprise Strategy at Aetna from March 2005 to September 2007, and Principal and then Chief Executive Officer for Reden & Anders (Optum Consulting) from October 2002 to February 2005. Mr. Fluegel currently serves on the Board of Directors of MJHS Health in New York City, Performant Financial Corporation, AdhereHealth, NeuroMetrix, and Premera Blue Cross, among others. Mr. Fluegel formerly served on the Board of Directors of Fitbit prior to Google’s acquisition of the company. Mr. Fluegel earned a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BBA from the University of Washington. Mr. Fluegel also serves as a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
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Mr. Jim Moffatt has served as a director since our Initial Public Offering. Mr. Moffatt had an extensive career at Deloitte spanning nearly 32 years in which he held numerous leadership roles, including: Vice Chairman of Deloitte Consulting from January 2018 to December 2018, Global Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Consulting from June 2015 to December 2017, Deputy Chief Executive Officer —Global for Deloitte U.S. from April 2015 to March 2017, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Deloitte Consulting U.S. from May 2011 to December 2015, Managing Principal for Deloitte U.S. Consulting Clients & Industries from June 2009 to May 2011, and National Managing Director Consulting Client Excellence and Regions Leader from June 2007 to May 2009. Mr. Moffatt joined Deloitte Consulting in 1987 and was admitted as Principal in June 1994. While at Deloitte, Mr. Moffatt advised a number of leading companies in the healthcare and technology sectors and was recognized as a talent cultivator, for his ability to drive growth at any scale, and for his leadership in a networked economy. Mr. Moffatt currently serves on several boards including Henry Schein One, First Hawaiian, Inc. and its principal subsidiary, First Hawaiian Bank, AmplifAI, Icertis and Optiv Security, Inc. He is also a Board Partner to Greycoft and a Senior Advisor to KKR. Mr. Moffatt serves as an advisor to Centre for Neuro Skills, SparkCognition, Bridgepoint LLC, TenOneTen, and March Capital, among others. He also serves on committees for organizations including the UCLA Anderson School and UC San Diego Foundation Board. Mr. Moffatt previously served on the UCLA Chancellor's Cabinet Council and Corporate Council of the American Film Institute. Mr. Moffatt holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA from University of California, San Diego.
Ms. Heather Zynczak has served on our board of directors since our Initial Public Offering. From August 2016 to October 2020, Ms. Zynczak served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Pluralsight Inc. Prior to Pluralsight, from March 2012 to August 2016, Ms. Zynczak served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Domo Inc. Prior to Domo, Ms. Zynczak served as the Global Vice President of Marketing of SAPSE from February 2006 to March 2012, and as Senior Director of Product Strategy of Oracle Corporation from September 2001 to February 2006. Prior to Oracle, Ms. Zynczak served in consulting roles with Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Boston Consulting Group, and Accenture plc. Ms. Zynczak currently serves on the board of directors of Thryv Holdings, Inc. Demandbase, D2L, and Akrose Labs. Ms. Zynczak has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Business Administration from University of Texas at Austin.
Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors
Our board of directors consists of four members and is divided into two classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a two-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Jim Moffatt and Heather Zynczak will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Nazemi and Bradley Fluegel, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. We may not hold an annual general meeting until after we consummate our initial business combination (unless required by Nasdaq).
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our shares of Class B common stock. In addition, prior to the completion of our initial business combination, holders of a majority of our shares of Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the Initial Public Offering, our Sponsor, upon consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors.
Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.
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Code of Ethics
We adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and controller, or persons performing similar functions. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is a “code of ethics,” as defined in Item 406(b) of Regulation S-K. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us, and is posted on our website. We intend to disclose any legally required amendments to, or waivers of, provisions of our Code of Ethics on our website.
Corporate Governance
Our board of directors has two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Both our audit committee and our compensation committee are composed solely of independent directors.
Audit Committee
Our audit committee consists of Bradley Fluegel, Jim Moffatt and Heather Zynczak, with Bradley Fluegel serving as chairperson. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Bradley Fluegel qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.
The audit committee is responsible for:
| ● | assisting board oversight of (1) the integrity of our financial statements, (2) our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, (3) the independent registered public accounting firm’s qualifications and independence and (4) the performance of our internal audit function and the independent registered public accounting firm; |
| ● | the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us; |
| ● | pre-approving all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures; |
| ● | setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations; |
| ● | setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; |
| ● | obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent registered public accounting firm describing (i) the independent registered public accounting firm’s internal quality-control procedures, (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities within the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues and (iii) all relationships between the independent registered public accounting firm and us to assess the independent registered public accounting firm’s independence; |
| ● | meeting to review and discuss our annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial statements with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, including reviewing our specific disclosures under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; |
| ● | reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and |
| ● | reviewing with management, the independent registered public accounting firm, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. |
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Compensation Committee
Our Compensation Committee consists of Jim Moffatt and Heather Zynczak, with Heather Zynczak serving as chairperson. We adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:
| ● | reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, if any is paid by us, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation; |
| ● | reviewing and making recommendations on an annual basis to our board of directors with respect to (or approving, if such authority is so delegated by our board of directors) the compensation, if any is paid by us, and any incentive-compensation and equity-based plans that are subject to board approval of our other officers; |
| ● | reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans; |
| ● | implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans; |
| ● | assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements; |
| ● | approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees; |
| ● | if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and |
| ● | reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation and in connection with potentially providing financing or other investments in connection with our initial business combination, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.
The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by Nasdaq and the SEC.
Director Nominations
We do not have a standing nominating committee, though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by applicable law or stock exchange rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of Nasdaq listing rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of Nasdaq listing rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.
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We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.
Item 11.Executive Compensation.
During 2022 and 2021, none of our executive officers or directors have received any compensation for services rendered to us except (i) our independent directors, who each received 25,000 shares of Class B common stock in March 2021 and (2) Kyle Francis, our Chief Financial Officer, who received 150,000 shares of Class B common stock in March 2021. Other than the aggregate 225,000 shares of Class B common stock transferred to our independent directors and our Chief Financial Officer, no compensation of any kind, including finders or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our Sponsor, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of a business combination. However, such individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. There is no limit on the amount of these out-of-pocket expenses.
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders. The amount of such compensation may not be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation. In this event, such compensation will be publicly disclosed at the time of its determination in a Current Report on Form 8-K, as required by the SEC.
Since our formation, we have not granted any stock options or stock appreciation rights or any other awards under long-term incentive plans to any of our executive officers or directors.
