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EX-23.1 - CONSENT - Capitol Acquisition Corp. IIIfs12015ex23i_capitolacq3.htm

As Filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 31, 2015

Registration No. 333-

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

___________________

FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

___________________

CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

 

6770

 

47-4510443

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

509 7th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202) 654-7060

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

___________________

Mark D. Ein, Chief Executive Officer
Capitol Acquisition Corp. III
509 7th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20004
(202) 654-7060

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

___________________

Copies to:

David Alan Miller, Esq.
Jeffrey M. Gallant, Esq.
Graubard Miller
The Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York 10174
(212) 818-8800
(212) 818-8881 — Facsimile

 

Deanna L. Kirkpatrick, Esq.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

450 Lexington Avenue

New York, New York 10017

(212) 450-4000

(212) 450-3800 — Facsimile

___________________

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:  As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box. x

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer ¨

 

Accelerated filer ¨

Non-accelerated filer x

 

Smaller reporting company ¨

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Title of each Class of Security being registered

 

Amount being Registered

 

Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Security(1)

 

Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(1)

 

Amount of Registration Fee

Units, each consisting of one share of Common Stock, $.0001 par value, and one half of one Warrant(2)

 

40,250,000 Units

 

$

10.00

 

$

402,500,000

 

$

46,770.50

 

Shares of Common Stock included as part of the Units(2)

 

40,250,000 Shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3)

Warrants included as part of the
Units(2)

 

20,125,000 Warrants

 

 

 

 

 

 

(3)

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

402,500,000

 

$

46,770.50

 

____________

(1)      Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee.

(2)      Includes 5,250,000 Units, 5,250,000 shares of Common Stock and 2,625,000 Warrants underlying such Units which may be issued on exercise of a 30-day option granted to the Underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any. 

(3)      No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g).

___________________

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED AUGUST 31, 2015

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

350,000,000

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III

35,000,000 Units

_______________

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III is a blank check company formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as a “target business.”  Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. We do not have any specific business combination under consideration and we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf), directly or indirectly, contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to such a transaction. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares for a pro rata portion of the trust account, 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit that we are offering has a price of $10.00 and consists of one share of common stock and one half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50. Each warrant will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of an initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering and will expire on the fifth anniversary of our completion of an initial business combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. We have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 5,250,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC, which is controlled by Mark D. Ein, our chief executive officer, and Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC, which is controlled by L. Dyson Dryden, our president and chief financial officer, who are our sponsors in this offering, and our directors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase from us an aggregate of 8,750,000 warrants, or “founders’ warrants,” at $1.00 per warrant (for a total purchase price of $8,750,000) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant additional founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) in an amount that is necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The founders’ warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in this offering, including as to exercise price, subject to certain limited exceptions as described elsewhere in this prospectus.

There is presently no public market for our units, shares of common stock or warrants. We intend to apply to have our units listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “[•]” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Citigroup Global Markets Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our filing a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering and issuing a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the common stock and warrants will be traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “[•]” and “[•],” respectively.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act and will therefore be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements.

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 14 of this prospectus for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our securities.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

Per Unit

 

Total

Public Offering Price

 

$10.00

 

$350,000,000

Underwriting Discount(1)(2)

 

$0.55

 

$19,250,000

Proceeds to Capitol Acquisition Corp. III (before expenses)

 

$9.45

 

$330,750,000

____________

(1)        Includes $0.35 per unit, or approximately $12.3 million in the aggregate, or approximately $14.1 million if the underwriters exercise in full the over-allotment option, payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting discounts and commissions (which we refer to throughout this prospectus as the “deferred commissions”) to be placed in the trust account described in this prospectus. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus.

(2)        The underwriters will receive compensation in addition to the underwriting discount.  See “Underwriting.”

Upon consummation of the offering, an aggregate of $350,000,000 (or $402,500,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) or $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at ________, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. Except as described in this prospectus, these funds will not be released to us until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our redemption of our public shares (which may not occur until ________, 2017).

The underwriters are offering the units on a firm commitment basis. The underwriters expect to deliver the units to purchasers on or about ________, 2015.

Book-Running Manager

Citigroup

             , 2015

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with different information. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted.

CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

Page

Prospectus Summary

 

1

Summary Financial Data

 

13

Risk Factors

 

14

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

 

30

Use of Proceeds

 

31

Dividend Policy

 

34

Dilution

 

35

Capitalization

 

36

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

37

Proposed Business

 

41

Management

 

57

Principal Stockholders

 

63

Certain Transactions

 

65

Description of Securities

 

68

Shares Eligible for Future Sale

 

73

Material U.S. Federal Tax Considerations

 

75

Underwriting

 

81

Legal Matters

 

86

Experts

 

86

Where You Can Find Additional Information

 

86

Index to Financial Statements

 

F-1

i

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. As this is a summary, it does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making an investment decision. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors “and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before investing. References in this prospectus to “we,” “us” or “our company” refer to Capitol Acquisition Corp. III. References in this prospectus to our “public shares” are to shares of our common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market) and references to “public stockholders” refer to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsors (as defined below) to the extent our sponsors purchase public shares, provided that their status as “public stockholders” shall only exist with respect to such public shares. References in this prospectus to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our offıcers and directors and references to our “sponsors” refer to Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC and Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC, entities controlled by Mark D. Ein, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and L. Dyson Dryden, our President and Chief Financial Officer, respectively. Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.

We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on July 13, 2015. We were formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to as a “target business.”  To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities as well as activities related to this offering. We have not selected any target business on which to concentrate our search for a business combination. None of our officers, directors, promoters and other affiliates has engaged in any substantive discussions on our behalf with representatives of other companies regarding the possibility of a potential merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with us.

We intend to focus our search on businesses that may provide significant opportunities for attractive investor returns. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. Although we anticipate acquiring a target business that is an operating business, we are not obligated to do so and may determine to merge with or acquire a company with no operating history if the terms of the transaction are determined by us to be favorable to our public stockholders and the target business has a fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.

Our Management Team

We will seek to capitalize on the extensive experience and significant contacts of our executive officers in consummating an initial business combination.  Mark D. Ein, our Chief Executive Officer, has 24 years of private equity and venture capital investing experience, and L. Dyson Dryden, our President and Chief Financial Officer, has over 15 years of investment banking and investing experience.

Since January 2007, Mr. Ein has been the Co-Chairman and majority owner of Kastle Systems, a firm specializing in building and office security systems, which he acquired through his personal investment holding company, Leland Investments Inc. Mr. Ein is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Venturehouse Group, LLC, a holding company that creates, invests in, grows and builds technology, communications and related business services companies. Venturehouse was founded in 1999 to work closely with a small number of portfolio companies at any one time and to provide operational, strategic, and financing support throughout their lifecycle. Prior to forming Venturehouse, from 1992 to 1999, Mr. Ein was a Principal with The Carlyle Group, a leading global private equity firm. Mr. Ein led many of Carlyle’s technology and telecommunications private equity investment activities. Earlier in his career, from 1989 to 1990, Mr. Ein worked for Brentwood Associates, a leading West Coast growth-focused private equity firm, and from 1986 to 1989 for Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Track Record with Acquisition Vehicles

Mr. Ein and Mr. Dryden have an eight year track record of successfully executing public acquisition vehicles.

Capitol I/Two Harbors

Capitol I was a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in June 2007. Mr. Ein was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol I.  Capitol I completed its business combination

1

with Two Harbors Investment Corp., or Two Harbors, a Maryland real estate investment trust, in October 2009. Two Harbors was a newly formed shell company established to focus on residential mortgage backed securities in partnership with Pine River Capital Management L.P. Two Harbors’ common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TWO”. Mr. Ein served as Vice-Chairman of the board of directors from October 2009 to May 2015. Mr. Dryden served as Capitol I’s financial advisor throughout the search process and assisted with the execution of the Two Harbors transaction.

Capitol II/Lindblad Expeditions

Capitol II was a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in May 2013. Mr. Ein was the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Dryden was Chief Financial Officer and Director of Capitol II.  Capitol II completed its business combination with Lindblad Expeditions, Inc. (“Lindblad”) in July 2015. Lindblad is a global leader in expedition cruising and extraordinary travel experiences offering captivating trips featuring highly curated content to 40+ remarkable destinations on all seven continents. Lindblad’s merger with Capitol II will enable it to pursue attractive future growth opportunities including new ship builds, expanded charters and potential acquisitions. Lindblad’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “LIND” and its public warrants are traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “LINDW”. Since the closing of the business combination with Lindblad, Mr. Ein continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board and Mr. Dryden as a Director of Lindblad.

Boulevard/Agrofresh

In 2015, Messrs. Ein and Dryden identified an opportunity with AgroFresh, the post-harvest specialty chemical business previously owned by The Dow Chemical Company. Messrs. Ein and Dryden introduced the AgroFresh opportunity and worked closely with the sponsor in support of its efforts to structure and consummate the transaction. Agrofresh’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “AGFS” and its public warrants are traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “AGFSW”.

Acquisition Strategy

We intend to employ a pro-active acquisition strategy focused on companies that have demonstrated a potential for future growth or companies for which we believe we can be the catalyst to accelerating growth. Our acquisition selection process will leverage our team’s extensive network of industry, private equity and venture capital sponsor relationships as well as relationships with management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, attorneys and accountants who we believe should provide us with significant business combination opportunities.

We have identified the following criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

         will experience substantial growth post-acquisition. We believe that we are well-positioned to evaluate a company’s current growth prospects and opportunities to enhance growth post-acquisition.

         have developed leading positions within industries that exhibit strong fundamentals. We intend to evaluate each industry and the target businesses within those industries based on several factors, including growth characteristics, competitive positioning, profitability margins and sustainability.

         exhibit unseen value or other characteristics that have been disregarded by the marketplace. We intend to leverage the operational experience and financial acumen of our team to focus on unlocking value others may have overlooked.

         will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return on investment for our shareholders. We will seek to acquire the target on attractive terms. Financial returns will be evaluated based on both organic cash flow growth potential and an ability to create value through new initiatives. Potential upside from growth in the business will be weighed against any downside risks.

While these criteria will be used in evaluating business combination opportunities, we may decide to enter into a business combination with a target business or businesses that do not meet these proposed criteria and guidelines.

We have not contacted any of the prospective target businesses that Capitol I or Capitol II had considered and rejected. We do not currently intend to contact any of such targets; however, we may do so in the future if we become aware that the valuations, operations, profits or prospects of such target business, or the benefits of any potential transaction with such target business, would be attractive.

2

We will have until 24 months from the closing of this offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within such time period, we will redeem 100% of our outstanding public shares for a pro rata portion of the funds held in the trust account, 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein, and then seek to dissolve and liquidate. We expect the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.00 per share of common stock (regardless of whether or not the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option), without taking into account any interest earned on such funds. However, we cannot assure you that we will in fact be able to distribute such amounts as a result of claims of creditors which may take priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. 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 used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of the fair market value of the target business, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board is not able independently to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.

We currently anticipate structuring a business combination to acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination where we merge directly with the target business or where we acquire less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders 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 the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. 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 could 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 valued for purposes of the 80% of trust account balance test.

Prior to approval of a business combination, our board of directors will determine whether the transaction is fair to and in the best interests of us and our stockholders. We will disclose the basis of our board of director’s determination in the proxy solicitation materials distributed to stockholders in connection with the business combination.

As more fully discussed in “Management — Conflicts of Interest”, if any of our officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. All of our officers currently have certain relevant pre-existing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations. Our officers have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other blank check company until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within the required time period.

3

We are an emerging growth company as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (which we refer to herein as the JOBS Act) and will remain such for up to five years. However, if our non-convertible debt issued within a three year period or our total revenues exceed $1 billion or the market value of our shares of common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million on the last day of the second fiscal quarter of any given fiscal year, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the following fiscal year. As an emerging growth company, we have elected, under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act, to take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, for complying with new or revised accounting standards.

Private Placements

In July 2015, our sponsors purchased an aggregate of 10,062,500 shares of our common stock, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as the “founders’ shares,” for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share.  Thereafter, our sponsors transferred an aggregate of __________ founders’ shares to our independent directors. The founders’ shares held by our sponsors and directors include an aggregate of up to 1,312,500 shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that our sponsors and directors will continue to collectively own 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares after this offering (assuming our sponsors and directors do not purchase units in this offering).

In addition, our sponsors and directors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase an aggregate of 8,750,000 founders’ warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($8.75 million in the aggregate) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant an additional number of founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) in order to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The proceeds from the private placement of the founders’ warrants will be added to the proceeds of this offering and placed in a U.S.-based trust account at ________ with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee. If we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering, the proceeds from the sale of the founders’ warrants will be included in the liquidating distribution to our public stockholders and the founders’ warrants will expire worthless.

Our executive offices are located at 509 7th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004, and our telephone number is (202) 654-7060.

4

The Offering

Securities offered

 

35,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of one share of common stock and one half of one warrant.

 

 

 

 

 

This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one full warrant. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to alleviate the dilutive effect of the warrants and to make us a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. However, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included one full warrant. Furthermore, no fractional warrants will be issued and only whole warrants will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to trade a full warrant.

 

 

 

Listing of our securities and proposed symbols

 


We anticipate the units, and the shares of common stock and warrants once they begin separate trading, will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “[•],”“[•]” and “[•],” respectively.

 

 

 

Trading commencement and separation of common stock and warrants

 



The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Citigroup Global Markets Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to our having filed the Current Report on Form 8-K described below and having issued a press release and filed a Current Report on Form 8-K announcing when such separate trading will begin. However, no fractional warrants will be issued and only whole warrants will trade.

 

 

 

 

 

Once the shares of common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component pieces. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of common stock and warrants.

 

 

 

 

 

In no event will the common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC containing an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days from the date of this prospectus. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised following the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, a second or amended Current Report on Form 8-K will be filed to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. We will also include the Form 8-K, or amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Form 8-K, information indicating if Citigroup Global Markets Inc. has allowed separate trading of the common stock and warrants prior to the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus.

 

 

 

Units:

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 


0 units

Number outstanding after this offering.

 


35,000,000 units

 

 

 

5

Shares of common stock:

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 


10,062,500 shares(1)

Number to be outstanding after this offering

 


43,750,000 shares(2)

 

 

 

Warrants:

 

 

Number outstanding before this offering

 


0 warrants

Number to be sold to insiders

 

8,750,000 warrants

Number to be outstanding after this offering and sale to insiders

 



26,250,000 warrants

Exercisability

 

Each whole warrant is exercisable for one share of common stock.

 

 

 

Exercise price

 

$11.50. No warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of an initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering. The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the fifth anniversary of our completion of an initial business combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

 

 

Redemption

 

We may redeem the outstanding warrants (excluding the founders’ warrants and any other warrants we may issue to our sponsors, officers or directors as described in this prospectus) in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant at any time while the warrants are exercisable, upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, if, and only if, the last sales price of our shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption; and if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying such warrants.

 

 

 

 

 

If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption, each warrant holder can exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the shares of common stock may fall below the $18.00 trigger price as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price after the redemption notice is issued.

 

 

 

____________

(1)      This number includes an aggregate of up to 1,312,500 founders’ shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters in full.

(2)      Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and an aggregate of 1,312,500 founders’ shares have been forfeited.

6

 

 

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value”(defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the shares of common stock for the five trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.

 

 

 

Securities being purchased by insiders

 


Prior to the date of this prospectus, our sponsors and directors purchased
an aggregate of 10,062,500 founders’ shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share. The 10,062,500 founders’ shares includes an aggregate of up to 1,312,500 shares of common stock subject to forfeiture to the extent that the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters in full or in part. The holders of the founders’ shares will be required to forfeit only a number of shares of common stock necessary to continue to maintain the 20.0% ownership interest in our shares of common stock after giving effect to the offering and exercise, if any, of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. The founders’ shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering. However, the holders have agreed (A) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (B) not to convert any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination.

 

 

 

 

 

Simultaneously with the consummation of this offering, our sponsors and directors committed that they and/or their designees will purchase an aggregate of 8,750,000 founders’ warrants at $1.00 per warrant (for a total purchase price of $8,750,000) pursuant to letter agreements with us. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant an additional number of founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The amounts to be paid upon consummation of the private placement will be placed in escrow with our counsel prior to the consummation of this offering. The founders’ warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in this offering except that the founders’ warrants: (i) will not be redeemable by us and (ii) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, as described in this prospectus, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees. If the founders’ warrants are held by holders other than the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees, the founders’ warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. In the event of a liquidation prior to our initial business combination, the founders’ warrants will expire worthless.