Item 12.Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 30, 2023 by:
| ● | each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding shares of common stock; |
| ● | each of our officers and directors; and |
| ● | all of our officers and directors as a group. |
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Unless otherwise indicated, we believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them. The following table does not reflect record of beneficial ownership of any common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants as such securities are not exercisable or convertible within 60 days. Information based on 10,184,569 shares of common stock outstanding as of March 30, 2023, of which 10,109,569 were shares of Class A common stock and 75,000 were shares of Class B common stock.
|
| Approximate |
| ||
Amount | Percentage | ||||
and | of | ||||
Nature of | Outstanding | ||||
Beneficial | Common | ||||
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1) | Ownership | Stock | |||
Kevin Nazemi(2) |
| 8,112,500 | 79.7 | % | |
Kyle Francis |
| 150,000(3) | * | ||
Bradley Fluegel |
| 25,000(3) | * | ||
Jim Moffatt |
| 25,000(3) | * | ||
Heather Zynczak |
| 25,000(3) | * | ||
Digital Transformation Sponsor LLC(3) |
| 8,112,500(3) | 79.7 | % | |
All officers and directors as a group (five individuals) |
| 8,337,500(3) | 81.9 | % | |
Glazer Capital, LLC(4) |
| 1,588,414 | 15.6 | % |
* | Less than one percent. |
| (1) | Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our stockholders is 10250 Constellation Blvd, Suite 23126, Los Angeles, CA 90067. |
| (2) | The shares reported above are held in the name of our Sponsor. Our Sponsor is managed by Kevin Nazemi, and Mr. Nazemi has sole voting and dispositive power with respect to the shares held of record by our Sponsor. |
| (3) | Interests shown consist solely of shares of Class A common stock. |
| (4) | Information was derived from a Schedule 13G/A filed on February 14, 2023 by Glazer Capital, LLC (“Glazer Capital”) on its own and on behalf of Paul J. Glazer (“Mr. Glazer”) (together, the “Reporting Persons”), with respect to an aggregate of 1,588,414 shares of the Company’s Class A common stock. Glazer Capital serves as investment manager for certain funds and managed accounts (the “Glazer Funds”) and thus may be deemed beneficial owners of the Class A common stock held in the Glazer Funds. Mr. Glazer serves as the managing member of Glazer Capital, and thus may be deemed a beneficial owner of the Class A common stock. The address of the principal business office of Glazer Capital and Mr. Glazer is 250 West 55th Street, Suite 30A, New York, New York 10019. |
Our initial stockholders beneficially own 81.9% of the then issued and outstanding common stock and have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. Holders of our Public Shares will not have the right to elect any directors to our board of directors prior to our initial business combination. Because of this ownership block, our initial stockholders may be able to effectively influence the outcome of all other matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions including our initial business combination.
If we do not complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023 (or by September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised), the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions. The Private Placement Warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor and independent directors or their permitted transferees. Our Sponsor and independent directors, or their permitted transferees, have the option to exercise the Private Placement Warrants on a cashless basis. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than the Sponsor and independent directors or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering. Otherwise, the Private Placement Warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants sold as part of the Units in the Initial Public Offering.
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Equity Compensation Plans
As of December 31, 2022, we had no compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which equity securities of the registrant were authorized for issuance.
Item 13.Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
On January 8, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 7,187,500 shares of Class B common stock to our Sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash, or approximately $0.003 per share. The number of shares of Class B common stock issued was determined based on the expectation that such shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of the Initial Public Offering. On March 9, 2021, we effected a stock dividend of 0.2 shares for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in our Sponsor holding an aggregate of 8,625,000 shares of Class B common stock. Our Sponsor subsequently transferred 25,000 shares of Class B common stock to each of our independent directors, and 150,000 shares of Class B common stock to Kyle Francis, our Chief Financial Officer. Up to 1,125,000 shares of Class B common stock were subject to forfeiture by our Sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriter’s over-allotment option was exercised. On March 12, 2021, the underwriter partially exercised its over-allotment option, hence, 837,500 shares of Class B common stock were no longer subject to forfeiture. On March 15, 2021, the underwriter forfeited the remaining over-allotment option, and hence 287,500 shares of Class B common stock were subsequently forfeited. In connection with the stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to extend the date by which we have to consummate a business combination, the Sponsor deposited $150,000 to the Trust Account in exchange for a non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory note from the Company, which is matures upon the earlier of the date on which the Company consummates its initial business combination and the date of the liquidation of the Company.
Our Sponsor purchased 6,113,333 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.50 per warrant ($9,170,000), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Private Placement Warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.
We may pay salaries or consulting fees to our Sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates. We may also pay success fees to such individuals upon consummation of our initial business combination.
Other than the monthly administrative fees and salaries, consulting fees or success fees described above, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s fees, will be paid by us to our Sponsor, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our Sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates.
On January 8, 2021, we issued an unsecured promissory note to our Sponsor for an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering. This loan was non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the completion of the Initial Public Offering. During the period from January 8, 2021 to March 12, 2021, we had borrowed $212,215 under the promissory note. On March 12, 2021, we paid the balance on the note from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering.
In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our Sponsor, officers, directors or their respective affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required on a non-interest basis. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The 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 other third parties 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.
59
After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.
Related Party Policy
Our Code of Ethics requires us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company.
Our audit committee, pursuant to its written charter, is responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. We also require each of our directors and officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.
These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.
To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our Sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.
Director Independence
Nasdaq listing rules require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship, which, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We will have three “independent directors” as defined in Nasdaq listing rules and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of Bradley Fluegel, Jim Moffatt and Heather Zynczak are independent directors under applicable SEC and Nasdaq listing rules. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.
Item 14.Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
The following is a summary of fees paid to Marcum LLP (“Marcum”), for services rendered.
Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Marcum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Marcum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and other required filings with the SEC for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, including services in connection with our Initial Public Offering totaled $77,250 and $118,965, respectively. The above amounts include interim procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.
60
Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we did not pay Marcum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.
Tax Fees. We did not pay Marcum for tax planning and tax advice during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
All Other Fees. We did not pay Marcum for other services during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Audit Committee Approval
The audit committee is responsible for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of the independent auditors. In recognition of this responsibility, the audit committee shall review and, in its sole discretion, pre-approve all audit and permitted non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors as provided under the audit committee charter.
61
PART IV
Item 15.Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
| (a) | The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K: |
| (1) | Financial Statements: |
| (2) | Financial Statement Schedules: |
None.
| (3) | The following exhibits are filed as part of this Form 10-K: |
Exhibit |
| Description |
2.1 | ||
3.1 | ||
3.2 | ||
3.3 | ||
4.1 | ||
4.2 | ||
4.3 | ||
4.4 | ||
4.5 | ||
62
10.1 | ||
10.2 | ||
10.3 | ||
10.4 | ||
10.5 | ||
10.6 | ||
10.7 | ||
10.8 | ||
10.9 | ||
10.10 | ||
10.12 | ||
10.13 | ||
10.14 | ||
31.1 | ||
31.2 | ||
32.1 |
63
32.2 | ||
101.INS | Inline XBRL Instance Document | |
101.SCH | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |
101.CAL | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |
101.DEF | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |
101.LAB | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document | |
101.PRE | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | |
104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (Embedded within the Inline XBRL document and included in Exhibit) |
Item 16.Form 10-K Summary
None.
64
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Section 13 or 15 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized on the 30th day of March, 2023.
| DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP. | |
|
|
|
| By: | /s/ Kevin Nazemi |
|
| Kevin Nazemi |
|
| Chief Executive Officer |
In accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Name |
| Title |
| Date |
/s/ Kevin Nazemi | Chief Executive Officer and Chairman | March 30, 2023 | ||
Kevin Nazemi | (Principal Executive Officer) |
| ||
|
|
| ||
/s/ Kyle Francis | Chief Financial Officer and Secretary | March 30, 2023 | ||
Kyle Francis | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
| ||
|
|
| ||
/s/ Bradley Fluegel | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
Bradley Fluegel |
|
| ||
|
|
| ||
/s/ Jim Moffatt | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
Jim Moffatt |
|
| ||
|
|
| ||
/s/ Heather Zynczak | Director | March 30, 2023 | ||
Heather Zynczak |
|
| ||
|
|
|
65
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the result of its operations and its cash flow for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully described in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has until June 30, 2023 to complete a business combination or the Company will cease all operations except for the purpose of liquidating. Further, the Company’s cash and working capital as of December 31, 2022 are not sufficient to complete its planned activities for a reasonable period of time, which is considered to be the lesser of one year from the issuance date of the financial statements or the date for mandatory liquidation. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.
March 30, 2023
F-2
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
BALANCE SHEETS
| December 31, 2022 |
| December 31, 2021 | |||
Asset | ||||||
Cash | $ | | $ | | ||
Prepaid expenses |
| |
| | ||
Total current assets | | | ||||
|
| |||||
Other noncurrent assets | — | | ||||
Cash and securities held in Trust Account | | | ||||
Total Assets | $ | | $ | | ||
Liabilities, Redeemable Common Stock and Stockholders' Deficit |
|
|
|
| ||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | | $ | | ||
Total current liabilities | | | ||||
Deferred underwriting fee |
| |
| | ||
Deferred tax liability | | — | ||||
Warrant liability |
| |
| | ||
Total Liabilities |
| |
| | ||
|
|
|
| |||
Commitments and Contingencies (see Note 6) |
|
|
|
| ||
Class A Common Stock subject to possible redemption, | | | ||||
|
|
|
| |||
Stockholders' Deficit |
|
|
|
| ||
Preferred stock, $ |
|
| ||||
Class A common stock, $ |
| — |
| — | ||
Class B common stock, $ |
| |
| | ||
Additional paid-in capital |
| — |
| — | ||
Accumulated deficit |
| ( |
| ( | ||
Total Stockholders' Deficit |
| ( |
| ( | ||
Total Liabilities, Redeemable Common Stock and Stockholders' Deficit | $ | | $ | | ||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-3
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the years ended December 31, | ||||||
| 2022 |
| 2021 | |||
Formation and operating costs |
| $ | | $ | | |
Loss from Operations | ( | ( | ||||
|
|
| ||||
Other income (expense): |
|
| ||||
Interest income | | | ||||
Offering costs allocated to warrants | — | ( | ||||
Unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account | | — | ||||
Change in fair value of warrant liability | | | ||||
Total other income, net | ||||||
|
|
| ||||
Income before provision for income taxes | | | ||||
Provision for income taxes | ( | — | ||||
Net income | $ | | $ | | ||
|
| |||||
Weighted average shares outstanding, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption |
| | | |||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ | | $ | | ||
Weighted average shares outstanding, Class B common stock |
| |
| | ||
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class B common stock | $ | | $ | | ||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-4
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 AND 2021
Class A | Class B | Additional | Total | ||||||||||||||||
Common Stock | Common Stock | Paid-in | Accumulated | Stockholders' | |||||||||||||||
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Shares |
| Amount |
| Capital |
| Deficit |
| Deficit | ||||||
Balance as of January 1, 2021 | | $ | | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||
Issuance of common stock to Sponsor | — | — | | | | | | ||||||||||||
Excess of cash received over fair value of private placement warrants | — | — | — | — | | | |||||||||||||
Forfeiture of common stock by Sponsor | — | — | ( | ( | | | — | ||||||||||||
Remeasurement of common stock subject to possible redemption | — | — | — | — | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||
Net income | — | — | — | — | | | | ||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2021 | | | | | | ( | ( | ||||||||||||
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||
Net income | — | — | — | — | | | | ||||||||||||
Balance as of December 31, 2022 | | $ | | | $ | | $ | | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-5
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the years ended | |||||||
December 31, | |||||||
2022 | 2021 | ||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities |
|
| |||||
Net income | $ | | $ | | |||
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: |
|
|
| ||||
Interest earned on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ( | ( | |||||
Unrealized gain on marketable securities held in Trust Account | ( | | |||||
Offering costs allocated to warrants | | | |||||
Change in fair value of warrant liability | ( | ( | |||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||||||
Prepaid assets |
| | ( | ||||
Deferred tax liability | | | |||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | | | |||||
Net cash used in operating activities |
| ( | ( | ||||
| |||||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | |||||||
Interest withdrawn from Trust Account to pay for franchise and income taxes | | | |||||
Investment of cash into Trust Account |
| | ( | ||||
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | | ( | |||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | |||||||
Proceeds from sale of Class B common stock to initial stockholders | | | |||||
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discount |
| | | ||||
Proceeds from issuance of Private Placement Warrants |
| | | ||||
Proceeds from promissory note – related party |
| | | ||||
Repayment of promissory note – related party | | ( | |||||
Payment of offering costs | | ( | |||||
Net cash provided by financing activities |
| | | ||||
Net Change in Cash |
| ( | |||||
Cash, beginning of period |
| | |||||
Cash, end of the period | $ | $ | |||||
|
|
|
| ||||
Supplemental Disclosure of Non-cash Financing Activities: |
| ||||||
Deferred underwriters’ discount payable charged to additional paid-in capital | $ | | $ | | |||
Remeasurement of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption | $ | | $ | | |||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.
F-6
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES CORP.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Note 1 — Organization and Business Operations
Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. (the “Company” or “DTOC”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation on November 17, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity through December 31, 2022 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering “), which is described below, and identifying a target company for a business combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of a business combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.
The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 9, 2021. On March 12, 2021, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of
The Company incurred transaction costs of the Initial Public Offering amounting to $
Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on March 12, 2021, $
F-7
The Company has until June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) to complete an initial business combination (the “Combination Period”). However, if the Company is unable to complete its initial business combination within the Combination Period or during any Extension Period, the Company will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 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 the Company to pay its franchise and income taxes (less up to $
The Sponsor and each of the officers and directors have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares (as described in Note 5) and public shares in connection with the completion of the initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem
In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company had cash of $
The Company’s liquidity needs up to March 12, 2021 had been satisfied through a capital contribution from the Sponsor of $
F-8
The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. The Company believes it will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating its business and to consummate a business combination. If the Company is unable to complete its business combination because it does not have sufficient funds available, the Company will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. Management has the option to address this uncertainty through working capital loans from the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors who may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required. Up to $
In addition, the Company has until June 30, 2023 (or September 30, 2023 if all of the Extension Options are exercised) to consummate an initial business combination. It is uncertain that the Company will be able to consummate an initial business combination by this time. If an initial business combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. The liquidity condition and date for mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern one year from the date that these financial statements are issued. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Risks and Uncertainties
Management is continuing to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that it could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of these financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”)
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases of stock by publicly traded U.S. domestic corporations and certain U.S. domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations occurring on or after January 1, 2023. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its shareholders from which shares are 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. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax.
Any redemption or other repurchase that occurs after December 31, 2022, in connection with a business combination, extension vote or otherwise, may be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent the Company would be subject to the excise tax in connection with a business combination, extension vote or otherwise would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the business combination, extension or otherwise, (ii) the structure of a business combination, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a business combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a business combination but issued within the same taxable year of a business combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by the Company and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a business combination and in the Company’s ability to complete a business combination.
F-9
Note 2 — Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying financial statements of the Company are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) have been made that are necessary to present fairly the financial position, and the results of its operations and its cash flows.
Emerging Growth Company Status
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012, (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of these financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company had $
Marketable Securities Held in Trust Account
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in money market funds which invest in U.S. Treasury securities. All of the Company's 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 investments held in the Trust Account are included in interest income in the accompanying statement of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.