7

Restrictions on transfer of founders’ shares and founders’ warrants

 



On the date of this prospectus, the founders’ shares will be placed into an escrow account maintained in New York, New York by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as escrow agent. Subject to certain limited exceptions, these shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our business combination, (i) the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (ii) we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. The limited exceptions include transfers, assignments or sales (i) to our officers, directors, consultants or their affiliates, (ii) to an entity’s members upon its liquidation, (iii) to relatives and trusts for estate planning purposes, (iv) by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death, (v) pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (vi) to us for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, or (vii) in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, in each case (except for clause (vi)) where the transferee agrees to the terms of the escrow agreement and to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

 

 

 

 

 

The purchasers of the founders’ warrants have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founders’ warrants, including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the founders’ warrants (except in connection with the same limited exceptions that the founders’ shares may be transferred as described above), until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

 

 

 

Offering proceeds to be held in trust

 


An aggregate of $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering (regardless of whether or not the over-allotment option is exercised) will be placed in a U.S.-based trust account at __________, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee pursuant to an agreement to be signed on the date of this prospectus. These proceeds include the deferred commissions that may be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination. Except as set forth below, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be released until the earlier of the completion of an initial business combination and our redemption of 100% of the outstanding public shares if we have not completed a business combination in the required time period. Therefore, unless and until an initial business combination is consummated, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be available for our use for any expenses related to this offering or expenses which we may incur related to the investigation and selection of a target business and the negotiation of an agreement to acquire a target business.

 

 

 

8

 

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, there can be released to us from the trust account (i) any interest earned on the funds in the trust account that we need to pay our franchise and income taxes and (ii) any remaining interest earned on the funds in the trust account up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment as described below, that we need for our working capital requirements. With these exceptions, expenses incurred by us may be paid prior to a business combination only from the net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account (initially estimated to be $1,000,000); provided, however, that in order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering if the funds not held in the trust account are insufficient, our sponsors, directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at the holder’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. These warrants would be identical to the founders’ warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, the loans will be forgiven.

 

 

 

 

 

None of the warrants may be exercised until the later of 30 days after the consummation of a business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering and, thus, after the proceeds of the trust account have been disbursed. Accordingly, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

 

 

 

 

If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option or the size of this offering is increased, the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will proportionately increase. In addition, if the size of this offering is decreased, the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will proportionately decrease.

 

 

 

Limited payments to insiders

 

There will be no fees, reimbursements or other cash payments paid to our sponsors, directors or their affiliates prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is) other than:

 

 

 

 

 

   repayment at the closing of this offering of an aggregate of $200,000 of non-interest bearing loans made by Leland Investments Inc., an affiliate of Mark D. Ein;

   payment of an aggregate of $10,000 per month to Venturehouse Group, LLC, affiliate of Mr. Ein, and Dryden Capital Management, LLC, an affiliate of Mr. Dryden, for office space and related services;

   payment of consulting or success fees to our officers, directors or consultants or their affiliates at or prior to the consummation of an initial business combination in an amount not to exceed an aggregate of $_______; and

   reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with certain activities on our behalf, such as identifying and investigating possible business targets and business combinations.

 

 

 

 

 

There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us. Our board of directors will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsors, directors or our or their respective affiliates, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.

 

 

 

9

Stockholder approval of initial business combination

 


In connection with any proposed initial business combination, we will seek stockholder approval of such initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, less any taxes then due but not yet paid, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per share. We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination.

 

 

 

 

 

The holders of the founders’ shares have agreed (i) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (ii) not to convert any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. No minimum number of public shares is required to be voted in favor of a business combination. Because a business combination may be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares voted, under certain circumstances a business combination could be approved without the affirmative vote of any of our public shares. Notwithstanding, all of our public stockholders will have the right to convert their shares into cash in connection with a business combination, as described elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

 

 

 

 

Public stockholders who convert or sell their stock will continue to have the right to exercise any warrants they may hold if the business combination is consummated.

 

 

 

 

 

In connection with any vote for a proposed business combination, our sponsors, as well as all of our directors, have agreed to vote the shares of common stock owned by them immediately before this offering as well as any shares of common stock acquired in this offering or in the aftermarket in favor of such proposed business combination. None of our sponsors, directors or their affiliates has indicated any intention to purchase units in this offering or any units or shares of common stock from persons in the open market or in private transactions. However, if a significant number of stockholders vote, or indicate an intention to vote, against a proposed business combination, our sponsors, directors or their affiliates could make such purchases in the open market or in private transactions in order to influence the vote.

 

 

 

Conversion rights

 

In connection with any stockholder meeting called to approve a proposed initial business combination, each public stockholder will have the right, regardless of whether he is voting for or against such proposed business combination, to demand that we convert his shares into a pro rata share of the trust account. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a “group”(as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares of common stock sold in this offering without our prior written consent. We believe this restriction will prevent an individual stockholder or “group” from accumulating large blocks of shares before the vote held to approve a proposed business combination and attempt to use the conversion right as a means to force us or our management to purchase its shares at a significant premium to the then current market price. By limiting a stockholder’s ability to convert no more than 20% of the shares of common stock sold in this offering, we believe we have limited the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block a transaction which is favored by our other public stockholders.

 

 

 

10

 

 

We may also require public stockholders, whether they are a record holder or hold their shares in “street name,” to either (i) physically tender their certificates to our transfer agent or (ii) deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case prior to a date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials sent in connection with the proposal to approve the business combination. There is a nominal cost associated with this tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $45 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the converting holder.

 

 

 

Liquidation if no business combination

 


If we are unable to complete an initial business combination by 24 months from the closing of this 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 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any interest not previously released to us but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. We cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.
Although we are required to have all third parties (including any vendors or other entities we engage after this offering) and any prospective target businesses enter into agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements. There is also no guarantee that the third parties would not challenge the enforceability of these waivers and bring claims against the trust account for monies owed them. Our executive officers have agreed that they will be personally liable to ensure that the proceeds in the trust account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or claims of vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us, but we cannot assure you that they will be able to satisfy their indemnification obligations if they are required to do so. Additionally, these agreements entered into by our executive officers specifically provide for two exceptions to the personal indemnity they have given: they will have no personal liability (1) as to any claimed amounts owed to a target business or vendor or other entity who has executed an agreement with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account, or (2) as to any claims for indemnification by the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

 

 

 

 

 

The holders of the founders’ shares will not participate in any redemption distribution with respect to such founders’ shares.

 

 

 

11

 

 

If we are unable to conclude an initial business combination and we expend all of the net proceeds of this offering not deposited in the trust account, without taking into account any interest earned on the trust account, we expect that the initial per-share redemption price (which is 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, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares) will be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to claims of our creditors that are in preference to the claims of our stockholders. In addition, if we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case 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. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption price will not be less than approximately $10.00.

 

 

 

 

 

We will pay the costs of any subsequent liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, our executive officers have agreed to pay the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment for such expenses.

 

 

 

 

 

Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete a business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their shares of 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 not previously released to us but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.

Risks

In making your decision on whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account the special risks we face as a blank check company, as well as the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act, and, therefore, you will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. For additional information concerning how Rule 419 blank check offerings differ from this offering, please see “Proposed Business — Comparison to offerings of blank check companies subject to Rule 419.” You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 14 of this prospectus.

12

SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA

The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this prospectus. We have not had any significant operations to date, and accordingly only balance sheet data is presented.

 

 

July 22, 2015

 

 

Actual

 

As Adjusted(1)

Balance Sheet Data:

 

 

 

 

 

Working capital (deficiency)

 

(525

)

 

338,774,475

Total assets

 

224,985

 

 

351,024,475

Total liabilities

 

200,510

 

 

12,250,000

Value of common stock which may be converted for cash

 

 

 

333,774,470

Stockholders’ equity

 

24,475

 

 

5,000,005

____________

(1)      Includes the $8,750,000 we will receive from the sale of the founders’ warrants but not additional amounts we may receive for additional founders’ warrants sold if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option.

The “as adjusted” information gives effect to the sale of the units we are offering, including the application of the related gross proceeds and the payment of the estimated remaining costs from such sale and the repayment of the accrued and other liabilities required to be repaid.

The “as adjusted” working capital and total assets amounts include the $350,000,000 to be held in the trust account, which, except for limited situations described in this prospectus, will be available to us only upon the consummation of a business combination within the time period described in this prospectus. If a business combination is not so consummated, the trust account, less amounts we are permitted to withdraw as described in this prospectus, will be distributed solely to our public stockholders (subject to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors).

We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination.

13

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the material risks described below, which we believe represent the material risks related to the offering, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. This prospectus also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks described below.

Risks Associated with Our Business

We are a development stage company with no operating history and, accordingly, you will not have any basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

We are a development stage company with no operating results to date. Therefore, our ability to commence operations is dependent upon obtaining financing through the public offering of our securities. Since we do not have an operating history, you will have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective, which is to acquire an operating business. We have not conducted any substantive discussions and we have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective acquisition candidates. We will not generate any revenues until, at the earliest, after the consummation of a business combination.

Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

As of July 22, 2015, we had $199,985 in cash and a working capital deficiency of $525.  Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financial and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this need for capital through this offering are discussed in the section of this prospectus titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”  We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained elsewhere in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from our inability to consummate this offering or our inability to continue as a going concern.

If we are unable to consummate a business combination, our public stockholders may be forced to wait more than 24 months before receiving distributions from the trust account.

We have 24 months from the closing of this offering in which to complete a business combination. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to such date unless we consummate a business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to convert their shares. Only after the expiration of this full time period will public security holders be entitled to distributions from the trust account if we are unable to complete a business combination. Accordingly, investors’ funds may be unavailable to them until after such date and to liquidate your investment, public security holders may be forced to sell their public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

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

Since the net proceeds of this offering are intended to be used to complete a business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, since we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful consummation of this offering and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors of blank check companies such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules which would, for example, completely restrict the transferability of our securities, require us to complete a business combination within 18 months of the effective date of the initial registration statement and restrict the use of interest earned on the funds held in the trust account. Because we are not subject to Rule 419, our units will be immediately tradable, we will be entitled to withdraw amounts from the funds held in the trust account prior to the completion of a business combination and we will have a longer period of time to complete such a business combination than we would if we were subject to such rule.

14

Because each unit includes only one half (1/2) of a warrant, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

Each unit includes one share of common stock and one half (1/2) of a warrant. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of common stock and one full warrant. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to alleviate the dilutive effect of the warrants and make us a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Although the exercise price of our warrants is lower than that of warrants in other similar offerings, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included one full warrant.

If we determine to change our acquisition criteria or guidelines, many of the disclosures contained in this prospectus would be rendered irrelevant and you would be investing in our company without any basis on which to evaluate the potential target business we may acquire.

We could seek to deviate from the acquisition criteria or guidelines disclosed in this prospectus although we have no current intention to do so. For instance, we currently anticipate acquiring a target business that is an operating business. However, we are not obligated to do so and may determine to merge with or acquire a company with no operating history if the terms of the transaction are determined by us to be favorable to our public stockholders. In such event, many of the acquisition criteria and guidelines set forth in this prospectus would be rendered irrelevant. Accordingly, investors may be making an investment in our company without any basis on which to evaluate the potential target business we may acquire.

We may issue shares of our capital stock or debt securities to complete a business combination, which would reduce the equity interest of our stockholders and likely cause a change in control of our ownership.

As of the date of this prospectus, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 120,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering and the purchase of the founders’ warrants (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), there will be 50,000,000 authorized but unissued shares of common stock available for issuance (after appropriate reservation for the issuance of the shares upon full exercise of our outstanding warrants). Although we have no commitment as of the date of this offering, we may issue a substantial number of additional shares of common stock or shares of preferred stock, or a combination of common stock and preferred stock, to complete a business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common stock will not reduce the per-share conversion amount in the trust account. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or preferred stock:

         may significantly reduce the equity interest of investors in this offering;

         may subordinate the rights of holders of shares of common stock if we issue shares of preferred stock with rights senior to those afforded to our shares of common stock;

         may cause a change in control if a substantial number of shares of 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 shares of common stock.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:

         default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after a business combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;

         acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

         our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; and

         our inability to obtain necessary additional financing if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain such financing while the debt security is outstanding.

15

If we incur indebtedness, our lenders will not have a claim on the cash in the trust account and such indebtedness will not decrease the per-share conversion amount in the trust account.

If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in trust, together with the up to $3.5 million (subject to adjustment as described herein) of interest in the trust account (net of franchise and income tax obligations) which may be released to us for working capital purposes, are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, we may be unable to complete a business combination.

We believe that, upon consummation of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, plus the interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be available to us, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. However, we cannot assure you that our estimates will be accurate.  We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to provide us with up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment in the event the size of the offering changes as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of any portion of the over-allotment option or if we otherwise decide to change the size of this offering, of additional working capital we will need to identify one or more target businesses and to complete our initial business combination, as well as to pay franchise and income tax obligations that we may owe. Interest rates on permissible investments for us have been less than 1% over the last several months. Accordingly, if we do not earn a sufficient amount of interest on the funds held in the trust account and use all of the funds held outside of the trust account, we may not have sufficient funds available with which to structure, negotiate or close an initial business combination. In such event, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsors, officers or directors or their affiliates to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Our sponsors, directors and their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount that they deem reasonable in their sole discretion for our working capital needs. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at holder’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the note may be converted into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in trust could be reduced and the per-share redemption price received by stockholders may be less than $10.00.

Our placing of funds in trust may not protect those funds from third party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors and service providers we engage and prospective target businesses we negotiate with 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, they may not execute such agreements. Furthermore, even if such entities execute such agreements with us, they may seek recourse against the trust account. A court may not uphold the validity of such agreements. Accordingly, the proceeds held in trust could be subject to claims which could take priority over those of our public stockholders. If we are unable to complete a business combination and distribute the proceeds held in trust to our public stockholders, our executive officers have agreed that they will be liable to ensure that the proceeds in the trust account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or claims of vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us. However, they may not be able to meet such obligation. Therefore, the per-share distribution from the trust account may be less than $10.00, plus interest, due to such claims.

Additionally, if we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we may not be able to return to our public stockholders at least $10.00.

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

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will continue in existence only until 24 months from the closing of this offering. If we have not completed a business combination by such date, 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 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any interest not previously released to us but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public

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shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. 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 well beyond the third anniversary of the date of distribution. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that third parties will not seek to recover from our stockholders amounts owed to them by us.

If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.”  As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, because we intend to distribute the proceeds held in the trust account to our public stockholders promptly after expiration of the time we have to complete an initial business combination, this may be viewed or interpreted as giving preference to our public stockholders over any potential creditors with respect to access to or distributions from our assets. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Our directors may decide not to enforce our executive officers’ indemnification obligations, 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 $10.00 per public share and our executive officers assert that they are unable to satisfy their obligations or that they have no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our executive officers to enforce such indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our executive officers to enforce such indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

If we do not file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will only be able to exercise such warrants on a “cashless basis.”

If we do not file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at the time that holders wish to exercise such warrants, they will only be able to exercise them on a “cashless basis” provided that an exemption from registration is available. As a result, the number of shares of common stock that holders will receive upon exercise of the warrants will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his warrant for cash. Further, if an exemption from registration is not available, holders would not be able to exercise on a cashless basis and would only be able to exercise their warrants for cash if a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is available. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to meet these conditions and to file and maintain a current and effective prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. If we are unable to do so, the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company may be reduced or the warrants may expire worthless.

An investor will only be able to exercise a warrant if the issuance of shares of common stock upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or is deemed exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants.

No warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless the shares of common stock issuable upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. If the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the

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warrants reside, the warrants may be deprived of any value, the market for the warrants may be limited and they may expire worthless if they cannot be sold.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding warrants.

Our warrants will be 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. The warrant agreement requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders. Upon consummation of this offering, our sponsors and directors will own approximately 33% of the outstanding warrants (assuming it does not purchase any units in this offering). Therefore, we would only need approval from holders of approximately 25% of public warrants to amend the terms of the warrants.

Since we have not yet selected a particular industry or target business with which to complete a business combination, we are unable to currently ascertain the merits or risks of the industry or business in which we may ultimately operate.

We may consummate a business combination with a company in any industry we choose and are not limited to any particular industry or type of business. Accordingly, there is no current basis for you to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the particular industry in which we may ultimately operate or the target business which we may ultimately acquire. To the extent we complete a business combination with a financially unstable company or an entity in its development stage, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations of those entities. If we complete a business combination with an entity in an industry characterized by a high level of risk, we may be affected by the currently unascertainable risks of that industry. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular industry or target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in this offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a target business.

Our ability to successfully effect a 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 a business combination. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after a business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct.

Our ability to successfully effect a business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our key personnel, at least until we have consummated our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain with us for the immediate or foreseeable future. In addition, none of our officers are required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, our officers will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have employment agreements with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our officers. The unexpected loss of the services of our key personnel could have a detrimental effect on us.

The role of our key personnel after a business combination, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel serve in senior management or advisory positions following a business combination, it is likely that most, if not all, of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after a 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 public company which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

Our officers and directors may not have significant experience or knowledge regarding the jurisdiction or industry of the target business we may seek to acquire.