F-10
Fair Value Measurements
The fair value of the Company's assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 820, "Fair Value Measurement," approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. US GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The Company follows the guidance in ASC 820 for its financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at each reporting period, and non-financial assets and liabilities that are re-measured and reported at fair value at least annually.
The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:
Level 1 — Valuations based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. Valuation adjustments and block discounts are not being applied. Since valuations are based on quoted prices that are readily and regularly available in an active market, valuation of these securities does not entail a significant degree of judgment.
Level 2 — Valuations based on (i) quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, (ii) quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets, (iii) inputs other than quoted prices for the assets or liabilities, or (iv) inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by market through correlation or other means.
Level 3 — Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement.
In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
The fair value of the Company's certain assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC 820, approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheets primarily due to their short-term nature. The fair values of cash and cash equivalents, prepaid expenses, accounts payable and accrued expenses, and due to related party are estimated to approximate the carrying values as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 due to the short maturities of such instruments.
The fair value of the Private Placement Warrants is based on a Monte Carlo valuation model utilizing management judgment and pricing inputs from observable and unobservable markets with less volume and transaction frequency than active markets. Significant deviations from these estimates and inputs could result in a material change in fair value. The fair value of the Private Placement Warrants is classified as Level 3. See Note 8 for additional information on assets and liabilities measured at fair value.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage limit of $
F-11
Warrant Liabilities
The Company evaluated the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants (which are discussed in Note 3, Note 4 and Note 8) in accordance with ASC 815-40, "Derivatives and Hedging - Contracts in Entity's Own Equity", and concluded that a provision in the Warrant Agreement related to certain tender or exchange offers precludes the Warrants from being accounted for as components of equity. As the Warrants meet the definition of a derivative as contemplated in ASC 815, the Warrants are recorded as derivative liabilities on the Balance Sheets and measured at fair value at inception (on the date of the IPO) and at each reporting date in accordance with ASC 820, "Fair Value Measurement", with changes in fair value recognized in the Statements of Operations in the period of change.
Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption
The Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A common stock (including common stock that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, Class A common stock subject to possible redemption is presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of the Company’s balance sheets.
All of the
The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit.
At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Class A common stock reflected in the balance sheets is reconciled in the following table:
Gross proceeds |
| $ | |
Less: |
|
| |
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants |
| ( | |
Class A common stock issuance costs |
| ( | |
Plus: |
|
| |
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
| | |
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2021 |
| | |
Remeasurement of carrying value to redemption value |
| | |
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, December 31, 2022 | $ | |
Offering Costs Associated with the Initial Public Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340-10-S99 and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”) Topic 5A – “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consisted of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date were directly related to the Initial Public Offering.
F-12
Offering costs are allocated to the separable financial instruments issued in the Initial Public Offering based on a relative fair value basis, compared to total proceeds received. Offering costs associated with warrant liabilities are expensed as incurred and presented as non-operating expenses in the statements of operations. Offering costs associated with the Class A common stock were charged to temporary equity.
Derivative Financial Instruments
The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. Derivative instruments are recorded at fair value on the grant date and re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the statements of operations. Derivative assets and liabilities are classified on the balance sheets as current or non-current based on whether or not net-cash settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.
The Company accounted for the
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes” ("ASC 740"). ASC 740 requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards. ASC 740 additionally requires a valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
ASC 740 also clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise's financial statements and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statements recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. ASC 740 also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim period, disclosure and transition.
The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were
These potential examinations may include questioning the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with federal and state tax laws. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.
Net Income Per Common Stock
The Company complies with accounting and disclosure requirements of FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share. Net income per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. The Company has two classes of shares, Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. The Company has not considered the effect of warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and the private placement to purchase
F-13
The Company’s statements of operations apply the two-class method in calculating net income per share. Basic and diluted net income per common stock for Class A common stock and Class B common stock is calculated by dividing net income attributable to the Company by the weighted average number of shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock outstanding, allocated proportionally to each class of common stock.
Reconciliation of Net Income per Common Stock
The Company’s net income is adjusted for the portion of net income that is allocable to each class of common stock. The allocable net income is calculated by multiplying net income by the ratio of weighted average number of shares outstanding attributable to Class A and Class B common stock to the total weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. Accordingly, basic and diluted net income per common stock is calculated as follows:
For the Years Ended December 31, | ||||||
| 2022 |
| 2021 | |||
Class A Common Stock | ||||||
Numerator: Net income allocable to Class A common stock | $ | | $ | | ||
Denominator: Weighted Average Class A common stock |
|
| ||||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding | | | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per share | | | ||||
Class B Common Stock |
|
| ||||
Numerator: Net income allocable to Class B common stock | $ | | $ | | ||
Denominator: Weighted Average Class A common stock | ||||||
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding | | | ||||
Basic and diluted net income per share | | | ||||
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging-Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”), which simplifies accounting for convertible instruments by removing major separation models required under current GAAP. The ASU also removes certain settlement conditions that are required for equity-linked contracts to qualify for scope exception, and it simplifies the diluted earnings per share calculation in certain areas. For smaller reporting entities, ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's balance sheet, statement of operations or statement of cash flows.
In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions (“ASU 2022-03”), which clarifies the principles of fair value measurement when measuring the fair value of an equity security subject to contractual sale restriction and improves current GAAP by reducing diversity in practice, reducing the cost and complexity in measuring fair value, and increasing comparability of financial information across reporting entities holding those investments. The ASU also introduces new disclosure requirements for equity securities subject to contractual sale restrictions that are measured at fair value under current GAAP. ASU 2022-03 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied prospectively with any adjustments from adoption being recognized in earnings and disclosed on the date of adoption. Early adoption is permitted. This standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s balance sheet, statement of operations or statement of cash flows.
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not effective, accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.
F-14
Note 3 — Initial Public Offering
Public Units
On March 12, 2021, the Company sold
Public Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase
In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $
The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In no event will the Company be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a Unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such Unit.
Redemption of Warrants When the Price per of Class A Common Stock Equals or Exceeds $
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at a price of $ |
| ● | upon a minimum of |
| ● | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for any |
F-15
Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the outstanding warrants:
| ● | in whole and not in part; |
| ● | at $ |
| ● | if, and only if, the Reference Value equals or exceeds $ |
| ● | if the Reference Value is less than $ |
The “fair market value” of the Class A common stock for the above purpose shall mean the volume-weighted average price of our Class A common stock as reported during the trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.
If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the business day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of the Class A common stock over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B)
Note 4 — Private Placement
Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of
The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable in certain circumstances so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. The Private Placement Warrants may also be exercised by the Sponsor and its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, 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 Initial Public Offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The fair value of Private Placement Warrants on the issuance date was $
F-16
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On January 8, 2021, the Company’s Sponsor purchased an aggregate of
On March 9, 2021, the Sponsor transferred
The Sponsor and each of the officers and directors have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with the completion of the initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem
With certain limited exceptions, the Founder Shares will not be transferable or assignable until the earlier of (A)
Promissory Note — Related Party
On January 8, 2021, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note to the Sponsor for an aggregate of up to $
F-17
Related Party Loans
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a business combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a business combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but
Note 6 — Commitments and Contingencies
Registration Rights
The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans and upon conversion of the Founder Shares) will have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the initial Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.