We may consummate a business combination with a target business in any geographic location or industry we choose. We cannot assure you that our officers and directors will have enough experience or have sufficient knowledge relating to the jurisdiction of the target or its industry to make an informed decision regarding a business combination.

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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following a 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 will be able to remain with the company after the consummation of a business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements or other appropriate arrangements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to the company after the consummation of the business combination. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business.

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 consummate a business combination.

Our officers and directors are not required to commit their full time to our affairs, which could create a conflict of interest when allocating their time between our operations and their other commitments. We presently expect each of our employees to devote such amount of time as they reasonably believe is necessary to our business. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. All of our officers and directors are engaged in several other business endeavors and are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our affairs. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote more substantial amounts of time to such affairs, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs and could have a negative impact on our ability to consummate our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that these conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

Certain of our officers, directors and their affiliates may become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

Members of our management team may in the future have affiliations with companies that are engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us. Accordingly, they may participate in transactions and have obligations that may be in conflict or competition with our consummation of an initial business combination. As a result, a potential target business may be presented by our management team to another entity prior to its presentation to us and we may not be afforded the opportunity to engage in a transaction with such target business.

In addition to the foregoing, Leland Investments provides management services to Kastle Acquisition LLC and its subsidiaries, which provides building security products and services. The agreement with Kastle Acquisition contains a non-competition clause that provides that neither Leland Investments, Mr. Ein nor any entity that he controls shall directly and materially compete with the business of Kastle Acquisition and its subsidiaries. Accordingly, we generally will not be able to acquire a target business in the same line of business that Kastle Acquisition and its subsidiaries are in.

For a more detailed description of the potential conflicts of interest of our management, see the section titled “Management — Conflicts of Interest.”

The shares and warrants beneficially owned by our officers and directors will not participate in liquidation distributions and, therefore, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for a business combination.

Our officers and directors have waived their right to convert their founders’ shares or any other shares purchased in this offering or thereafter, or to receive distributions with respect to their founders’ shares upon our liquidation if we are unable to consummate a business combination. Accordingly, the shares acquired prior to this offering, as well as the founders’ warrants and any warrants purchased by our officers or directors in the aftermarket, will be worthless if we do not consummate a business combination. The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest.

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Nasdaq may delist our securities from quotation on its exchange which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

We anticipate that our securities will be listed on Nasdaq, a national securities exchange, upon consummation of this offering. Although, after giving effect to this offering, we expect to meet on a pro forma basis Nasdaq’s minimum initial listing standards, which generally only requires that we meet certain requirements relating to stockholders’ equity, market capitalization, aggregate market value of publicly held shares and distribution requirements, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq in the future prior to an initial business combination. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, it is likely that Nasdaq will require us to file a new initial listing application and meet its initial listing requirements as opposed to its more lenient continued listing requirements. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

         a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

         reduced liquidity with respect to our securities;

         a determination that our shares of common stock are “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our shares of common stock to adhere to more stringent rules, possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our shares of common stock;

         a limited amount of news and analyst coverage for our company; 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 we expect that our units and eventually our common stock and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq, our units, 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, 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.

We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our shares of common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years. However, if our non-convertible debt issued within a three year period or revenues exceeds $1 billion, or the market value of our shares of common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million on the last day of the second fiscal quarter of any given fiscal year, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the following fiscal year. As an emerging growth company, we are not required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and we are exempt from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Additionally, as an emerging growth company, we have elected to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. As such, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates. We cannot predict if investors will find our shares of common stock less attractive because we may rely on these provisions. If some investors find our shares of common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our shares and our share price may be more volatile.

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We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services.

It is likely we will consummate a business combination with a single target business, although we have the ability to simultaneously acquire several target businesses. By consummating a business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

         solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, or

         dependent upon the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services. 

This lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to a business combination.

Alternatively, if we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses and such businesses 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 the 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.

The ability of our stockholders to exercise their conversion rights may not allow us to effectuate the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

If our business combination requires us to use substantially all of our cash to pay the purchase price, because we will not know how many stockholders may exercise conversion rights, we may either need to reserve part of the trust account for possible payment upon such conversion, or we may need to arrange third party financing to help fund our business combination. In the event that the acquisition involves the issuance of our stock as consideration, we may be required to issue a higher percentage of our stock to make up for a shortfall in funds. Raising additional funds to cover any shortfall may involve dilutive equity financing or incurring indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. This may limit our ability to effectuate the most attractive business combination available to us.

In connection with any vote to approve a business combination, we will offer each public stockholder the option to vote in favor of a proposed business combination and still seek conversion of his, her or its shares.

In connection with any vote to approve a business combination, we will offer each public stockholder (but not our sponsors, officers or directors) the right to have his, her or its shares of common stock converted to cash (subject to the limitations described elsewhere in this prospectus) regardless of whether such stockholder votes for or against such proposed business combination. We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. Our $5 million net tangible asset threshold is different than conversion thresholds utilized by other blank check companies of between 20% and 40% and further allows holders of our shares of common stock the right to vote in favor of our business combination and elect to convert their shares. This different threshold and the ability to seek conversion while voting in favor of our proposed business combination may make it more likely that we will consummate a business combination.

Public stockholders, together with any affiliates of theirs or any other person with whom they are acting in concert or as a “group,” will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering.

In connection with any vote to approve a business combination, we will offer each public stockholder (but not holders of our founders’ shares) the right to have his, her, or its shares of common stock converted into cash. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom

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he is acting in concert or as a “group” will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering. Accordingly, if you purchase more than 20% of the shares sold in this offering and a proposed business combination is approved, you will not be able to seek conversion rights with respect to the full amount of your shares and may be forced to hold such additional shares of common stock or sell them in the open market. We cannot assure you that the value of such additional shares will appreciate over time following a business combination or that the market price of our shares of common stock will exceed the per-share conversion price.

We may require stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to comply with specific requirements for conversion that may make it more difficult for them to exercise their conversion rights prior to the deadline for exercising their rights.

In connection with any stockholder meeting called to approve a proposed initial business combination, each public stockholder will have the right, regardless of whether he is voting for or against such proposed business combination, to demand that we convert his shares into a pro rata share of the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination. We may require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to either (i) tender their certificates to our transfer agent or (ii) deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holders’ option, in each case prior to a date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials sent in connection with the proposal to approve the business combination. In order to obtain a physical stock certificate, a stockholder’s broker and/or clearing broker, DTC and our transfer agent will need to act to facilitate this request. It is our understanding that stockholders should generally allot at least two weeks to obtain physical certificates from the transfer agent. However, because we do not have any control over this process or over the brokers or DTC, it may take significantly longer than two weeks to obtain a physical stock certificate. While we have been advised that it takes a short time to deliver shares through the DWAC System, we cannot assure you of this fact. Accordingly, if it takes longer than we anticipate for stockholders to deliver their shares, stockholders who wish to convert may be unable to meet the deadline for exercising their conversion rights and thus may be unable to convert their shares.

If we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares to comply with specific requirements for conversion, such converting stockholders may be unable to sell their securities when they wish to in the event that the proposed business combination is not approved.

If we require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares to comply with specific requirements for conversion and such proposed business combination is not consummated, we will promptly return such certificates to the tendering public stockholders. Accordingly, investors who attempted to convert their shares in such a circumstance will be unable to sell their securities after the failed acquisition until we have returned their securities to them. The market price for our shares of common stock may decline during this time and you may not be able to sell your securities when you wish to, even while other stockholders that did not seek conversion may be able to sell their securities.

Because of our structure, other companies may have a competitive advantage and we may not be able to consummate an attractive business combination.

We expect to encounter intense competition from entities other than blank check companies having a business objective similar to ours, including venture capital funds, leveraged buyout funds and operating businesses competing for acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe that there are numerous potential target businesses that we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses 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, seeking stockholder approval of a business combination may delay the consummation of a transaction. Additionally, our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Any of the foregoing may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination.

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We may be unable to obtain additional financing, if required, to complete a business combination or to fund the operations and growth of the target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering will be sufficient to allow us to consummate a business combination, because we have not yet identified any prospective target business, we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of this offering prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of the business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, or the obligation to convert into cash a significant number of shares from dissenting stockholders, we will be required to seek additional financing. Such financing may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to consummate a particular business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, if we consummate a business combination, we may require additional 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 a business combination.

Our sponsors and directors will control a substantial interest in us and thus may influence certain actions requiring a stockholder vote.

Upon consummation of our offering, our sponsors and directors will collectively own 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units in this offering). None of our sponsors, directors or their affiliates has indicated any intention to purchase units in this offering or any units or shares of common stock from persons in the open market or in private transactions. However, our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates could determine in the future to make such purchases in the open market or in private transactions, to the extent permitted by law, in order to influence the vote. In connection with any vote for a proposed business combination, our sponsors, as well as all of our directors, have agreed to vote the shares of common stock owned by them immediately before this offering as well as any shares of common stock acquired in this offering or in the aftermarket in favor of such proposed business combination.

Our board of directors are and will be divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. It is unlikely that there will be an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of a business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the consummation of the business combination. Accordingly, you may not be able to exercise your voting rights under corporate law for up to 24 months. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsors, because of their ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. Accordingly, our sponsors will continue to exert control at least until the consummation of a business combination.

Our stockholders prior to this offering paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.002 per share, for the founders’ shares and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our shares of common stock.

The difference between the public offering price per share and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to the investors in this offering. Our stockholders prior to this offering acquired the founders’ shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon consummation of this offering, you and the other new investors will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 95.2% or $9.52 per share (the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share $0.48, and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit). This is because investors in this offering will be contributing approximately 99.99% of the total amount paid to us for our outstanding securities after this offering but will only own 80.0% of our outstanding securities. Accordingly, the per-share purchase price you will be paying substantially exceeds our per share net tangible book value.

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Our outstanding warrants may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and make it more difficult to effect a business combination.

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 17,500,000 shares of common stock as part of the units offered by this prospectus and the founders’ warrants to purchase 8,750,000 shares of common stock or additional founders’ warrants if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option. We may also issue other warrants to our sponsors, officers or directors in payment of working capital loans made to us as described in this prospectus. To the extent we issue shares of common stock to effect a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle in the eyes of a target business. Such securities, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of common stock and reduce the value of the shares issued to complete the business combination. Accordingly, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business. Additionally, the sale, or even the possibility of sale, of the shares underlying the warrants could have an adverse effect on the market price for our securities or on our ability to obtain future financing. If and to the extent these warrants and option are exercised, you may experience dilution to your holdings.

We may redeem your unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of the common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third business day prior to proper notice of such redemption provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time we redeem the warrants, we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. 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 (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to 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. None of the founders’ warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by members of the sponsors, our directors or their permitted transferees.

Our management’s ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer shares of common stock upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise their warrants for cash.

If we call our public warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described elsewhere in this prospectus have been satisfied, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his warrant (including any warrants held by our sponsors, officers or directors or their permitted transferees) to do so on a “cashless basis.”  If our management chooses to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, the number of shares of common stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his warrant for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company.

The exercise price for the public warrants is higher than in many similar blank check company offerings in the past, and, accordingly, the warrants are more likely to expire worthless.

The exercise price of the warrants is higher than is typical in many similar blank check companies. Historically, the exercise price of a warrant was generally a fraction of the purchase price of the units in the initial public offering. The exercise price for our public warrants is $11.50 per share. As a result, the warrants are less likely to ever be in the money and more likely to expire worthless.

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If our security holders exercise their registration rights, it may have an adverse effect on the market price of our shares of common stock and the existence of these rights may make it more difficult to effect a business combination.

Our stockholders prior to this offering are entitled to make a demand that we register the resale of the founders’ shares at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which their shares may be released from escrow. Additionally, the holders of the founders’ warrants and any warrants our sponsors, directors, or their affiliates may be issued in payment of working capital loans made to us are entitled to demand that we register the resale of the founders’ warrants and any other warrants we issue to them (and the underlying shares of common stock) commencing at any time after we consummate an initial business combination. The presence of these additional shares of common stock trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities. In addition, the existence of these rights may make it more difficult to effectuate a business combination or increase the cost of acquiring the target business, as the stockholders of the target business may be discouraged from entering into a business combination with us or will request a higher price for their securities because of the potential effect the exercise of such rights may have on the trading market for our shares of common stock.

If we are deemed to be an investment company, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete a business combination.

A company that, among other things, is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, trading or holding certain types of securities would be deemed an investment company under the Investment Company Act, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Since we will invest the proceeds held in the trust account, it is possible that we could be deemed an investment company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in trust may be invested by the trustee only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 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. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, we intend to meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act.

If we are nevertheless deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be subject to certain restrictions that may make it more difficult for us to complete a business combination, including:

         restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

         restrictions on the issuance of securities.

In addition, we may have imposed upon us certain burdensome requirements, including:

         registration as an investment company;

         adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

         reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy, compliance policies and procedures and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations.

Compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expense for which we have not allotted.

The determination for the offering price of our units is more arbitrary compared with the pricing of securities for an operating company in a particular industry.

Prior to this offering there has been no public market for any of our securities. The public offering price of the units and the terms of the warrants were negotiated between us and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Factors considered in determining the prices and terms of the units, including the shares of common stock and warrants underlying the units, include:

         the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies;

         prior offerings of those companies;

25

         our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;

         our capital structure;

         an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying operating companies; and

         general conditions of the securities markets at the time of the offering.

However, although these factors were considered, the determination of our offering price is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities for an operating company in a particular industry since we have no historical operations or financial results to compare them to.

If we do not conduct an adequate due diligence investigation of a target business, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring, and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

We must conduct a due diligence investigation of the target businesses we intend to acquire. Intensive due diligence is time consuming and expensive due to the operations, accounting, finance and legal professionals who must be involved in the due diligence process. Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business, this diligence may not reveal all material issues that may affect a particular target business, and factors outside the control of the target business and outside of our control may later arise. If our diligence fails to identify issues specific to a target business, industry or the environment in which the target business operates, 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 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 common stock. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing.

The requirement that we complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination.

We have 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete an initial business combination. Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware of this requirement. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete a business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete a business combination with any other target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time limit referenced above.

We may not obtain a fairness opinion with respect to the target business that we seek to acquire and therefore you may be relying solely on the judgment of our board of directors in approving a proposed business combination.

We will only be required to obtain a fairness opinion with respect to the target business that we seek to acquire if it is an entity that is affiliated with any of our officers, directors or sponsors. In all other instances, we will have no obligation to obtain an opinion. Accordingly, investors will be relying solely on the judgment of our board of directors in approving a proposed business combination. 

Resources could be spent researching acquisitions that are not consummated, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business.

It is anticipated 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 and others. If a decision is made not to complete a specific business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, even if an agreement is reached relating to a specific target business, we may fail to consummate the 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.

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Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 will require substantial financial and management resources and may increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls and may require that we have such system of internal controls audited beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2016. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny, civil or criminal penalties and/or stockholder litigation. Any inability to provide reliable financial reports could harm our business. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act also requires that our independent registered public accounting firm report on management’s evaluation of our system of internal controls. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition. Furthermore, any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in the implementation of adequate controls over our financial processes and reporting in the future, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.

If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

We may effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States. If we did, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in the target business’ home jurisdiction, including any of the following:

         rules and regulations or currency conversion or corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

         tariffs and trade barriers;

         regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

         longer payment cycles;

         tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

         currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

         challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

         cultural and language differences;

         employment regulations;

         crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and wars; and

         deterioration of political relations with the United States.

We cannot assure you that we would be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, our operations might suffer.

If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, the laws applicable to such company will likely govern all of our material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.

If we effect a business combination with a company located outside of the United States, the laws of the country in which such company operates will govern almost all of the material agreements relating to its operations. We cannot assure you that the target business will be able to enforce any of its material agreements or that remedies will be available in this new jurisdiction. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital. Additionally, if we acquire a company located outside of the United States, it

27

is likely that substantially all of our assets would be located outside of the United States and some of our officers and directors might reside outside of the United States. As a result, it may not be possible for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties of our directors and officers under federal securities laws.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws 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 common stock and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. As a result, at a given annual meeting only a minority of the board of directors may be considered for election. Since our “staggered board” may prevent our stockholders from replacing a majority of our board of directors at any given annual meeting, it may entrench management and discourage unsolicited stockholder proposals that may be in the best interests of stockholders. Moreover, our board of directors has the ability to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred stock.

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 more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or international financial reporting standards, we will not be able to complete a business combination with prospective target businesses unless their financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, or international financial reporting standards, 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. The financial statements may also be required to be prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP for the Form 8-K announcing the closing of an initial business combination, which would need to be filed within four business days thereafter. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire.

There is currently no market for our securities and a market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

There is currently no market for our securities. Stockholders therefore have no access to information about prior market history on which to base their investment decision. Following this offering, the price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

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There may be tax consequences to our business combinations that may adversely affect us.