Underwriting Agreement
The underwriter had a
The AON Business Combination
On October 5, 2022, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as amended, the “Business Combination Agreement”) with American Oncology Network, LLC (“AON”).
As a result of the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “AON Business Combination”), the combined company will be organized in an umbrella partnership C corporation structure, in which substantially all of the assets and the business of the combined company will be held by AON. In particular, the Business Combination Agreement provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions thereof, the AON Business Combination will be implemented as follows: (i) on the closing of the AON Business Combination (the “Closing”), AON will amend and restate its operating agreement (the “AON A&R LLC Agreement”) to reclassify its existing Class A units, Class A-1 units and Class B units into a single class of AON common units that are later exchangeable on a one-to-one basis for shares of DTOC Class A common stock; (ii) on the Closing and substantially concurrently with the adoption of the AON A&R LLC Agreement, DTOC will amend and restate its charter (the “DTOC A&R Charter”) to provide for the (a) conversion of all shares of DTOC Class B common stock into shares of DTOC Class A common stock on a one-to-one basis, (b) amendment of the terms of DTOC Class B common stock to provide holders voting rights but no economic rights and (c) authorization of new shares of DTOC preferred stock in an amount sufficient to consummate a private placement of up to $
F-18
Sponsor Support Agreement
On October 5, 2022, contemporaneously with the execution and delivery of the Business Combination Agreement, the Company and AON entered into a support agreement (the “Sponsor Support Agreement”) with the Sponsor and certain other DTOC stockholders (each a “Stockholder”) pursuant to which the Stockholders have agreed to (a) vote in favor of, and take all actions necessary to consummate, the AON Business Combination, (b) certain transfer restrictions with respect to their shares of DTOC common stock, (c) subject a portion of their shares of DTOC common stock to vesting requirements and (d) waive and not otherwise perfect any anti-dilution or similar protections with respect to any DTOC common stock held by such Stockholder in connection with the consummation of the AON Business Combination.
Registration Rights Agreement
In connection with the Closing, the Company, the Sponsor and stockholders of DTOC will enter into an Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) pursuant to which, among other things, the Company will agree to register for resale, pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, certain shares of DTOC Class A common stock and other equity securities of DTOC that are held by the parties thereto from time to time. The stockholders party thereto (or their permitted transferees) may demand underwritten offerings under certain circumstances. The Company also agreed to provide customary “piggyback” registration rights. The Registration Rights Agreement also provides that the Company will pay certain expenses relating to such registrations and indemnify the stockholders against certain liabilities.
Note 7 — Stockholders’ Deficit
Preferred Stock— The Company is authorized to issue a total of
Class A Common Stock— The Company is authorized to issue
Class B Common Stock— The Company is authorized to issue
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of the Company's Class A common stock at the time of its initial Business Combination on a
Holders of record of the Class A common stock and holders of record of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company's stockholders, with each share of common stock entitling the holder to
F-19
Note 8— Fair Value Measurements
The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2022 and 2021, and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value:
|
| Quoted |
| Significant |
| Significant | ||||||
Prices In | Other | Other | ||||||||||
Active | Observable | Unobservable | ||||||||||
December 31, | Markets | Inputs | Inputs | |||||||||
2022 | (Level 1) | (Level 2) | (Level 3) | |||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||
U.S. Money Market held in Trust Account | $ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Public Warrants Liability | $ | |
| |
| — | $ | — | ||||
Private Placement Warrants Liability |
| |
| — |
| — |
| | ||||
$ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | | |||||
|
| Quoted |
| Significant |
| Significant | ||||||
|
| Prices In |
| Other |
| Other | ||||||
|
|
| Active |
| Observable |
| Unobservable | |||||
| December 31, |
| Markets |
| Inputs |
| Inputs | |||||
| 2021 |
| (Level 1) |
| (Level 2) |
| (Level 3) | |||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||
U.S. Money Market held in Trust Account | $ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | — | ||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||
Public Warrants Liability |
| $ | |
| $ | |
| $ | — |
| $ | — |
Private Placement Warrants Liability | | — | — | | ||||||||
$ | | $ | | $ | — | $ | | |||||
The Warrants are accounted for as liabilities in accordance with ASC 815-40 and are presented within warrant liabilities on the Balance Sheets. The warrant liabilities are measured at fair value at inception and on a recurring basis, with changes in fair value presented within change in fair value of warrant liabilities in the Statements of Operations.
The Company established the initial fair value of the Public Warrants and Private Warrants on March 12, 2021, the date of the Company’s Initial Public Offering using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The Company established the fair value of the Private Warrants on December 31, 2022 and 2021 using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The Public and Private Warrants were classified as Level 3 at the initial measurement date and the Private Warrants were classified as Level 3 at December 31, 2022 and 2021 due to the use of unobservable inputs. As of April 30, 2021, the Public Warrants were trading separately from the Units, and the quoted market price was used to establish fair value, and the Public Warrants transferred to Level 1.
The key inputs into the Monte Carlo simulation model for the Warrants were as follows at March 12, 2021:
| March 12, 2021 |
| ||
Inputs | ||||
Probability of completing a business combination |
| | % | |
Risk-free interest rate |
| | % | |
Expected term remaining (years) |
| | ||
Expected volatility |
| | % | |
Stock price | $ | | ||
Dividend yield |
| % | ||
Exercise price | $ | | ||
F-20
The key inputs into the Monte Carlo simulation model for the Private Warrants as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 were as follows:
| December 31, 2022 | December 31, 2021 | ||||||
Inputs |
| |||||||
Probability of completing a business combination | | % | | % | ||||
Risk-free interest rate |
| | % | | % | |||
Expected term remaining (years) |
| | | |||||
Expected volatility | | % | | % | ||||
Stock price | $ | | $ | | ||||
Dividend yield | | % | | % | ||||
Exercise price | $ | | $ | | ||||
The following table presents the changes in the fair value of Level 3 warrant liabilities as of December 31, 2022 and 2021:
Fair Value as of December 31, 2021 |
| $ | |
| ( | ||
Fair Value as of December 31, 2022 | $ | |
Fair Value as of January 1, 2021 | $ | — | |
Initial measurement on March 12, 2021 |
| | |
Transfer of public warrants to Level 1 | ( | ||
( | |||
Fair Value as of December 31, 2021 | $ | |
Note 9 - Income Tax
The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:
| December 31, | December 31, | ||||
2022 | 2021 | |||||
Deferred tax asset (liability) |
|
|
|
| ||
Organizational costs/Start-up costs | $ | | $ | | ||
Unrealized gain - Trust | ( | | ||||
Federal net operating loss |
| — |
| | ||
Total deferred tax asset |
| ( |
| | ||
Valuation allowance |
| ( |
| ( | ||
Deferred tax liability, net of allowance | $ | ( | $ | | ||
The income tax provision consists of the following:
| December 31, |
| December 31, | |||
2022 | 2021 | |||||
Federal |
|
|
|
| ||
Current | $ | | $ | — | ||
Deferred |
| |
| ( | ||
State |
|
|
|
| ||
Current |
| |
| | ||
Deferred |
| |
| | ||
Change in valuation allowance |
| |
| | ||
Income tax provision | $ | | $ | — | ||
F-21
The Company’s net operating loss carryforward as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 amounted to $
In assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the change in the valuation allowance was $
A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate is as follows:
| December 31, |
| December 31, |
| |||
2022 | 2021 |
| |||||
Statutory federal income tax rate |
| | % | | % | ||
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit |
| — | % | — | % | ||
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities |
| ( | % | ( | % | ||
Stock issuance costs | — | % | | % | |||
Business combination expense | | % | — | % | |||
Change in valuation allowance |
| | % | | % | ||
Income tax provision | | % | — | % | |||
The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction and California and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities, since inception.