While we expect to undertake any merger or acquisition so as to minimize taxes both to the acquired business and/or asset and us, such business combination might not meet the statutory requirements of a tax-free reorganization, or the parties might not obtain the intended tax-free treatment upon a transfer of shares or assets. A non-qualifying reorganization could result in the imposition of substantial taxes.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, 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 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 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. 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.

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. 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.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements contained in this prospectus that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements.  The words “anticipates,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predicts,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this prospectus may include, for example, statements about our:

         ability to complete our initial business combination;

         success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

         officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

         potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete a business combination;

         pool of prospective target businesses;

         ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities;

         potential change in control if we acquire one or more target businesses for stock;

         public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

         the lack of a market for our securities;

         expectations regarding the time during which we will be an “emerging growth company”  under the JOBS Act;

         use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; or

         financial performance following this offering.

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

30

USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering, in addition to the funds we will receive from the sale of the founders’ warrants (all of which will be deposited into the trust account), will be as set forth in the following table:

 

 

Without Over-Allotment Option

 

Over-Allotment Option Exercised

Gross proceeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From offering

 

$

350,000,000

 

 

$

402,500,000

 

 

From private placement

 

 

8,750,000

 

 

 

9,800,000

 

 

Total gross proceeds

 

 

358,750,000

 

 

 

412,300,000

 

 

Offering expenses(1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underwriting discount (2% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(2)

 

 

7,000,000

(3)

 

 

8,050,000

(3)

 

Legal fees and expenses

 

 

340,000

 

 

 

340,000

 

 

Nasdaq Listing Fees

 

 

75,000

 

 

 

75,000

 

 

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

40,000

 

 

 

40,000

 

 

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

40,000

 

 

 

40,000

 

 

FINRA filing fee

 

 

60,875

 

 

 

60,875

 

 

SEC registration fee

 

 

46,800

 

 

 

46,800

 

 

Miscellaneous expenses

 

 

147,325

 

 

 

147,325

 

 

Total expenses

 

 

7,750,000

 

 

 

8,800,000

 

 

Net proceeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Held in trust

 

 

350,000,000

 

 

 

402,500,000

 

 

Not held in trust

 

 

1,000,000

 

 

 

1,000,000

 

 

Total net proceeds

 

$

351,000,000

 

 

$

403,500,000

 

 

Use of net proceeds not held in trust and amounts available from interest income earned on the trust account(4)(5)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legal, accounting and other third party expenses attendant to the search for target businesses and to the due diligence investigation, structuring and negotiation of a business combination

 

$

 400,000

 

 

 

(29.6

%)

 

Due diligence of prospective target businesses by officers, directors and sponsors

 

 

320,000

 

 

 

(23.7

%)

 

Legal and accounting fees relating to SEC reporting obligations

 

 

200,000

 

 

 

(14.8

%)

 

Payment of administrative fee to Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC ($10,000 per month for up to 24 months)

 

 

240,000

 

 

 

(17.8

%)

 

Working capital to cover miscellaneous expenses, D&O insurance, general corporate purposes, liquidation obligations and reserves

 

 

190,000

 

 

 

(14.1

%)

 

Total

 

$

1,350,000

 

 

 

(100.0

%)

 

____________

(1)      A portion of the offering expenses, including the SEC registration fee, the FINRA filing fee, the non-refundable portion of the Nasdaq listing fee and a portion of the legal and audit fees, have been paid from the funds we received from Leland Investments described below. These funds will be repaid out of the proceeds of this offering available to us.

(2)      We have agreed to pay the underwriters deferred commissions in an amount equal to $0.35 per unit, or approximately $12.3 million in the aggregate, or approximately $14.1 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, from our trust account upon closing of our initial business combination, as described in this prospectus. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus.

(3)      No discounts or commissions will be paid with respect to the purchase of the founders’ warrants.

(4)      The amount of proceeds not held in trust will remain constant at approximately $1,000,000 even if the over-allotment is exercised. In addition, interest income earned on the amounts held in the trust account (after payment of taxes owed on such interest income), up to an additional $3.5 million, subject to proportionate adjustment in the event the size of the offering changes as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of any portion of the over-allotment option or we otherwise decide to make such a change prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, will be available to us to pay for our working capital requirements. We estimate the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $350,000 assuming an interest rate of approximately 0.05% per year.

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(5)      These are estimates only. Our actual expenditures for some or all of these items may differ from the estimates set forth herein. For example, we may incur greater legal and accounting expenses than our current estimates in connection with negotiating and structuring our initial business combination based upon the level of complexity of that business combination. We do not anticipate any change in our intended use of proceeds, other than fluctuations among the current categories of allocated expenses, which fluctuations, to the extent they exceed current estimates for any specific category of expenses, would be deducted from our excess working capital.

Our sponsors and directors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase the founders’ warrants (for an aggregate purchase price of $8,750,000) from us on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant an additional number of founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The founders’ warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in this offering, including as to exercise price, subject to certain limited exceptions as described elsewhere in this prospectus. All of the proceeds we receive from these purchases will be placed in the trust account described below.

$350,000,000, or $402,500,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, of net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the founders’ warrants, including the deferred commissions, will be placed in a U.S.- based trust account at ________, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, New York, New York, as trustee. The funds held in trust will be invested only in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 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, so that we are not deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Except with respect to (i) interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income tax obligations and (ii) interest earned on the funds held in the trust account up to $3.5 million that may be released to us for our working capital requirements, the proceeds will not be released from the trust account until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or our redemption of 100% of the outstanding public shares if we have not completed a business combination in the required time period. The proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we complete a business combination. Any amounts not paid as consideration to the sellers of the target business may be used to finance operations of the target business.

The payment to Venturehouse Group, LLC, an affiliate of Mark D. Ein, and Dryden Capital Management, LLC, an affiliate of L. Dyson Dryden, of a monthly fee of an aggregate of $10,000 is for general and administrative services including office space, utilities and secretarial support. This arrangement is being agreed to by Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC for our benefit and is not intended to provide Messrs. Ein and Dryden with compensation in lieu of a salary. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in the D.C. and New York, New York area, that the fee charged by Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. This arrangement will terminate upon completion of our initial business combination or the distribution of the trust account to our public stockholders. Other than the $10,000 per month fee, the payment of consulting or success fees at or prior to the consummation of an initial business combination in an amount not to exceed an aggregate of $_______ to our officers, directors, consultants or their affiliates and the repayment of the $200,000 loan from another affiliate of Mr. Ein, no compensation of any kind will be paid to our sponsors, officers, directors or any of our or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. Our board of directors will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsors, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval. There is no limit on the amount of such expenses reimbursable by us to such individuals; provided, however, that to the extent such expenses exceed the available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the interest income of up to $3.5 million (subject to adjustment as described herein) earned on the amounts held in the trust account, net of franchise and income tax obligations, such expenses would not be reimbursed by us unless we consummate an initial business combination. Since the role of present management after a business combination is uncertain, we have no ability to determine what remuneration, if any, will be paid to those persons after a business combination.

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Regardless of whether the over-allotment option is exercised in full, the net proceeds from this offering available to us out of trust for our working capital requirements in searching for a business combination will be approximately $1,000,000. In addition, interest earned on the funds held in the trust account (after payment of taxes owed on such interest income), up to an additional $3.5 million, subject to proportionate adjustment in the event the size of the offering changes as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of any portion of the over-allotment option or we otherwise decide to make such a change prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, may be released to us to fund our working capital requirements in searching for a business combination. We intend to use the after-tax interest earned for miscellaneous expenses such as paying fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business and for director and officer liability insurance premiums, with the balance being held in reserve in the event due diligence, legal, accounting and other expenses of structuring and negotiating business combinations exceed our estimates, as well as for reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by our sponsors, officers and directors in connection with activities on our behalf as described below.

The allocation of the net proceeds available to us outside of the trust account, along with the available interest earned on the funds held in the trust account up to $3.5 million, represents our best estimate of the intended uses of these funds. In the event that our assumptions prove to be inaccurate, we may reallocate some of such proceeds within the above described categories. If our estimate of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, or the amount of interest available to use from the trust account is less than $3.5 million as a result of the current low interest rate environment, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. In this event, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from members of our management team, but such members of our management team are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option or the size of this offering is increased, the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will proportionately increase (for example, if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, the size of the offering will increase by 15%, and the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will increase to approximately $4.03 million). In addition, if the size of this offering is decreased, the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will proportionately decrease. We will use any proportionate increase in interest income to cover our working capital expenses. While we currently do not know what our future working capital expenses will be and while they will not necessarily be proportionate to the size of the offering, we believe that any additional interest income released to us would facilitate our ability to finance the exploration and consideration of a greater number of potential acquisition targets.

We will likely use substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering, including the funds held in the trust account, to acquire a target business and to pay our expenses relating thereto. To the extent that our capital stock is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect a business combination, the proceeds held in the trust account which are not used to consummate a business combination will be disbursed to the combined company and will, along with any other net proceeds not expended, be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business. Such working capital funds could be used in a variety of ways including continuing or expanding the target business’ operations, for strategic acquisitions and for marketing, research and development of existing or new products.

To the extent we are unable to consummate a business combination, we will pay the costs of liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account. If such funds are insufficient, our executive officers have agreed to pay the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses.

As of the date of this prospectus, Leland Investments Inc., an entity controlled by Mark D. Ein, has loaned us an aggregate of $200,000 which was used to pay a portion of the expenses of this offering referenced in the line items above for SEC registration fee, FINRA filing fee, the non-refundable portion of the Nasdaq listing fee and a portion of the legal and audit fees and expenses. The loan will be payable without interest on the consummation of this offering. The loan will be repaid out of the proceeds of this offering available to us for payment of offering expenses.

We believe that, upon consummation of this offering, we will have sufficient available funds (which includes amounts that may be released to us from the trust account) to operate for the next 24 months, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. However, if necessary, in order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering, our sponsors, officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each

33

loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at holder’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the founders’ warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, the loans will be forgiven.

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account (including interest earned on his, her or its portion of the trust account to the extent not previously released to us) only in the event of (i) our redemption of 100% of the outstanding public shares if we have not completed a business combination in the required time period, (ii) if that public stockholder converts such shares in connection with a business combination which we consummate or (iii) we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholder’s rights or pre-business combination activity prior to a business combination. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

DIVIDEND POLICY

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 condition subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to a 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, except if we increase the size of the offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, in which case we will effect a stock dividend immediately prior to the consummation of the offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of our stockholders prior to this offering at 20.0% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

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DILUTION

The difference between the public offering price per share, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering by this prospectus and the founders’ warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share after this offering constitutes the dilution to investors in this offering. Such calculation does not reflect any dilution associated with the sale and exercise of warrants, including the founders’ warrants. Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our net tangible book value, which is our total tangible assets less total liabilities (including the value of shares of common stock which may be converted into cash), by the number of outstanding shares of common stock.

At July 22, 2015, our net tangible book value was a deficiency of $525, or approximately ($0.00) per share. After giving effect to the sale of 35,000,000 shares of common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, and the deduction of underwriting discounts and estimated expenses of this offering, and the sale of the founders’ warrants, our pro forma net tangible book value at Jul 22, 2015 would have been $5,000,005 or $0.48 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $0.48 per share to the sponsors and an immediate dilution of 95.2% per share or $9.52 to new investors not exercising their conversion rights. For purposes of presentation, our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering is approximately $333,774,470 less than it otherwise would have been because if we effect a business combination, the conversion rights available to the public stockholders (but not our sponsors, officers and directors) may result in the conversion of up to approximately 33,377,447 shares sold in this offering.

The following table illustrates the dilution to the new investors on a per-share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units and the founders’ warrants:

Public offering price

 

 

 

 

 

$

10.00

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

 

$

(0.00

)

 

 

 

 

Increase attributable to new investors and private sales

 

 

0.48

 

 

 

 

 

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering

 

 

 

 

 

 

0.48

 

Dilution to new investors

 

 

 

 

 

$

9.52

 

Percentage of dilution to new investors

 

 

 

 

 

 

95.2

%

The following table sets forth information with respect to our sponsors and the new investors:

 

 

 

 

Shares Purchased

 

Total Consideration

 

Average Price

Number

 

 

 

Percentage

 

Amount

 

Percentage

 

per Share

Sponsor

 

8,750,000

(1)

 

20.0

%

 

$

25,000

 

00.01

%

 

$

0.002

New investors

 

35,000,000

 

 

80.0

%

 

 

350,000,000

 

99.99

%

 

$

10.00

 

 

43,750,000

 

 

100.0

%

 

$

350,025,000

 

100.0

%

 

 

 

____________

(1)      Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and an aggregate of 1,312,500 founders’ shares have been forfeited as a result thereof.

The pro forma net tangible book value after the offering is calculated as follows:

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

Net tangible book value before the offering

 

 

(525

)

Net proceeds from this offering and private placement of founders’ warrants

 

 

351,000,000

 

Plus: Offering costs accrued for and paid in advance, excluded from tangible book value before this offering

 

 

25,000

 

Less: Underwriters’ deferred commissions

 

 

(12,250,000

)

Less: Proceeds held in trust subject to conversion

 

 

(333,774,470

)

 

 

$

5,000,005

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

Shares of common stock outstanding prior to this offering

 

 

8,750,000

(1)

Shares of common stock included in the units offered

 

 

35,000,000

 

Less: Shares subject to conversion

 

 

(33,377,447

)

 

 

 

10,372,553

 

____________

(1)      Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and an aggregate of 1,312,500 founders’ shares have been forfeited as a result thereof.

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization at July 22, 2015 and as adjusted to give effect to the sale of our units and the founders’ warrants and the application of the estimated net proceeds derived from the sale of such securities:

 

 

July 22, 2015

 

 

Actual

 

As Adjusted(1)

Note payable to related party(2)

 

$

200,000

 

 

$

 

Deferred underwriting commission

 

 

 

 

 

12,250,000

 

Common stock, $.0001 par value, -0- and 33,377,447 shares which are subject to possible conversion(3)

 

 

 

 

 

333,774,470

 

Stockholders’ equity:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $.0001 par value, 120,000,000 shares authorized; 10,062,500 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 10,372,553 shares(4) issued and outstanding (excluding 33,377,447 shares subject to possible conversion), as adjusted

 

 

1,006

 

 

 

1,037

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

23,994

 

 

 

4,999,493

 

Deficit accumulated during the development stage

 

 

(525

)

 

 

(525

)

Total stockholders’ equity:

 

 

24,475

 

 

 

5,000,005

 

Total capitalization

 

 

224,475

 

 

 

351,024,475

 

____________

(1)      Includes the $8.75 million we will receive from the sale of the founders’ warrants. Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised.

(2)      Note payable to affiliate is a promissory note issued in the amount of $200,000 in the aggregate to Leland Investments Inc. The note is non-interest bearing and is payable on the consummation of this offering.

(3)      Upon the consummation of our initial business combination, we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to convert their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest less franchise and income taxes payable, subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,000.

(4)      Assumes the over-allotment option has not been exercised and an aggregate of 1,312,500 founders’ shares have been forfeited by our sponsors as a result thereof.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

We were formed on July 13, 2015 for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceeds of this offering, our securities, debt or a combination of cash, securities and debt, in effecting a business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or preferred stock:

         may significantly reduce the equity interest of our stockholders;

         may subordinate the rights of holders of shares of common stock if we issue shares of preferred stock with rights senior to those afforded to our shares of common stock;

         will likely cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and most likely will also result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors; and

         may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our securities.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:

         default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after a business combination are insufficient to pay our debt obligations;

         acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we have made all principal and interest payments when due if the debt security contains covenants that required the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves and we breach any such covenant without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

         our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security is payable on demand; and

         our inability to obtain additional financing, if necessary, if the debt security contains covenants restricting our ability to obtain additional financing while such security is outstanding.

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our entire activity since inception has been to prepare for our proposed fundraising through an offering of our equity securities.

We are an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act. As an emerging growth company, we have elected to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. As such, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with public company effective dates.

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at July 22, 2015, we had $199,985 in cash and a working capital deficiency of $525. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Management’s plans to address this uncertainty through this offering are discussed above. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to consummate an initial business combination will be successful. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied to date through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founders’ shares, and a loan from an affiliate of our chief executive officer in an aggregate amount of $200,000 that is more fully described below. We estimate that the net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in this offering, after deducting offering expenses of approximately $750,000 and underwriting discounts and commissions of $7.0 million (or approximately $8.1 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) and (ii) the sale of the founders’ warrants for a purchase price of $8.75 million, or $9.8 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be $351.0 million

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(or approximately $403.5 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $350.0 million (or $402.5 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes the deferred commissions. The remaining $1,000,000 will not be held in trust.

We intend to use substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering, including the funds held in the trust account, to acquire a target business and to pay our expenses relating thereto. To the extent that our capital stock is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect a business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account as well as any other net proceeds not expended will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business. Such working capital funds could be used in a variety of ways including continuing or expanding the target business’ operations, for strategic acquisitions and for marketing, research and development of existing or new products. Such funds could also be used to repay any operating expenses or finders’ fees which we had incurred prior to the completion of our business combination if the funds available to us outside of the trust account were insufficient to cover such expenses.