Note 10 — Subsequent Events
The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, other than as described below, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
On January 6, 2023, the Company and AON amended and restated the Business Combination Agreement (as amended, the “Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement”) to provide, among other things, that the board of managers of AON following the AON Business Combination will consist of (a)
With the execution of the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement, the parties to the Sponsor Support Agreement have amended and restated the Sponsor Support Agreement (the “Amended and Restated Sponsor Support Agreement”) to modify certain vesting conditions on the shares of New AON Class A common stock held by the Stockholders as of the closing of the AON Business Combination. The foregoing descriptions of the agreements and the transactions and documents contemplated thereby do not purport to be complete and are subject to and qualified in their entirety by reference to the Amended and Restated Business Combination Agreement and Amended and Restated Sponsor Support.
F-22
On March 6, 2023, following approval by its stockholders at the special meeting of stockholders held on March 2, 2023 (the “Special Meeting”), the Company entered into an amendment (the “Trust Agreement Amendment”) to the Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated March 9, 2021 (the “Trust Agreement”), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee, to allow the extension of the date by which the Company must consummate its initial business combination from March 12, 2023 to June 30, 2023, and the option to further extend the date by which it has to consummate a business combination beyond June 30, 2023 up to three (
On March 6, 2023, in connection with the Special Meeting held to approve the Extension Proposal, the Sponsor deposited $
In connection with the approval of the Extension Amendment Proposal and Trust Agreement Amendment Proposal, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Sponsor elected to convert all their respective DTOC Class B shares into an aggregate of
F-23
Exhibit 4.5
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
The following descriptions of securities of Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. (the “company,” “DTOC,” “we” or “us”) 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 certificate of incorporation and the company’s warrant agreement with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent (the “warrant agreement”), each of which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this Exhibit 4.5 is a part. We encourage you to read such documents for additional information.
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock consists of 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 1,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share.
Units
Each unit had an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. The units will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.
Common Stock
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by a resolution passed by holders of a majority of our Class B common stock. Our board of directors is divided into two classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of two years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law or the applicable rules of Nasdaq then in effect, holders of our founder shares and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, with each share of Class A common stock entitling the holder to one vote per share and each founder share entitling the holder to a number of votes per founder share such that all of the founder shares in the aggregate would be entitled to cast a number of votes equal to 20% of the combined voting power of the founder shares and holders of our public shares voting together as a single class.
Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to only 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into an initial business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such an initial business combination) be required to increase the number of shares
of Class A common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholder vote on the initial business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws, unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.
We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon (i) the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (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 by June 30, 2023, or during the Extension Period, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. Such redemptions, if any, will be made at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the event triggering the right to redeem, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account was initially $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 commission we will pay to the underwriter. Our sponsor and each of our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, or a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as described above.
Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder 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 stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, 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 amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, 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 stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.
However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions, if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of
seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares of common stock sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the Excess Shares. However, we will not restrict our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the initial business combination. As a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor and each of our officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).
Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we do not complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023, which period may be extended up to three (3) times for an additional (1) month each time to September 30, 2023 upon the deposit into the Trust Account of $50,000 for each calendar month (the “Extension Period”), 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 therefor, 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 to pay our franchise and income taxes (less 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.
Our sponsor and each of our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023 or during the Extension Period. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers or directors acquire public shares in or after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after an initial business combination, our stockholders 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 stock, if any, having preference
over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Founder Shares
The shares of Class B common stock are identical to the shares of Class A common stock, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our sponsor and each of our officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (B) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (x) 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 by June 30, 2023, or during the Extension Period or (y) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (C) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023, or during the Extension Period, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period, (iii) the Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described herein, and (iv) are entitled to registration rights. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor and each of our officers and directors have agreed pursuant to the letter agreement to vote any founder shares and held by them and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination.
The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in connection with our initial public offering and related to the closing of the initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of our initial public offering, plus (ii) all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial business combination (excluding any shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement equivalent warrants issued to our sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to us). We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. They may waive such adjustment due to (but not limited to) the following: (i) closing conditions which are part of the agreement for our initial business combination; (ii) negotiation with Class A stockholders on structuring an initial business combination; or (iii) negotiation with parties providing financing which would trigger the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock. If such adjustment is not waived, the issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock.
If such adjustment is waived, the issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock. Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time. Securities could be “deemed issued” for purposes of the conversion rate adjustment if such shares are issuable upon the conversion or exercise of convertible securities, warrants or similar securities.
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, including their respective limited partners) each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, 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 (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.
Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our Class B common stock may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may only be amended by a resolution passed by a majority of our Class B common stock. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our Class B common stock and holders of our Class A common stock will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.
Preferred Stock
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder 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 preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.
Redeemable Warrants
Public Stockholders’ Warrants
Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any 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 four 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 will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire without value to the holder. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.
We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement on file or a new registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause such post-effective amendment or registration statement to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if shares of our Class A common stock are at the time of any exercise of a public 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 a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th business day after the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361 per whole warrant. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):
· | in whole and not in part; |
· | at a price of $0.01 per warrant; |
· | upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and |
· | if, and only if, the last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders (which we refer to as the “Reference Value”) equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution adjustments”). |
We will not redeem the warrants as described above unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period. 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.
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 warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. Any such exercise would not be done on a “cashless” basis and would require the exercising warrant holder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution adjustments”) as well as the $11.50 (for whole shares) warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.
Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants:
· | in whole and not in part; |
· | at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, provided that holders will be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis prior to redemption and receive that number of shares determined by reference to the table below, based on the redemption date and the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock (as defined below in the immediately following paragraph) except as otherwise described below; |
· | if, and only if, the Reference Value (as defined above under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00”) 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 as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution adjustments”); and |
· | if the Reference Value is less than $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution adjustments”), the private placement warrants are also concurrently called for redemption on the same terms as the outstanding public warrants, as described above. |
Beginning on the date the notice of redemption is given until the warrants are redeemed or exercised, holders who elect to exercise their warrants may only do so on a cashless basis. The numbers in the table below represent the number of shares of Class A common stock that a warrant holder will receive upon such cashless exercise in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, based on the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock on the corresponding redemption date (assuming holders elect to exercise their warrants and such warrants are not redeemed for $0.10 per warrant), determined for these purposes based on the volume-weighted average price of our Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, and the number of months that the corresponding redemption date precedes the expiration date of the warrants, each as set forth in the table below. We will provide our warrant holders with the final fair market value no later than one business day after the ten-trading day period described above ends.
Pursuant to the warrant agreement, references above to Class A common stock shall include a security other than Class A common stock into which the Class A common stock have been converted or exchanged for in the event we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination. The numbers in the table
below will not be adjusted when determining the number of Class A common stock to be issued upon exercise of the warrants if we are not the surviving entity following our initial business combination.