We believe that, upon consummation of this offering, the approximate $1,000,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account plus up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment as described below, in interest earned on the trust account balance (net of franchise and income tax obligations) that may be released to us to fund our working capital requirements will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, assuming that a business combination is not consummated during that time. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing business due diligence on prospective target businesses, traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses, reviewing corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, selecting the target business to acquire and structuring, negotiating and consummating the business combination. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option or the size of this offering is increased, the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will proportionately increase. In addition, if the size of this offering is decreased, the maximum amount of interest income we may withdraw from the trust account will proportionately decrease. We anticipate that we will incur approximately:

         $400,000 of expenses for the search for target businesses and for the legal, accounting and other third-party expenses attendant to the due diligence investigations, structuring and negotiating of a business combination;

         $320,000 of expenses for the due diligence and investigation of a target business by our officers, directors and sponsors;

         $200,000 of expenses in legal and accounting fees relating to our SEC reporting obligations;

         $240,000 for the payment of the administrative fee to Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC (of an aggregate of $10,000 per month for up to 24 months); and

         $190,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses, liquidation obligations and reserves, including director and officer liability insurance premiums.

If our estimates of the costs of undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination is less than the actual amount necessary to do so, or the amount of interest available to us from the trust account is less than $3.5 million as a result of the current interest rate environment, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, we may need to obtain additional financing either to consummate our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon consummation of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. We do not have a maximum debt leverage ratio or a policy with respect to how much debt we may incur. The amount of debt we will be willing to incur will depend on the facts and circumstances of the proposed business combination and market conditions at the time of the potential business combination. At this time, we are not party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising additional funds through the sale of our securities or the incurrence of debt. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only consummate such financing simultaneously with the consummation of our initial business combination. In the current economic environment, it has become especially difficult to obtain acquisition financing. Following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

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Related Party Transactions

As of the date of this prospectus, Leland Investments Inc., an entity controlled by Mark D. Ein, has loaned an aggregate of $200,000 to us, on a non-interest bearing basis, for payment of offering expenses on our behalf. The loan will be payable without interest on the earlier to occur of August 1, 2016, the consummation of this offering, or the abandonment of this offering. The loan will be repaid out of the proceeds of this offering not being placed in trust.

We are obligated, commencing on the date of this prospectus, to pay Venturehouse Group, LLC, an affiliate of Mark D. Ein, and Dryden Capital Management, LLC, an affiliate of L. Dyson Dryden, a monthly fee of an aggregate of $10,000 for general and administrative services.

Our sponsors and directors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase an aggregate of 8,750,000 warrants at $1.00 per warrant (for a total purchase price of $8,750,000) from us. This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant an additional number of founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. We believe the purchase price of the founders’ warrants is greater than the fair value of such warrants and therefore will not result in any share-based compensation expense.

We do not believe we will need to raise additional funds following this offering in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsors or an affiliate of our sponsors or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we consummate an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the 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 $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the founders’ warrants.

Controls and Procedures

We are not currently required to maintain an effective system of internal controls as defined by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We will be required to comply with the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not completed an assessment, nor have our auditors tested our systems, of internal controls. We expect to assess the internal controls of our target business or businesses prior to the completion of our initial business combination and, if necessary, to implement and test additional controls as we may determine are necessary in order to state that we maintain an effective system of internal controls. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding the adequacy of internal controls. Target businesses we may consider for a business combination may have internal controls that need improvement in areas such as:

         staffing for financial, accounting and external reporting areas, including segregation of duties;

         reconciliation of accounts;

         proper recording of expenses and liabilities in the period to which they relate;

         evidence of internal review and approval of accounting transactions;

         documentation of processes, assumptions and conclusions underlying significant estimates; and

         documentation of accounting policies and procedures.

Because it will take time, management involvement and perhaps outside resources to determine what internal control improvements are necessary for us to meet regulatory requirements and market expectations for our operation of a

39

target business, we may incur significant expense in meeting our public reporting responsibilities, particularly in the areas of designing, enhancing, or remediating internal and disclosure controls. Doing so effectively may also take longer than we expect, thus increasing our exposure to financial fraud or erroneous financing reporting.

Once our management’s report on internal controls is complete, we will retain our independent auditors to audit and render an opinion on such report when required by Section 404. The independent auditors may identify additional issues concerning a target business’s internal controls while performing their audit of internal control over financial reporting.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

The net proceeds of this offering, including amounts in the trust account, will be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 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. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements; Commitments and Contractual Obligations; Quarterly Results

As of the date of this prospectus, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations. No unaudited quarterly operating data is included in this prospectus as we have conducted no operations to date.

40

PROPOSED BUSINESS

Introduction

We are a Delaware blank check company incorporated on July 13, 2015 formed for the purpose of entering into a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more target businesses. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region. Although we anticipate acquiring a target business that is an operating business, we are not obligated to do so and may determine to merge with or acquire a company with no operating history if the terms of the transaction are determined by us to be favorable to our public stockholders and the target business has a fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. In such event, investors would not have the benefit of basing the decision on whether to remain with our company following such transaction on the past operations of such target business. Furthermore, in such a situation, many of the acquisition criteria and guidelines set forth in this prospectus would be rendered irrelevant.

Business Strategy

We have identified the following criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. While these will be used in evaluating business combination opportunities, we may decide to enter into a business combination with a target business or businesses that does not meet all of the proposed criteria and guidelines.

Growth Orientation. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we expect to experience substantial growth post-acquisition. We believe that we are well-positioned to evaluate a company’s current growth prospects and opportunities to enhance growth post-acquisition.

Strong Competitive Position in Industry. We intend to seek to acquire businesses that have developed leading positions within industries that exhibit strong fundamentals. We intend to evaluate each industry based on several factors including its growth characteristics, competitive landscape, profitability margins and sustainability. We also intend to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of target businesses relative to their competitors to identify those best positioned to grow market share and profitability.

Hidden Intrinsic Value. We intend to seek situations where we are able to acquire target companies that have unseen value or other characteristics that have been disregarded by the marketplace. We intend to leverage the operational experience and financial acumen of our team to focus on unlocking value others may have overlooked, as a means to generate significant growth post-closing.

Attractive Return on Investment. We intend to seek to identify businesses that will offer an attractive risk-adjusted return on investment for our shareholders. We will look to consummate an acquisition on attractive terms and to use our corporate structure as an asset in negotiations with owners of prospective targets. Financial returns will be evaluated based on both organic cash flow growth potential and an ability to create value through new initiatives such as future acquisitions, repositioning the company, increasing investment in new products or distribution channels and operational restructuring. This potential upside from growth in the business will be weighed against the downside risks inherent in the plan and in the business.

Outstanding Management Team. We believe that experienced, proven entrepreneurial managers working as a complementary team are a critical component to creating and sustaining long-term value. We intend to look for businesses that have management teams with a proven track record for delivering top line growth and bottom line profits, but, in each situation, we will assess opportunities to improve a target’s management team and to recruit additional talent through our extensive network of contacts.

Competitive Strengths

We believe we have the following competitive strengths:

Status as a public company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through

41

a merger or other business combination. In this situation, the owners of the target business would exchange their shares of stock in the target business for shares of our stock or for a combination of shares of our stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses might find this method a more certain and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. In a typical initial public offering, there are additional expenses incurred in marketing, roadshow and public reporting efforts that will likely not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us. Furthermore, once the business combination is consummated, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, that could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests than it would have as a privately-held company. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

While we believe that our status as a public company will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view the inherent limitations in our status as a blank check company as a deterrent and may prefer to effect a business combination with a more established entity or with a private company. These inherent limitations include limitations on our available financial resources, which may be inferior to those of other entities pursuing the acquisition of similar target businesses; the requirement that we seek shareholder approval of a business combination, which may delay the consummation of a transaction; and the existence of our outstanding warrants, which may represent a source of future dilution.

Financial position

With a trust account initially in the amount of approximately $350,000,000 (or $402,500,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), we offer a target business a variety of options such as providing the owners of a target business with shares in a public company and a public means to sell such shares, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to consummate our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance that it will be available to us.

Management Expertise and Prior Blank Check Experience

We will seek to capitalize on the extensive experience and significant contacts of our executive officers in consummating an initial business combination.  Mark D. Ein, our Chief Executive Officer, has 24 years of private equity and venture capital investing experience, and L. Dyson Dryden, our President and Chief Financial Officer, has over 15 years of investment banking and investing experience.

Over the past eight years, Mr. Ein and Mr. Dryden have successfully executed two public acquisition vehicles.  Together, they also worked closely with a sponsor of a third public acquisition vehicle to successfully execute a third transaction.

Capitol I was a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in June 2007. Mr. Ein was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol I.  Capitol I completed its business combination with Two Harbors Investment Corp., or Two Harbors, a Maryland real estate investment trust, in October 2009. Two Harbors was a newly formed shell company established to focus on residential mortgage backed securities in partnership with Pine River Capital Management L.P. Capitol I’s prospectus for its initial public offering indicated that Capitol I would consummate a business combination with an operating business. In addition, certain other terms of the transaction did not comply with the guidelines established in Capitol I’s prospectus for its initial public offering. As a result, Capitol I stockholders were asked to approve various amendments from such offering terms to allow Capitol I to complete the transaction. In connection with the closing of the transaction, Capitol I entered into agreements with stockholders to purchase an aggregate of 5,994,661 shares of common stock upon closing of the transaction at a purchase price of $9.87 per share using funds held in its trust account. The ability to purchase shares using funds held in the trust account was also not disclosed in Capitol I’s prospectus for its initial public offering. We

42

currently do not anticipate deviating from the guidelines set forth in this prospectus, although it is possible that we may decide to do so at a later time if we determine that it is in the best interests of our stockholders to do so.

Mr. Ein played the lead role in Capitol I’s search for a target business and in consummating its business combination, including, among other things, assisting in identifying and evaluating numerous prospective target businesses, including the ultimate target, and the business plan presented by its control persons, and assisting in the solicitation of stockholder approval for such a transaction. While Mr. Ein did not evaluate the specific assets that Two Harbors anticipated acquiring prior to consummation of the business combination with Capitol I, nor has he evaluated the specific assets that Two Harbors has since acquired, Mr. Ein served as Vice-Chairman of the board of directors from October 2009 to May 2015. In addition, CLA Founders LLC, an entity controlled by Mr. Ein and for which he plays an active role, provided services as sub-manager to the manager of Two Harbors (PRCM Advisers LLC) pursuant to a Sub-Management Agreement that was entered into in connection with the transaction. Mr. Dryden served as Capitol I’s financial advisor throughout the search process and assisted with the execution of the Two Harbors transaction.

Capitol II was a special purpose acquisition company that completed its initial public offering in May 2013. Mr. Ein was the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer and Secretary and Mr. Dryden was Chief Financial Officer and Director of Capitol II.  Capitol II completed its business combination with Lindblad Expeditions, Inc. in July 2015.  Lindblad Expeditions provides expedition cruising and adventure travel experiences. Lindblad Expeditions works in partnership with National Geographic to inspire people to explore and care about the planet. The partnership’s educationally oriented voyages allow guests to interact with and learn from leading scientists, naturalists and researchers while discovering stunning natural environments, above and below the sea, through state-of-the-art exploration tools. Since the closing of the business combination, Mr. Ein continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board and Mr. Dryden as a member of the board of Lindblad Expeditions.

Messrs. Ein and Dryden together lead Capitol II’s search for a target business and in consummating its business combination, including, among other things, assisting in identifying and evaluating numerous prospective target businesses, including the ultimate target, and assisting in the solicitation of stockholder approval for such a transaction.

In 2015, Messrs. Ein and Dryden identified an opportunity with AgroFresh, the post-harvest specialty chemical business previously owned by The Dow Chemical Company. Messrs. Ein and Dryden introduced the AgroFresh opportunity and worked closely with the sponsor in support of its efforts to structure and consummate the transaction. Agrofresh’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol “AGFS” and its public warrants are traded on the [OTC Market] under the symbol “AGFSW”.

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Effecting a Business Combination

General

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any substantive commercial business for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of founders’ warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these in effecting a business combination. Although substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering and the private placement of founders’ warrants are intended to be applied generally toward effecting a business combination as described in this prospectus, the proceeds are not otherwise being designated for any more specific purposes. Accordingly, investors in this offering are investing without first having an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any one or more business combinations. A business combination may involve the acquisition of, or merger with, a company which does not need substantial additional capital but which desires to establish a public trading market for its shares, while avoiding what it may deem to be adverse consequences of undertaking a public offering itself. These include time delays, significant expense, loss of voting control and compliance with various federal and state securities laws. In the alternative, we may seek to consummate a business combination with a company that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth. While we may seek to effect simultaneous business combinations with more than one target business, we will probably have the ability, as a result of our limited resources, to effect only a single business combination.

We Have Not Identified a Target Business

To date, we have not selected any target business on which to concentrate our search for a business combination. None of our officers, directors, promoters and other affiliates has engaged in any substantive discussions on our behalf with representatives of other companies regarding the possibility of a potential merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination with us, nor have we, nor any of our agents or affiliates, been approached by any candidates (or representatives of any candidates) with respect to a possible business combination with our company. Additionally, we have not contacted any of the prospective target businesses that Capitol I or Capitol II, the only other blank check companies that our principals have been involved with, had considered and rejected. We do not currently intend to contact any of such targets; however, we may do so in the future if we become aware that the valuations, operations, profits or prospects of such target business, or the benefits of any potential transaction with such target business, would be attractive. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any measure, directly or indirectly, to identify or locate any suitable acquisition candidate, nor have we engaged or retained any agent or other representative to identify or locate such an acquisition candidate. We have also not conducted any research with respect to identifying the number and characteristics of the potential acquisition candidates. As a result, we cannot assure you that we will be able to locate a target business or that we will be able to engage in a business combination with a target business on favorable terms or at all.

We will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective acquisition candidate. We have not established any other specific attributes or criteria (financial or otherwise) for prospective target businesses. Accordingly, there is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete a business combination. To the extent we effect a business combination with a financially unstable company or an entity in its early stage of development or growth, including entities without established records of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business and operations of financially unstable and early stage or potential emerging growth companies. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

Sources of Target Businesses

While we have not yet identified any acquisition candidates, we believe based on our management’s business knowledge and past experience that there are numerous acquisition candidates. We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers, venture capital funds, private equity funds, leveraged buyout funds, management buyout funds and other members of the financial community. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses they think we may be interested in on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this prospectus and

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know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our sponsors, officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions and must present target business opportunities that have a fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income accrued in the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations the sponsors, officer or director may have. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. In no event, however, will our sponsors, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is) other than the $10,000 administrative services fee, the repayment of the $200,000 loan from an affiliate of our chief executive officer, payment of consulting or success fees to our officers, directors or consultants or their affiliates at or prior to the consummation of an initial business combination in an amount not to exceed an aggregate of $_______ and reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses. Our board of directors will review and approve all reimbursements and payments made to our sponsors, officers, directors or our or their respective affiliates, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval. We have no present intention to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with any of our officers, directors or sponsors. However, we are not restricted from entering into any such transactions and may do so if (i) such transaction is approved by a majority of our disinterested independent directors and (ii) we obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view.

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of a Business Combination

Subject to the limitations that a target business have a fair market value of at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, as described below in more detail, and that we must acquire a controlling interest in the target business, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective target business. Except for the general criteria and guidelines set forth above under the caption “Business Strategy,” we have not established any specific attributes or criteria (financial or otherwise) for prospective target businesses.  In evaluating a prospective target business, our management may consider a variety of factors, including one or more of the following:

         financial condition and results of operation;

         growth potential;

         brand recognition and potential;

         experience and skill of management and availability of additional personnel;

         capital requirements;

         competitive position;

         barriers to entry;

         stage of development of the products, processes or services;

         existing distribution and potential for expansion;

         degree of current or potential market acceptance of the products, processes or services;

         proprietary aspects of products and the extent of intellectual property or other protection for products or formulas;

         impact of regulation on the business;

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         regulatory environment of the industry;

         costs associated with effecting the business combination;

         industry leadership, sustainability of market share and attractiveness of market industries in which a target business participates; and

         macro competitive dynamics in the industry within which the company competes.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular business combination will be based, to the extent relevant, on the above factors as well as other considerations deemed relevant by our management in effecting a business combination consistent with our business objective. In evaluating a prospective target business, we will conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and inspection of facilities, as well as review of financial and other information which is made available to us. This due diligence review will be conducted either by our management or by unaffiliated third parties we may engage, although we have no current intention to engage any such third parties.

The time and costs required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete the business combination cannot presently be ascertained with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which a business combination is not ultimately completed will result in a loss to us and reduce the amount of capital available to otherwise complete a business combination.