The share prices set forth in the column headings of the table below will be adjusted as of any date on which the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant or the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution adjustments” below. If the number of shares issuable upon exercise of a warrant is adjusted, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the share prices immediately prior to such adjustment, multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the exercise price of the warrant after such adjustment and the denominator of which is the price of the warrant immediately prior to such adjustment. In such an event, the number of shares in the table below shall be adjusted by multiplying such share amounts by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant immediately prior to such adjustment and the denominator of which is the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of a warrant as so adjusted. If the exercise price of a warrant is adjusted, (a) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the fifth paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price as set forth under the heading “—Anti-dilution adjustments” and the denominator of which is $10.00 and (b) in the case of an adjustment pursuant to the second paragraph under the heading “—Anti-dilution adjustments” below, the adjusted share prices in the column headings will equal the unadjusted share price less the decrease in the exercise price of a warrant pursuant to such exercise price adjustment.
Redemption Date | | Fair Market Value of Class A Common Stock | | ||||||||||||||||
(period to expiration of warrants) |
| ≤10.00 |
| 11.00 |
| 12.00 |
| 13.00 |
| 14.00 |
| 15.00 |
| 16.00 |
| 17.00 |
| ≥18.00 |
|
60 months | | 0.261 | | 0.281 | | 0.297 | | 0.311 | | 0.324 | | 0.337 | | 0.348 | | 0.358 | | 0.361 | |
57 months | | 0.257 | | 0.277 | | 0.294 | | 0.310 | | 0.324 | | 0.337 | | 0.348 | | 0.358 | | 0.361 | |
54 months | | 0.252 | | 0.272 | | 0.291 | | 0.307 | | 0.322 | | 0.335 | | 0.347 | | 0.357 | | 0.361 | |
51 months | | 0.246 | | 0.268 | | 0.287 | | 0.304 | | 0.320 | | 0.333 | | 0.346 | | 0.357 | | 0.361 | |
48 months | | 0.241 | | 0.263 | | 0.283 | | 0.301 | | 0.317 | | 0.332 | | 0.344 | | 0.356 | | 0.361 | |
45 months | | 0.235 | | 0.258 | | 0.279 | | 0.298 | | 0.315 | | 0.330 | | 0.343 | | 0.356 | | 0.361 | |
42 months | | 0.228 | | 0.252 | | 0.274 | | 0.294 | | 0.312 | | 0.328 | | 0.342 | | 0.355 | | 0.361 | |
39 months | | 0.221 | | 0.246 | | 0.269 | | 0.290 | | 0.309 | | 0.325 | | 0.340 | | 0.354 | | 0.361 | |
36 months | | 0.213 | | 0.239 | | 0.263 | | 0.285 | | 0.305 | | 0.323 | | 0.339 | | 0.353 | | 0.361 | |
33 months | | 0.205 | | 0.232 | | 0.257 | | 0.280 | | 0.301 | | 0.320 | | 0.337 | | 0.352 | | 0.361 | |
30 months | | 0.196 | | 0.224 | | 0.250 | | 0.274 | | 0.297 | | 0.316 | | 0.335 | | 0.351 | | 0.361 | |
27 months | | 0.185 | | 0.214 | | 0.242 | | 0.268 | | 0.291 | | 0.313 | | 0.332 | | 0.350 | | 0.361 | |
24 months | | 0.173 | | 0.204 | | 0.233 | | 0.260 | | 0.285 | | 0.308 | | 0.329 | | 0.348 | | 0.361 | |
21 months | | 0.161 | | 0.193 | | 0.223 | | 0.252 | | 0.279 | | 0.304 | | 0.326 | | 0.347 | | 0.361 | |
18 months | | 0.146 | | 0.179 | | 0.211 | | 0.242 | | 0.271 | | 0.298 | | 0.322 | | 0.345 | | 0.361 | |
15 months | | 0.130 | | 0.164 | | 0.197 | | 0.230 | | 0.262 | | 0.291 | | 0.317 | | 0.342 | | 0.361 | |
12 months | | 0.111 | | 0.146 | | 0.181 | | 0.216 | | 0.250 | | 0.282 | | 0.312 | | 0.339 | | 0.361 | |
9 months | | 0.090 | | 0.125 | | 0.162 | | 0.199 | | 0.237 | | 0.272 | | 0.305 | | 0.336 | | 0.361 | |
6 months | | 0.065 | | 0.099 | | 0.137 | | 0.178 | | 0.219 | | 0.259 | | 0.296 | | 0.331 | | 0.361 | |
3 months | | 0.034 | | 0.065 | | 0.104 | | 0.150 | | 0.197 | | 0.243 | | 0.286 | | 0.326 | | 0.361 | |
0 months | | — | | — | | 0.042 | | 0.115 | | 0.179 | | 0.233 | | 0.281 | | 0.323 | | 0.361 | |
The exact fair market value and redemption date may not be set forth in the table above, in which case, if the fair market value is between two values in the table or the redemption date is between two redemption dates in the table, the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued for each warrant exercised will be determined by a straight-line interpolation between the number of shares set forth for the higher and lower fair market values and the earlier and later redemption dates, as applicable, based on a 365 or 366-day year, as applicable. For example, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants is $11.00 per share, and at such time there are 57 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.277 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. For an example where the exact fair market value and redemption date are not as set forth in the table above, if the volume weighted average price of our Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading days immediately following the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants is $13.50 per share, and at such time there are 38 months until the expiration of the warrants, holders may choose to, in connection with this redemption feature, exercise their warrants for 0.298 shares of Class A common stock for each whole warrant. In no event will the warrants be exercisable on a cashless basis in connection with this redemption feature for more than 0.361 shares of Class A common stock per whole warrant (subject to adjustment). Finally, as reflected in the table above, if the warrants are out of the money and about to expire, they cannot be exercised on a cashless basis in connection with a redemption by us pursuant to this redemption feature, since they will not be exercisable for any Class A common stock.
This redemption feature differs from the typical warrant redemption features used in some other blank check offerings, which typically only provide for a redemption of warrants for cash (other than the private placement warrants) when the trading price for the Class A common stock exceeds $18.00 per share for a specified period of time. This redemption feature is structured to allow for all of the outstanding warrants to be redeemed when the Class A common stock is trading at or above $10.00 per share, which may be at a time when the trading price of our Class A common stock is below the exercise price of the warrants. We have established this redemption feature to provide us with the flexibility to redeem the warrants without the warrants having to reach the $18.00 per share threshold set forth above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00.” Holders choosing to exercise their warrants in connection with a redemption pursuant to this feature will, in effect, receive a number of shares for their warrants based on an option pricing model with a fixed volatility input as of March 9, 2021. This redemption right provides us with an additional mechanism by which to redeem all of the outstanding warrants, and therefore have certainty as to our capital structure as the warrants would no longer be outstanding and would have been exercised or redeemed. We will be required to pay the applicable redemption price to warrant holders if we choose to exercise this redemption right and it will allow us to quickly proceed with a redemption of the warrants if we determine it is in our best interest to do so. As such, we would redeem the warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the warrants and pay the redemption price to the warrant holders.
As stated above, we can redeem the warrants when the shares of Class A common stock are trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing warrant holders with the opportunity to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis for the applicable number of shares. If we choose to redeem the warrants when the shares of Class A common stock are trading at a price below the exercise price of the warrants, this could result in the warrant holders receiving fewer shares of Class A common stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their warrants for shares of Class A common stock if and when such shares of Class A common stock were trading at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50.