Fair Market Value of Target Business

The target business or businesses that we acquire must collectively have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance of the funds in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination, although we may acquire a target business whose fair market value significantly exceeds 80% of the trust account balance.

We currently anticipate structuring a business combination to acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination where we merge directly with the target business or where we acquire less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders 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. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. 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 could 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 valued for purposes of the 80% of trust account balance test.  In order to consummate such an acquisition, we may issue a significant amount of our debt or equity securities to the sellers of such businesses and/or seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities. Since we have no specific business combination under consideration, we have not entered into any such fund raising arrangement and have no current intention of doing so. The fair market value of the target 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). The proxy solicitation materials used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of the fair market value of the target business, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board is not able to independently determine that the target business has a sufficient fair market value, we will obtain an opinion from an unaffiliated, independent investment banking firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.

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We will not be required to obtain an opinion from an investment banking firm as to the fair market value if our board of directors independently determines that the target business complies with the 80% threshold.

Prior to approval of a business combination, our board of directors will determine whether the transaction is fair to and in the best interests of us and our stockholders. We will disclose the basis of our board of director’s determination in the proxy solicitation materials distributed to stockholders in connection with the business combination.

Lack of Business Diversification

We may seek to effect a business combination with more than one target business, and there is no required minimum valuation standard for any target at the time of such acquisition. We expect to complete only a single business combination, although this process may entail the simultaneous acquisitions of several operating businesses. Therefore, at least initially, the prospects for our success may be entirely dependent upon the future performance of a single business operation. Unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations of entities operating in multiple industries or multiple areas of a single industry, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses. By consummating a business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

         subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industry in which we may operate subsequent to a business combination, and

         result in our dependency upon the performance of a single operating business or the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processes or services.

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses and such businesses 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 acquisitions, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete the business combination. With multiple acquisitions, 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.

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target Business’ Management

Although we intend to scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting a business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of the target business’ management will prove to be correct. In addition, we cannot assure you that the future management will have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of our officers and directors, if any, in the target business following a business combination cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that some of our key personnel will remain associated in senior management or advisory positions with us following a business combination, it is unlikely that they will devote their full time efforts to our affairs subsequent to a business combination. Moreover, they would only be able to remain with the company after the consummation of a business combination if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for them to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to the company after the consummation of the business combination. While the personal and financial interests of our key personnel may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business, their ability to remain with the company after the consummation of a business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. Additionally, we cannot assure you that our officers and directors will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

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

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Stockholder Approval of Business Combination

In connection with any proposed business combination, we will seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, less any taxes then due but not yet paid, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per share. We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination.

Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed (i) to vote any shares owned by them in favor of any proposed business combination and (ii) not to convert any shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve a proposed initial business combination. No minimum number of public shares is required to be voted in favor of a business combination. Because a business combination may be approved by a majority of the outstanding shares voted, under certain circumstances a business combination could be approved without the affirmative vote of any of our public shares. Notwithstanding, all of our public stockholders will have the right to convert their shares into cash in connection with a business combination, as described elsewhere in this prospectus.

Voting Restrictions in Connection with Stockholder Meeting

In connection with any vote for a proposed business combination, our sponsors, as well as all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote the shares of common stock owned by them immediately before this offering as well as any shares of common stock acquired in this offering or in the aftermarket in favor of such proposed business combination. None of our officers, directors, sponsors or their affiliates has indicated any intention to purchase units in this offering or any units or shares of common stock from persons in the open market or in private transactions. However, if a significant number of stockholders votes, or indicates an intention to vote, against such proposed business combination, our officers, directors, sponsors or their affiliates could make such purchases in the open market or in private transactions in order to influence the vote. The purpose of such arrangements would be to increase the likelihood of satisfaction of the requirements that the holders of a majority of our shares of common stock outstanding vote in favor of a proposed business combination and that we have at least $5 million of net tangible assets upon consummation of such business combination where it appears that such requirements would otherwise not be met. All shares purchased by our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates would be voted in favor of the proposed business combination. No such arrangements currently exist.

Conversion Rights

In connection with any proposed initial business combination, public stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, less any taxes then due but not yet paid.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares of common stock sold in this offering. Such a public stockholder would still be entitled to vote against a proposed business combination with respect to all shares of common stock owned by him or his affiliates. We believe this restriction will prevent stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares before the vote held to approve a proposed business combination and attempt to use the conversion right as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then current market price. By limiting a stockholder’s ability to convert no more than 20% of the shares of common stock sold in this offering, we believe we have limited the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block a transaction which is favored by our other public stockholders.

Our stockholders prior to this offering will not have conversion rights with respect to any shares of common stock owned by them, directly or indirectly, whether acquired prior to this offering or purchased by them in this offering or in the aftermarket.

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We may also require public stockholders, whether they are a record holder or hold their shares in “street name,” to either (i) tender their certificates to our transfer agent or (ii) deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case prior to a date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials sent in connection with the proposal to approve the business combination.

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced delivery process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $45.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise conversion rights. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising conversion rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated. However, in the event we require stockholders seeking to exercise conversion rights prior to the consummation of the proposed business combination and the proposed business combination is not consummated this may result in an increased cost to stockholders.

The proxy solicitation materials that we will furnish to stockholders in connection with the vote for any proposed business combination will indicate whether we are requiring stockholders to satisfy such certification and delivery requirements. Accordingly, a stockholder would have from the time the stockholder received our proxy statement up until the expiration date set forth in the tender offer documents or the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination to deliver his shares if he wishes to seek to exercise his conversion rights. This time period varies depending on the specific facts of each transaction. However, as the delivery process can be accomplished by the stockholder, whether or not he is a record holder or his shares are held in “street name,” in a matter of hours by simply contacting the transfer agent or his broker and requesting delivery of his shares through the DWAC System, we believe this time period is sufficient for an average investor. However, we cannot assure you of this fact. Please see the risk factor titled “We may require stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to comply with specific requirements for conversion that may make it more difficult for them to exercise their conversion rights prior to the deadline for exercising their rights” for further information on the risks of failing to comply with these requirements.

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

Any request to convert such shares once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the vote on the proposed business combination. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share of common stock delivered his certificate in connection with an election of their conversion and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, he may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically).

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

Liquidation if No Business Combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering to complete an initial business combination. If we have not completed an initial business combination by such date, 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 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share

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price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any interest but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete a business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their shares of 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 not previously released to us but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, 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 100% of our outstanding public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of 100% of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidation distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidation distribution. If we are unable to complete a business combination within the prescribed time frame, 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 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any interest but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month, and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, Section 281(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law 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 subsequent ten years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses.

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We are required to have all third parties (including any vendors or other entities we engage after this offering) and any prospective target businesses enter into agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account. As a result, the claims that could be made against us will be limited, thereby lessening the likelihood that any claim would result in any liability extending to the trust. We therefore believe that any necessary provision for creditors will be reduced and should not have a significant impact on our ability to distribute the funds in the trust account to our public stockholders. Nevertheless, we cannot assure you of this fact as there is no guarantee that vendors, service providers and prospective target businesses will execute such agreements. Nor is there any guarantee that, even if they execute such agreements with us, they will not seek recourse against the trust account. Our executive officers have agreed that they will be personally liable to pay debts and obligations to target businesses or vendors or other entities that are owed money by us for services rendered or contracted for or products sold to us, but we cannot assure you that they will be able to satisfy their indemnification obligations if they are required to do so. Additionally the agreement they entered into by our executive officers specifically provides for two exceptions to the personal indemnity they have given: they will have no personal liability (1) as to any claimed amounts owed to a target business or vendor or other entity who has executed an agreement with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in or to any monies held in the trust account, or (2) as to any claims for indemnification by the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. As a result, if we liquidate, the per-share distribution from the trust account could be less than $10.00 due to claims or potential claims of creditors. We will distribute to all of our public stockholders, in proportion to their respective equity interests, an aggregate sum equal to the amount in the trust account, inclusive of any interest, plus any remaining net assets (subject to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors as described below).

We anticipate notifying the trustee of the trust account to begin liquidating such assets promptly after such date and anticipate it will take no more than 10 business days to effectuate such distribution. Our sponsors have waived their rights to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to their founders’ shares. There will be no distribution from the trust account with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless. We will pay the costs of any subsequent liquidation from our remaining assets outside of the trust account and from the up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment in the event the size of the offering changes as a result of the underwriters’ exercise of any portion of the over-allotment option or if we otherwise decide to change the size of this offering, in interest income on the balance of the trust account (net of franchise and income tax obligations) that will be released to us to fund our working capital requirements. If such funds are insufficient, our executive officers have agreed to pay the funds necessary to complete such liquidation (currently anticipated to be no more than approximately $15,000) and have agreed not to seek repayment of such expenses.

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination and expend all of the net proceeds of this offering, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the initial per-share redemption price would be $10.00. The per share redemption price includes the deferred commissions that would also be distributable to our public stockholders. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to claims of our creditors that are in preference to the claims of public stockholders.

Our public stockholders shall be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of our failure to complete a business combination within the required time period or if the stockholders seek to have us convert or purchase their respective shares upon a business combination which is actually completed by us. In no other circumstances shall a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return to our public stockholders at least $10.00 per share.

If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us which is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.”  As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, because we intend to distribute the proceeds held in the trust account to our public stockholders promptly after twenty four months from the date of this prospectus, this may be viewed or interpreted as giving preference to our public stockholders over any potential creditors with respect to

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access to or distributions from our assets.  Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of a majority of our stockholders. If we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholder’s rights or pre-business combination activity prior to a business combination, we will provide dissenting public stockholders with the opportunity to convert their public shares in connection with any such vote. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person. Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed to waive any conversion rights with respect to any insider shares and any public shares they may hold in connection with any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:

         prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, we shall seek stockholder approval of an initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to convert their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, less any franchise and income taxes then due but not yet paid, subject to the limitations described herein;

         we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon such consummation and, solely if we seek stockholder approval, a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination;

         if our initial business combination is not consummated within 24 months from the closing of this offering, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account and any net assets remaining outside the trust account on a pro rata basis to all of our public stockholders;

         upon the consummation of this offering, $350.0 million, or $402.5 million if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, shall be placed into the trust account;

         we may not consummate any other business combination, merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction prior to our initial business combination; and

         prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional stock that participates in any manner in the proceeds of the trust account, or that votes as a class with the common stock sold in this offering on an initial business combination.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation also provides that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than us and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there may be numerous potential target businesses that we could acquire with the net proceeds of this offering, our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses may be limited by our available financial resources.

The following also may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses:

         our obligation to seek stockholder approval of a business combination may delay the completion of a transaction;

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         our obligation to convert or repurchase shares of common stock held by our public stockholders may reduce the resources available to us for a business combination; and

         our outstanding warrants, and the potential future dilution they represent.

Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. Our management believes, however, that our status as a public entity and potential access to the United States public equity markets may give us a competitive advantage over privately-held entities having a similar business objective as ours in acquiring a target business with significant growth potential on favorable terms.

If we succeed in effecting a business combination, there will be, in all likelihood, intense competition from competitors of the target business. We cannot assure you that, subsequent to a business combination, we will have the resources or ability to compete effectively.

Facilities

We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 509 7th Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20004.  We also maintain an office in New York, New York.  The cost for these spaces is included in the $10,000 per-month aggregate fee Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC will charge us for general and administrative services commencing on the effective date of this prospectus pursuant to a letter agreement between us and such entities. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in D.C. and New York, New York area, that the fee charged by Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC  is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. We consider our current office space, combined with the other office space otherwise available to our executive officers, adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters and intend to devote only as much time as they deem necessary to our affairs. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for the business combination and the stage of the business combination process the company is in. Accordingly, once a suitable target business to acquire has been located, management will spend more time investigating such target business and negotiating and processing the business combination (and consequently spend more time on our affairs) than had been spent prior to locating a suitable target business. We presently expect our executive officers to devote such amount of time as they reasonably believe is necessary to our business. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the consummation of a business combination.

Periodic Reporting and Audited Financial Statements

We have registered our units, common stock and warrants under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual report will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of any proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. These financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with or reconciled to United States generally accepted accounting principles or international financial reporting standards. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have the necessary financial statements. To the extent that this requirement cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business.

We may be required to have our internal control procedures audited for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

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Legal Proceedings

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such, and we and the members of our management team have not been subject to any such proceeding in the 12 months preceding the date of this prospectus.

Comparison to Offerings of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

The following table compares and contrasts the terms of our offering and the terms of an offering of blank check companies under Rule 419 promulgated by the SEC assuming that the gross proceeds, underwriting discounts and underwriting expenses for the Rule 419 offering are the same as this offering and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the terms of a Rule 419 offering will apply to this offering because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful consummation of this offering and will file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact

 

 

Terms of the Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds

 

$350,000,000 of the net offering proceeds including the $8,750,000 we will receive from the sale of the founders’ warrants (subject to adjustment if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option) will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account at________, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee

 

$308,700,000 of the offering proceeds would be required to be deposited into either an escrow account with an insured depositary institution or in a separate bank account established by a broker-dealer in which the broker-dealer acts as trustee for persons having the beneficial interests in the account.

 

 

 

 

 

Investment of net proceeds

 

The $350,000,000 of net offering proceeds including the $8,750,000 we will receive from the sale of the founders’ warrants (subject to adjustment if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option) held in trust will only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act with a maturity of 180 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.

 

Proceeds could be invested only in specified securities such as a money market fund meeting conditions of the Investment Company Act or in securities that are direct obligations of, or obligations guaranteed as to principal or interest by, the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination.

 

We would be restricted from acquiring a target business unless the fair value of such business or net assets to be acquired represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

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Terms of the Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Trading of securities issued

 

The units may commence trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The shares of common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin to trade separately on the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus unless Citigroup Global Markets Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, provided we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K, which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the proceeds of this offering, including any proceeds we receive from the exercise of the over-allotment option, if such option is exercised prior to the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K. If the over-allotment option is exercised after the initial filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, we will file an amendment to the Form 8-K to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise and consummation of the over-allotment option. We will also include in this Form 8-K, an amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Form 8-K, information indicating if Citigroup Global Markets Inc. has allowed separate trading of the shares of common stock and warrants prior to the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus.

 

No trading of the units or the underlying shares of common stock and warrants would be permitted until the completion of a business combination. During this period, the securities would be held in the escrow or trust account.

 

 

 

 

 

Exercise of the warrants

 

The warrants cannot be exercised until the later of 30 days after the completion of a business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering and, accordingly, will be exercised only after the trust account has been terminated and distributed

 

The warrants could be exercised prior to the completion of a business combination, but securities received and cash paid in connection with the exercise would be deposited in the escrow or trust account.

 

 

 

 

 

Election to remain an investor

 

We will give our stockholders the opportunity to vote on the business combination and will send each stockholder a proxy statement containing information required by the SEC.

 

A prospectus containing information required by the SEC would be sent to each investor. Each investor would be given the opportunity to notify the company, in writing, within a period of no less than 20 business days and no more than 45 business days from the effective date of the post-effective amendment, to decide whether he or she elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his or her investment. If the company has not received the notification by the end of the 45th business day, funds and interest or dividends, if any, held in the trust or escrow account would automatically be returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all of the deposited funds in the escrow account must be returned to all investors and none of the securities will be issued.

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Terms of the Offering

 

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Business combination deadline

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this 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 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including any interest but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

If an acquisition has not been consummated within 18 months after the effective date of the initial registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account would be returned to investors.