No fractional shares of Class A common stock will be issued upon exercise. If, upon exercise, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the holder. If, at the time of redemption, the warrants are exercisable for a security other than Class A common stock pursuant to the warrant agreement (for instance, if
we are not the surviving company in our initial business combination), the warrants may be exercised for such security. At such time as the warrants become exercisable for a security other than Class A common stock, the company (or surviving company) will use its commercially reasonable efforts to register under the Securities Act the security issuable upon the exercise of the warrants.
Redemption procedures. 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 or any person subject to aggregation with such person for the purposes of the “beneficial ownership” test under Section 13 of the Exchange Act, or any “group” (within the meaning of Section 13 of the Exchange Act) of which such person is or may be deemed to be a part), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 4.9% or 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.
Anti-dilution adjustments. If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the historical fair market value (as defined below) will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock 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 Class A common stock) and (ii) one minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the historical fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon conversion or exercise and (ii) “historical fair market value” means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock 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 Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than (a) as described above, (b) certain ordinary cash dividends (initially defined as up to $0.50 per share in a 365 day period), (c) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (d) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (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 by June 30, 2023, or during the Extension Period, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, or (e) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, 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 share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.
If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.
Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock 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 shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.
In addition, if (x) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock 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 share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, (i) in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or any of their respective affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by our sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance, and (ii) to the extent that such issuance is made to any of their respective affiliates, without taking into account the transfer of founder shares or private placement warrants (including if such transfer is effectuated as a surrender to us and subsequent reissuance by us) by our sponsor in connection with such issuance), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00” and “—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” 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 described above under “—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.
In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), 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 shares of Class A common stock), 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 shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock 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 less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the Black-Scholes value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant. The purpose of such exercise price reduction is to provide additional value to holders of the warrants when an extraordinary transaction occurs during the exercise period of the warrants pursuant to which the holders of the warrants otherwise do not receive the full potential value of the warrants in order to determine and realize the option value component of the warrant. This formula is to compensate the warrant holder for the loss of the option value portion of the warrant due to the requirement that the warrant holder exercise the warrant within 30 days of the event. The Black-Scholes model is an accepted pricing model for estimating fair market value where no quoted market price for an instrument is available.
The warrants have been issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement,
which is incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this exhibit forms a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. 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 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.
The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by holders of Class A common stock.
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 of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.
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. 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.
Private Placement Warrants
The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock 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, pursuant to limited exceptions, to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us (except as described below under “—Redeemable Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants—Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00”) so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis. Except as described below, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than the sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units sold in our initial public offering.
Except as described above under “—Public Stockholders’ Warrants-Redemption of warrants when the price per share of Class A common stock equals or exceeds $10.00,” if holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” of our Class A common stock over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the ten trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent or on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants, as applicable. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following an initial business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such
periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. Up to $2,000,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such working capital loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans.
Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of any of these warrants) until the date that is 30 days after the date we complete our initial business combination, except, among other limited exceptions, to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of an initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of an initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to an initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. If we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent
The transfer agent for our common stock 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 stockholders, 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, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of 65% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who collectively beneficially own founder shares on an as-converted basis representing 20% of our Class A common stock, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:
· | If we do not complete our initial business combination by June 30, 2023, or during the Extension Period, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes (less 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 stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;
· | Prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on our initial business combination; |
· | Although we do not intend to enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent directors, will, to the extent required by applicable law or based upon the direction of our board of directors or a committee thereof, obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view; |
· | If a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other 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; whether or not we maintain our registration under the our Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above; |
· | Our initial business combination will be approved by a majority of our independent directors; |
· | Our initial business combination must occur with one or more businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting fees and taxes payable) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination; |
· | If our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) 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 by June 30, 2023, or during the Extension Period, or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock 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 and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and |
· | We will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. |
In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of deferred underwriting commissions.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will not be subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
· | prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; |
· | upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or |
· | at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 662∕3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder. |
Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or certain other transactions resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of our voting stock.
Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction which results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions which stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the sponsor, its members and its other affiliates, any of its direct or indirect transferees who hold at least 15% of our outstanding common stock after such transfer and any group as to which such persons are party to, do not constitute “interested stockholders” for purposes of this provision.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be classified into two 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 common stock and preferred stock will be available for future issuances without stockholder 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 common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, except any action (A) as to which the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery within ten days following such determination), (B) which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than the Court of Chancery, (C) for which the Court of Chancery does not have subject matter jurisdiction, or (D) any action created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. If an action is brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for any action arising under the Securities Act. Although we believe this provision will benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, a court may determine that this provision is unenforceable, and to the extent it is enforceable, the provision may have the
effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers, although our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Special meeting of stockholders
Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors or by either our Chief Executive Officer or our Chairman.
Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations
Our bylaws provide for advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and the nomination of candidates for election as directors, other than nominations made by or at the direction of our board of directors or a committee of our board of directors. In order for any matter to be “properly brought” before a meeting, a stockholder will have to comply with advance notice requirements and provide us with certain information. Generally, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received at our principal executive offices not less than 90 days nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Our bylaws will also specify requirements as to the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. Our bylaws will allow the chairman of the meeting at a meeting of the stockholders to adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of meetings, which may have the effect of precluding the conduct of certain business at a meeting if the rules and regulations are not followed. These provisions may also defer, delay or discourage a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to influence or obtain control of us.
Action by written consent
Any action required or permitted to be taken by our common stockholders must be effected by a duly called annual or special meeting of such stockholders and may not be effected by written consent of the stockholders other than with respect to our Class B common stock.
Classified Board of Directors
Our board of directors will initially be divided into two classes, with members of each class serving staggered two-year terms. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by resolution of the board of directors. Subject to the terms of any preferred stock, any or all of the directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of our capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office.
Class B common stock consent right
For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other or special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.
Listing of Securities
Our units, Class A common stock and warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “DTOCU,” “DTOC” and “DTOCW,” respectively.
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Kevin Nazemi, certify that:
1. | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 of Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp.; |
2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
4. | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have: |
a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
b. | [Paragraph intentionally omitted in accordance with SEC Release Nos. 34-47986 and 34-54942]; |
c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: March 30, 2023 | By: | /s/ Kevin Nazemi |
| | Kevin Nazemi |
| | Chief Executive Officer |
| | (Principal Executive Officer) |
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Kyle Francis, certify that:
1. | I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 of Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp.; |
2. | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; |
3. | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; |
4. | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have: |
a. | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; |
b. | [Paragraph intentionally omitted in accordance with SEC Release Nos. 34-47986 and 34-54942]; |
c. | Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and |
d. | Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and |
5. | The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): |
a. | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and |
b. | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
Date: March 30, 2023 | By: | /s/ Kyle Francis |
| | Kyle Francis |
| | Chief Financial Officer |
| | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. §1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with the Annual Report of Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. (the “Company”) on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Kevin Nazemi, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:
(1) The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
(2) The information contained in this Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of and for the period covered by the Report.
March 30, 2022 | | /s/ Kevin Nazemi |
| | Kevin Nazemi |
| | Chief Executive Officer |
| | (Principal Executive Officer) |
A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been provided to Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. and will be retained by Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.
Exhibit 32.2
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. §1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with the Annual Report of Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. (the “Company”) on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Kyle Francis, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:
(1) The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
(2) The information contained in this Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company as of and for the period covered by the Report.
March 30, 2023 | | /s/ Kyle Francis |
| | Kyle Francis |
| | Chief Financial Officer |
| | (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been provided to Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. and will be retained by Digital Transformation Opportunities Corp. and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.