 

 

 

 

 

Interest earned on the funds in the trust
account

 

There can be released to us, from time to time, any interest earned on the funds in the trust account (i) that we may need to pay our franchise and income tax obligations and (ii) any remaining interest up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment as described herein, that we need for our working capital requirements. The remaining interest earned on the funds in the trust account will not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation upon failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

All interest earned on the funds in the trust account will be held in trust for the benefit of public stockholders until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation upon failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

 

 

 

 

Release of funds

 

Except for (i) any amounts that we may need to pay our franchise and income tax obligations and (ii) any remaining interest up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment as described herein, that we may need for our working capital requirements that may be released to us from the interest earned on the trust account balance, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination and our liquidation upon failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

 

The proceeds held in the escrow account would not be released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

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MANAGEMENT

Directors and Executive Officers

Our current directors and executive officers are as follows:

Name

 

Age

 

Position

Mark D. Ein

 

50

 

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director

L. Dyson Dryden

 

40

 

President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Secretary and Director

[Director]

 

 

 

Director

[Director]

 

 

 

Director

[Director]

 

 

 

Director

Mark D. Ein has served as our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Director since our inception. Mr. Ein is an investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, who has created, acquired, invested in and built a series of growth companies across a diverse set of industries over the course of his 22 year career. From August 2010 to July 2015, Mr. Ein was the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer and Secretary of Capitol II, a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company.  Capitol II completed its business combination with Lindblad Expeditions, Inc. in July 2015.  Since the closing of the business combination, Mr. Ein has continued to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Capitol II (now renamed Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc.).  From June 2007 to October 2009, Mr. Ein was the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Capitol I, a blank check company formed for substantially similar purposes as our company. Capitol I completed its business combination with Two Harbors Investment Corp., a Maryland real estate investment trust, in October 2009. From October 2009 to May 2015, Mr. Ein served as the Non-Executive Vice Chairman of Two Harbor’s board of directors. Mr. Ein is the Founder of Venturehouse Group, LLC, a holding company that creates, invests in and builds companies, and has served as its Chief Executive Officer since 1999. Venturehouse’s portfolio includes or has included the seed investment in Matrics Technologies in August 2000 (sold to Symbol Technologies in September 2004), the lead investment in the buyout of Cibernet Corporation from the CTIA in March 2003 (sold to MACH S.à.r.l. in April 2007), the acquisition of VSGi from Net2000 Communications, and an early investment in XM Satellite Radio. He has also been the President of Leland Investments Inc., a private investment firm, since 2005. Mr. Ein is Co-Chairman of Kastle Holding Company LLC, which through its subsidiaries conducts the business of Kastle Systems, LLC, a provider of building and office security systems that was acquired in January 2007. An entity owned by Mr. Ein is also the majority owner and managing member of Kastle Holding Company LLC. In 2008, Mr. Ein founded and is the owner of the Washington Kastles, the World Team Tennis franchise in Washington, D.C., that has won the league championship for the last four seasons and five times in its seven years in the league.  Previously in his career, Mr. Ein worked for The Carlyle Group, Brentwood Associates, and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Ein is the Chairman of the Board of VSGi. Since August 2013, he has also been a member of the board of directors of AgroFresh Solutions, Inc., a Nasdaq listed provider of innovative data-driven specialty solutions aimed at enabling growers and packers of fresh produce to preserve and enhance the freshness, quality and value of fresh produce and to maximize the percentage of produce supplied to the market relative to the amount of produce grown. Mr. Ein is also the Chairman of the Board of the District of Columbia Public Education Fund and also serves on the board of directors of the United States Tennis Association, The District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP), and the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He was appointed by Mayor Vincent Gray to be a member of the D.C. Tax Revision Commission and also serves on the Executive Committee of the Federal City Council. Mr. Ein received a B.S. in Economics with a concentration in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

We believe Mr. Ein is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to his public company experience, business leadership, operational experience, and experience in prior blank check offerings, such as Capitol I and Capitol II.

L. Dyson Dryden has served as our President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors since our inception.  From March 2013 to July 2015, Mr. Dryden served as the Chief Financial Officer and a Director of Capitol II.  Mr. Dryden has continued to serve as a director of Lindblad Expeditions since the closing of its business combination.  Mr. Dryden is also the founder of Dryden Capital Management, LLC, a private investment firm that invests in and builds private companies, and has served as its President since March 2013. From

57

August 2005 to February 2013, Mr. Dryden worked in Citigroup’s Investment Banking division in New York, most recently as a Managing Director where he led the coverage effort for a number of the firm’s Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications clients. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Dryden held the titles of Associate and Vice President at Jefferies & Company, a middle market investment banking firm. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Dryden worked in the investment banking group at BB&T Corporation. Mr. Dryden holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a dual concentration in finance and management from the University of Richmond.

We believe Mr. Dryden is well-qualified to serve as a member of the board due to his public company experience and experience in prior blank check offerings, such as Capitol I and Capitol II.

[Director]

[Director]

[Director]

Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of __________ and __________, will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of L. Dyson Dryden and __________, will expire at the second annual meeting. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Mark D. Ein, will expire at the third annual meeting.

Executive Compensation

No executive officer has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date of this prospectus through the acquisition of a target business, we will pay Venturehouse Group, LLC, an affiliate of Mark D. Ein, and Dryden Capital Management, LLC, an affiliate of L. Dyson Dryden, an aggregate fee of $10,000 per month for providing us with office space and certain office and secretarial services. However, this arrangement is solely for our benefit and is not intended to provide Messrs. Ein or Dryden compensation in lieu of a salary.

In connection with consummating an initial business combination, we may pay consulting or success fees to our officers, directors or consultants or their affiliates in an amount not to exceed an aggregate of $_______.

Other than the $10,000 per month administrative fee and the consulting or success fees referred to above, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s, consulting fees and other similar fees, will be paid to our sponsors, members of our management team or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us.

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. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider an 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.

Director Independence

Currently Messrs. _________, __________ and _________ would each be considered an “independent director” under the Nasdaq listing rules, which 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.

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Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Any affiliated transactions will be on terms no less favorable to us than could be obtained from independent parties. Our board of directors will review and approve all affiliated transactions with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.

Audit Committee

Effective upon the date of this prospectus, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors, which will consist of Messrs. _________, __________ and _________, each of whom is an independent director under Nasdaq’s listing standards. The audit committee’s duties, which are specified in our Audit Committee Charter, include, but are not limited to:

         reviewing and discussing with management and the independent auditor the annual audited financial statements, and recommending to the board whether the audited financial statements should be included in our Form 10-K;

         discussing with management and the independent auditor significant financial reporting issues and judgments made in connection with the preparation of our financial statements;

         discussing with management major risk assessment and risk management policies;

         monitoring the independence of the independent auditor;

         verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law;

         reviewing and approving all related-party transactions;

         inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

         pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent auditor, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed;

         appointing or replacing the independent auditor;

         determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent auditor (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work;

         establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies; and

         approving reimbursement of expenses incurred by our management team in identifying potential target businesses.

Financial Experts on Audit Committee

The audit committee will at all times be composed exclusively of “independent directors” who are “financially literate” as defined under Nasdaq’s listing standards. Nasdaq’s standards define “financially literate” as being able to read and understand fundamental financial statements, including a company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement.

In addition, we must certify to Nasdaq that the committee has, and will continue to have, at least one member who has past employment experience in finance or accounting, requisite professional certification in accounting, or other comparable experience or background that results in the individual’s financial sophistication. The board of directors has determined that _________ qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined under rules and regulations of the SEC.

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Nominating Committee

Effective upon the date of this prospectus, we will establish a nominating committee of the board of directors, which will consist of Messrs. _________, __________ and _________, each of whom is an independent director under Nasdaq’s listing standards. The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, stockholders, investment bankers and others.

Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees

The guidelines for selecting nominees, which are specified in the Nominating Committee Charter, generally provide that persons to be nominated:

         should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service;

         should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and

         should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the stockholders.

The Nominating Committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by stockholders and other persons.

Compensation Committee

Effective upon the date of this prospectus, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors, which will consist of Messrs. _________, __________ and _________, each of whom is an independent director under Nasdaq’s listing standards. The compensation committee’s duties, which are specified in our Compensation Committee Charter, include, but are not limited to:

         reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Chief Executive Officer’s compensation, evaluating our Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our Chief Executive Officer based on such evaluation;

         reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other executive officers;

         reviewing 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 executive 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.

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Code of Ethics

Effective upon consummation of this offering, we will adopt a code of ethics that applies to all of our executive officers, directors and employees. The code of ethics codifies the business and ethical principles that govern all aspects of our business.

Conflicts of Interest

Investors should be aware of the following potential conflicts of interest:

         None of our officers and directors is required to commit their full time to our affairs and, accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities.

         In the course of their other business activities, our sponsors, officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to our company as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our officers and directors may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented but barring such a conflict, must present target business opportunities that have a fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned in the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination, subject to any pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations.

         Our officers and directors may in the future become affiliated with entities, including other blank check companies, engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by our company.

         Unless we consummate our initial business combination, our officers, directors and sponsors will not receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them to the extent that such expenses exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the amount of interest income from the trust account that may be released to us as working capital.

         The founders’ shares beneficially owned by our officers and directors will be released from escrow only if a business combination is successfully completed, and the founders’ warrants purchased by our sponsors, and any warrants which our officers or directors may purchase in the aftermarket will expire worthless if a business combination is not consummated. Additionally, our officers and directors will not receive liquidation distributions with respect to any of their founders’ shares. Furthermore, our sponsors has agreed that the founders’ warrants will not be sold or transferred by it until after we have completed a business combination. For the foregoing reasons, our board may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate to effect a business combination with.

In addition to the foregoing, Leland Investments, through its personnel including Mr. Ein, provides management services to Kastle Acquisition LLC and its subsidiaries, which provides building security products and services. These services include strategic, marketing and financial advisory, consulting and other oversight services in relation to Kastle Acquisition’s operations. The agreement with Kastle Acquisition contains a non-competition clause that generally provides that neither Leland Investments, Mr. Ein nor any entity that he controls shall directly and materially compete with the business of Kastle Acquisition and its subsidiaries. Accordingly, we generally will not be able to acquire a target business that is in the same line of business that Kastle Acquisition and its subsidiaries are in.

In general, officers and directors of a corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware are required to present business opportunities to a corporation if:

         the corporation could financially undertake the opportunity;

         the opportunity is within the corporation’s line of business; and

         it would not be fair to the corporation and its stockholders for the opportunity not to be brought to the attention of the corporation.

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our officers and directors may have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. In addition,

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conflicts of interest may arise when our board evaluates a particular business opportunity with respect to the above-listed criteria. We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

As discussed above, Mark D. Ein has pre-existing contractual obligations to Kastle Acquisition LLC restricting his ability to directly and materially compete with the business of Kastle Acquisition and its subsidiaries. Accordingly, we generally will not be able to acquire a target business that is in the same line of business that Kastle Acquisition and its subsidiaries are in. He also has a pre-existing fiduciary obligation to each of MACH, Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. and AgroFresh Solutions, Inc., of which he is a director. MACH is a global provider of clearing and settlement services for the mobile phone industry. Lindblad provides expedition cruising and adventure travel experiences. L. Dyson Dryden also has a pre-existing fiduciary obligation to Lindblad of which he is a director. These affiliations represent the only relevant pre-existing fiduciary obligations of our officers and directors. As a result of these existing affiliations, such entities may take priority and preference over us with respect to the performance of our officers’ and directors’ obligations and their presentation of potential business combination transactions. In addition, our officers have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any blank check company until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering.

If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsors, as well as all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote any shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, they have agreed to waive their respective rights to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to their founders’ shares of common stock. If they purchase shares of common stock as part of this offering or in the open market, however, they would be entitled to participate in any liquidation distribution in respect of such shares but have agreed not to convert or sell such shares to us in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination.

All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by a majority of our uninterested “independent” directors or the members of our board who do not have an interest in the transaction, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our disinterested “independent” directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.  

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 officers, directors or sponsors including (i) an entity that is either a portfolio company of, or has otherwise received a material financial investment from, any private equity fund or investment company (or an affiliate thereof) that is affiliated with any of the foregoing, (ii) an entity in which any of the foregoing or their affiliates are currently passive investors, (iii) an entity in which any of the foregoing or their affiliates are currently officers or directors, or (iv) an entity in which any of the foregoing or their affiliates are currently invested through an investment vehicle controlled by them, unless we have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm and the approval of a majority of our disinterested independent directors that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view. Furthermore, in no event will any of our sponsors, members of our management team or their respective affiliates be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other similar compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is) other than the $10,000 administrative services fee, repayment of the $200,000 loan from an affiliate of our chief executive officer, the up to $____ of consulting or success fees payable to our officers, directors, consultants or their affiliates and reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses.

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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our shares of common stock as of the date of this prospectus and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our shares of common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus (assuming none of the individuals listed purchase units in this offering), 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.

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 the founders’ warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.

 

 

Prior to Offering

 

After Offering(2)

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)

 

Amount and Nature of Beneficial Ownership

 

Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Shares of common stock

 

Amount and Nature of Beneficial Ownership

 

Approximate Percentage of Outstanding Ordinary Shares

Mark D. Ein

 

7,546,875

(3)

 

75.0

%

 

6,562,500

(3)

 

15.0

%

L. Dyson Dryden

 

2,515,625

(4)

 

25.0

%

 

2,187,500

(4)

 

5.0

%

[Director]

 

0

 

 

0

 

 

0

 

 

0

 

[Director]

 

0

 

 

0

 

 

0

 

 

0

 

[Director]

 

0

 

 

0

 

 

0

 

 

0

 

Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC

 

7,546,875

 

 

75.0

%

 

6,562,500

 

 

15.0

%

Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC

 

2,515,625

 

 

25.0

%

 

2,187,500

 

 

5.0

%

All directors and executive officers as a group (five individuals)

 

10,062,500

 

 

100.0

%

 

8,750,000

 

 

20.0

%

____________

*         Less than 1%.

(1)      Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each of the individuals is 509 7th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004.

(2)      Assumes no exercise of the over-allotment option and, therefore, the forfeiture of an aggregate of 1,312,500 shares of common stock held by our sponsors.

(3)      Includes shares held by Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC, of which Leland Investments Inc., an entity controlled by Mr. Ein, is the sole member.

(4)      Includes shares held by Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC, of which Mr. Dryden is the sole member.

Immediately after this offering, our sponsors, officers and directors will beneficially own 20.0% of the then issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming they do not purchase any units offered by this prospectus). None of our sponsors, officers and directors has indicated to us that it or they intend to purchase our securities in the offering. Because of the ownership block held by our sponsors, officers and directors, such individuals may be able to effectively exercise influence over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions other than approval of our initial business combination.

If the underwriters do not exercise all or a portion of the over-allotment option, an aggregate of 1,312,500 founders’ shares will be forfeited. Only a number of shares necessary to maintain the collective 20% ownership interest in our shares of common stock after giving effect to the offering and the exercise, if any, of the underwriters’ over-allotment option will be necessary.

All of the founders’ shares outstanding prior to the date of this prospectus will be placed in escrow with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as escrow agent, until one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our business combination, (i) the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period after our initial business combination or (ii) we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all

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of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Up to 1,312,500 of the founders’ shares may also be released from escrow earlier than this date for cancellation if the over-allotment option is not exercised in full as described above. All of the founders’ shares may be released from escrow earlier than as described above if within that time period, we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

During the escrow period, the holders of these shares will not be able to sell or transfer their securities except for transfers, assignments or sales (i) to our officers, directors, consultants or their affiliates, (ii) to an entity’s members upon its liquidation, (iii) to relatives and trusts for estate planning purposes, (iv) by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death, (v) pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (vi) to us for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, or (vii) in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, in each case (except for clause (vi)) where the transferee agrees to the terms of the escrow agreement and to be bound by these transfer restrictions, but will retain all other rights as our stockholders, including, without limitation, the right to vote their shares of common stock and the right to receive cash dividends, if declared. If dividends are declared and payable in shares of common stock, such dividends will also be placed in escrow. If we are unable to effect a business combination and liquidate, there will be no liquidation distribution with respect to the founders’ shares.

Our sponsors, officers and directors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase the founders’ warrants (for a total purchase price of $8,750,000) from us. These purchases will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant an additional number of founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. The founders’ warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in this offering except that the founders’ warrants: (i) will not be redeemable by us and (ii) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, as described in this prospectus, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees. If the founders’ warrants are held by holders other than the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees, the founders’ warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. The initial purchasers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founders’ warrants, including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the founders’ warrants (except in connection with the same limited exceptions that the founders’ shares may be transferred as described above), until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering, our sponsors, officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at holder’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the founders’ warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, the loans will be forgiven.

Mark D. Ein and L. Dyson Dryden are our “promoters,” as that term is defined under the federal securities laws.

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CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS

In July 2015, we issued 10,062,500 shares of common stock to Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC and Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC for $25,000 in cash, at a purchase price of approximately $0.002 per share, in connection with our organization.  Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC and Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC subsequently transferred a portion of these shares to our independent directors for no consideration.

If the underwriters do not exercise all or a portion of their over-allotment option, our initial stockholders prior to this offering will forfeit up to an aggregate of 1,312,500 shares of common stock in proportion to the portion of the over-allotment option that was not exercised.

If the underwriters determine the size of the offering should be increased (including pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act) or decreased, a share dividend or a contribution back to capital, as applicable, would be effectuated in order to maintain our initial stockholders’ ownership at a percentage of the number of shares to be sold in this offering.

Our sponsors, officers and directors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase, pursuant to a written subscription agreement with us and Graubard Miller, as escrow agent, the 8,750,000 founders’ warrants (for a total purchase price of $8,750,000) from us. This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of this offering. Our sponsors and directors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase from us at a price of $1.00 per founders’ warrant an additional number of founders’ warrants (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 founders’ warrants) necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. These additional founders’ warrants will be purchased in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the purchase of units resulting from the exercise of the over-allotment option. We believe the purchase price of the founders’ warrants is greater than the fair value of such warrants and therefore will not result in any share-based compensation expense. The purchase price for the founders’ warrants will be delivered to Graubard Miller, our counsel in connection with this offering, who will also be acting solely as escrow agent in connection with the private sale of founders’ warrants, at least 24 hours prior to the closing of this offering. Graubard Miller will deposit the purchase price into the trust account simultaneously with the consummation of the offering. The founders’ warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units sold in this offering except that the founders’ warrants: (i) will not be redeemable by us and (ii) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, as described in this prospectus, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees. If the founders’ warrants are held by holders other than the initial purchasers or any of their permitted transferees, the founders’ warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. The initial purchasers of the founders’ warrants have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founders’ warrants, including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the founders’ warrants (except to certain permitted transferees), until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

In order to meet our working capital needs following the consummation of this offering, our sponsors, officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds, from time to time or at any time, in whatever amount they deem reasonable in their sole discretion. Each loan would be evidenced by a promissory note. The notes would either be paid upon consummation of our initial business combination, without interest, or, at holder’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of the notes may be converted into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the founders’ warrants. If we do not complete a business combination, the loans will be forgiven.

The holders of our founders’ shares issued and outstanding on the date of this prospectus, as well as the holders of the founders’ warrants and any warrants our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates may be issued in payment of working capital loans made to us (and all underlying securities), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. The holders of a majority of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands that we register such securities. The holders of the majority of the founders’ shares can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which these shares of common stock are to be released from escrow. The holders of a majority of the founders’ warrants or warrants issued in payment of working capital loans made to us (or underlying securities) can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after we consummate a business combination. In addition, the

65

holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our consummation of a business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

As of the date of this prospectus, Leland Investments Inc. has loaned us an aggregate of $200,000 to cover expenses related to this offering. The loan will be payable without interest on the consummation of this offering. We intend to repay this loan from the proceeds of this offering not being placed in trust.

Venturehouse Group, LLC, an affiliate of Mark D. Ein, and Dryden Capital Management, LLC, an affiliate of L. Dyson Dryden, have agreed that, commencing on the effective date of this prospectus through the earlier of our consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation, they will make available to us certain general and administrative services, including office space, utilities and administrative support, as we may require from time to time. We have agreed to pay these entities an aggregate of $10,000 per month for these services. Mr. Ein is the Chief Executive Officer of Venturehouse Group, LLC and Mr. Dryden is the sole member of Dryden Capital Management, LLC. Accordingly, they will benefit from the transaction to the extent of their interest in Venturehouse Group, LLC and Dryden Capital Management, LLC, respectively. However, this arrangement is solely for our benefit and is not intended to provide Messrs. Ein or Dryden compensation in lieu of a salary. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in the D.C. and New York, New York metropolitan area, that the fee charged by these entities are at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person.

In connection with consummating an initial business combination, we may pay consulting or success fees to our officers, directors or consultants or their affiliates in an amount not to exceed an aggregate of $_______.

Other than the $10,000 per month administrative fee and the consulting or success fees referred to above, no compensation or fees of any kind, including finder’s, consulting fees and other similar fees, will be paid to our sponsors, members of our management team or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, such individuals will receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on our behalf, such as identifying potential target businesses, performing business due diligence on suitable target businesses and business combinations as well as traveling to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses to examine their operations. There is no limit on the amount of out-of-pocket expenses reimbursable by us.

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. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider an 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.

All ongoing and future transactions between us and any of our officers and directors or their respective affiliates will be on terms believed by us to be no less favorable to us than are available from unaffiliated third parties. Such transactions will require prior approval by a majority of our uninterested “independent” directors or the members of our board who do not have an interest in the transaction, in either case who had access, at our expense, to our attorneys or independent legal counsel. We will not enter into any such transaction unless our disinterested “independent” directors determine that the terms of such transaction are no less favorable to us than those that would be available to us with respect to such a transaction from unaffiliated third parties.

Related Party Policy

Our Code of Ethics requires us to avoid, wherever possible, all related party transactions that could result in actual or potential conflicts of interests, except under guidelines approved by the board of directors (or the audit committee). Related-party transactions are defined as transactions in which (1) the aggregate amount involved will or may be expected to exceed $120,000 in any calendar year, (2) we or any of our subsidiaries is a participant, and (3) any (a) executive officer, director or nominee for election as a director, (b) greater than 5% beneficial owner of our shares of common stock, or (c) immediate family member, of the persons referred to in clauses (a) and (b), has or will have a direct or indirect material interest (other than solely as a result of being a director or a less than 10% beneficial

66

owner of another entity). A conflict of interest situation can arise when a person takes actions or has interests that may make it difficult to perform his or her work objectively and effectively. Conflicts of interest may also arise if a person, or a member of his or her family, receives improper personal benefits as a result of his or her position.

Our audit committee, pursuant to its written charter, will be responsible for reviewing and approving related-party transactions to the extent we enter into such transactions. The audit committee will consider all relevant factors when determining whether to approve a related party transaction, including whether the related party transaction is on terms no less favorable to us than terms generally available from an unaffiliated third-party under the same or similar circumstances and the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction. No director may participate in the approval of any transaction in which he is a related party, but that director is required to provide the audit committee with all material information concerning the transaction. We also require each of our directors and executive 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 sponsors, officers or directors including (i) an entity that is either a portfolio company of, or has otherwise received a material financial investment from, any private equity fund or investment company (or an affiliate thereof) that is affiliated with any of the foregoing, (ii) an entity in which any of the foregoing or their affiliates are currently passive investors, (iii) an entity in which any of the foregoing or their affiliates are currently officers or directors, or (iv) an entity in which any of the foregoing or their affiliates are currently invested through an investment vehicle controlled by them, unless we have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm and the approval of a majority of our disinterested independent directors that the business combination is fair to our unaffiliated stockholders from a financial point of view.

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

General

As of the date of this prospectus, we will be authorized to issue 120,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001. As of the date of this prospectus, 10,062,500 shares of common stock are outstanding, held by five stockholders of record. No shares of preferred stock are currently outstanding. The following description summarizes the material terms of our securities. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you. For a complete description you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, bylaws and the form of warrant agreement, which are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and to the applicable provisions of Delaware law.

Units

Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one half of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock. The shares of common stock and warrants will begin to trade separately on the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus unless Citigroup Global Markets Inc. informs us of its decision to allow earlier separate trading, provided that in no event may the shares of common stock and warrants be traded separately until we have filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet reflecting our receipt of the gross proceeds of this offering. Once the shares of common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component pieces. However, no fractional warrants will be issued and only whole warrants will trade.

We will file a Current Report on Form 8-K which includes an audited balance sheet promptly upon the consummation of this offering. The audited balance sheet will reflect proceeds we receive from the exercise of the over-allotment option, if the over-allotment option is exercised on the date of this prospectus. If the over-allotment option is exercised after the date of this prospectus, we will file an amendment to the Form 8-K to provide updated financial information to reflect the exercise of the over-allotment option. We will also include in this Form 8-K, an amendment thereto, or in a subsequent Form 8-K information indicating if Citigroup Global Markets Inc. has allowed separate trading of the shares of common stock and warrants prior to the 52nd day after the date of this prospectus.

Common Stock

Our stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. In connection with any vote held to approve our initial business combination, our sponsors, as well as all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective shares of common stock owned by them immediately prior to this offering and any shares purchased in this offering or following this offering in the open market in favor of the proposed business combination.

We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon such consummation and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination.

Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. 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 eligible to vote for the election of directors can elect all of the directors.

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we do not consummate an initial business combination by 24 months from the closing of this offering, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating. If we are forced to liquidate prior to an initial business combination, our public stockholders are entitled to share ratably in the trust account, based on the amount then held in the trust account, and any assets remaining available for distribution to them. If we do not complete an initial business combination and the trustee must distribute the balance of the trust account, the underwriters have agreed that: (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account, and (ii) the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commission

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will be distributed on a pro rata basis among the public stockholders, together with any accrued interest thereon and net of income taxes payable on such interest. Our sponsors, officers and directors have agreed to waive their rights to participate in any liquidation distribution occurring upon our failure to consummate an initial business combination with respect to the founder’s common stock. Our sponsors, officers and directors will therefore not participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to such shares. They will, however, participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to any shares of common stock acquired in connection with or following this offering.

Our stockholders have no conversion, preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the shares of common stock, except that public stockholders have the right to have their shares of common stock converted to cash equal to their pro rata share of the trust account if they vote on the proposed business combination in connection with such business combination and the business combination is completed. Public stockholders who convert their stock into their share of the trust account still have the right to exercise the warrants that they received as part of the units.

Preferred Stock

There are no shares of preferred stock outstanding. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designation, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by our board of directors. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering. Accordingly, our board of directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights which could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of common stock. However, the underwriting agreement prohibits us, prior to a business combination, from issuing preferred stock which participates in any manner in the proceeds of the trust account, or which votes as a class with the common stock on a business combination. We may issue some or all of the preferred stock to effect a business combination. In addition, the preferred stock could be utilized as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of us. 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.

Warrants

No warrants are currently outstanding. Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 30 days after the completion of an initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering. However, no warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption 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 such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value”(defined below) by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” for this purpose will mean the average reported last sale price of the shares of common stock for the 5 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date of exercise. The warrants will expire on the fifth anniversary of our completion of an initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

The founders’ warrants, as well as any warrants we issue to our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates in payment of working capital loans made to us, will be identical to the warrants underlying the units being offered by this prospectus except that such warrants will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and will not be redeemable by us, in each case so long as they are still held by our sponsors or their affiliates. The founders’ warrants may not be sold or transferred until 30 days after we have completed a business combination.

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We may call the warrants for redemption (excluding the founders’ warrants and any warrants issued to our sponsors, officers or directors in payment of working capital loans made to us), in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant,

         at any time after the warrants become exercisable,

         upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder,

         if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the shares of common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations), for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to warrant holders; and

         if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying such warrants.

The right to exercise will be forfeited unless the warrants are exercised prior to the date specified in the notice of redemption. On and after the redemption date, a record holder of a warrant will have no further rights except to receive the redemption price for such holder’s warrant upon surrender of such warrant.

The redemption criteria for our warrants have been established at a price which is intended to provide warrant holders a reasonable premium to the initial exercise price and provide a sufficient differential between the then-prevailing share price and the warrant exercise price so that if the share price declines as a result of our redemption call, the redemption will not cause the share price to drop below the exercise price of the warrants.

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.”  In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the “fair market value” (defined below) by (y) the fair market value.  The “fair market value” shall mean the average reported last sale price of the shares of common stock for the 5 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants.

The warrants will be 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 written consent or vote, of the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding warrants in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.

The exercise price and number of shares of common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, extraordinary dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuances of shares of common stock at a price below their respective exercise prices.

The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price, by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrant holders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of shares of common stock and any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of common stock. After the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to have declared effective a prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and keep such prospectus current until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so and, if we do not maintain a current prospectus relating to the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their warrants for cash and we will not be required to net cash settle or cash settle the warrant exercise.

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Warrant holders may elect to be subject to a restriction on the exercise of their warrants such that an electing warrant holder would not be able to exercise their warrants to the extent that, after giving effect to such exercise, such holder would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% of the shares of common stock outstanding.

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 up or down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of common stock to be issued to the warrant holder.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our shares of common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a 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 a business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our then board of directors. 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 does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our securities and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 17 Battery Place, New York, New York 10004.

Listing of our Securities

We expect our units, common stock and warrants quoted on Nasdaq under the symbols “[•],” “[•],” and “[•],” respectively.  We anticipate that our units will be listed on Nasdaq on or promptly after the effective date of the registration statement. Following the date the shares of our common stock and warrants are eligible to trade separately, we anticipate that the shares of our common stock and warrants will be listed separately and as a unit on Nasdaq.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law and our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws

Staggered board of directors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors of approximately equal size. 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.

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, by our president or by our chairman or by our secretary at the request in writing of stockholders owning a majority of our issued and outstanding capital stock entitled to vote.

Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations

Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be delivered to our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 60th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 90th day prior to the scheduled date of the annual meeting of stockholders. In the event that less than 70 days’ notice or prior public disclosure of the date of the annual meeting of stockholders is given, a stockholder’s notice shall be timely if delivered to our principal executive offices not later than the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of our annual meeting of stockholders is first made or sent by us. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.

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Authorized but unissued shares

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are 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 Selection

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 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. Although we believe this provision benefits our company by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors and officers will be indemnified by us to the fullest extent authorized by Delaware law as it now exists or may in the future be amended. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, unless they violated their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders, acted in bad faith, knowingly or intentionally violated the law, authorized unlawful payments of dividends, unlawful stock purchases or unlawful redemptions, or derived an improper personal benefit from their actions as directors.

Our bylaws also will permit us to secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit indemnification. We will purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our directors and officers against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify the directors and officers.

These provisions may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, 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 directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions. We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced directors and officers.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.

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SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

Immediately after this offering, we will have 43,750,000 shares of common stock outstanding, or 50,312,500 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. Of these shares, the 35,000,000 shares sold in this offering, or 40,250,000 shares if the over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining shares are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering. All of those shares have been placed in escrow and will not be transferable until they are released except in limited circumstances described elsewhere in this prospectus.

Rule 144

A person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale. Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of common stock for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of either of the following:

         1% of the number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 437,500 shares immediately after this offering (or 503,125 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full); and

         the average weekly trading volume of the shares of common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.

Sales under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies

Historically, the SEC staff had taken the position that Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by companies that are, or previously were, blank check companies, like us. The SEC has codified and expanded this position in the amendments discussed above by prohibiting the use of Rule 144 for resale of securities issued by any shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or any issuer that has been at any time previously a shell company. The SEC has provided an important exception to this prohibition, however, if the following conditions are met:

         the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;

         the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;

         the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and

         at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.

As a result, it is likely that pursuant to Rule 144, our sponsors will be able to sell their founders’ shares freely without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination assuming they are not an affiliate of ours at that time.

Registration Rights

The holders of our founders’ shares issued and outstanding on the date of this prospectus, as well as the holders of the founders’ warrants and any warrants our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates may be issued in payment of working capital loans made to us (and all underlying securities), will be entitled to registration rights pursuant

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to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. The holders of a majority of these securities are entitled to make up to two demands that we register such securities. The holders of the majority of the founders’ shares can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which these shares of common stock are to be released from escrow. The holders of a majority of the founders’ warrants or warrants issued to our sponsors, officers, directors or their affiliates in payment of working capital loans made to us (or underlying securities) can elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after we consummate a business combination. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our consummation of a business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following are the material U.S. federal income and estate tax considerations with respect to your ownership and disposition of our units or components thereof, which we refer to collectively as our securities, assuming you purchase the securities in this offering and will hold them as capital assets within the meaning of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

This discussion does not address all of the U.S. federal income and estate tax considerations that may be relevant to you in light of your particular circumstances, and it does not describe all of the tax consequences that may be relevant to persons subject to special rules, such as:

         certain financial institutions;

         insurance companies;

         dealers and traders in securities or foreign currencies;

         persons holding our securities as part of a hedge, straddle, conversion transaction or other integrated transaction;

         former citizens or residents of the United States;

         U.S. persons whose functional currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar;

         partnerships or other entities classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

         persons liable for the alternative minimum tax; and

         tax-exempt organizations.

The following does not discuss any aspect of state, local or non-U.S. taxation. This discussion is based on current provisions of the Code, Treasury regulations, judicial opinions, published positions of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and all other applicable authorities, all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect.

If an entity that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner will generally depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the entity. If you are a partner in such an entity, you should consult your tax advisor.

WE URGE PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS TO CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE U.S. FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS WITH RESPECT TO ACQUIRING, HOLDING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES.

Each unit will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as an investment unit consisting of one share of our common stock and one half of a warrant to acquire one share of our common stock, subject to adjustment. In determining your basis for the common stock and one half warrant composing a unit, you should allocate your purchase price for the unit between the components on the basis of their relative fair market values at the time of issuance.

Personal Holding Company Status

We could be subject to United States federal income tax at rates in excess of those generally applicable to corporations on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for United States federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation will generally be classified as a PHC for United States federal income tax purposes in a given taxable year if (i) at any time during the last half of such taxable year, five or fewer individuals (without regard to their citizenship or residency and including as individuals for this purpose certain entities such as certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts) own or are deemed to own (pursuant to certain constructive ownership rules) more than 50% of the stock of the corporation by value and (ii) at least 60% of the corporation’s adjusted ordinary gross income, as determined for United States federal income tax purposes, for such taxable year consists of PHC income (which includes, among other things, dividends, interest, certain royalties, annuities and, under certain circumstances, rents).

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Depending on the date and size of our initial business combination, it is possible that at least 60% of our adjusted ordinary gross income may consist of PHC income as discussed above. In addition, depending on the concentration of our stock in the hands of individuals, including the members of our sponsors and certain tax-exempt organizations, pension funds, and charitable trusts, it is possible that more than 50% of our stock will be owned or deemed owned (pursuant to the constructive ownership rules) by such persons during the last half of a taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given that we will not become a PHC following this offering or in the future. If we are or were to become a PHC in a given taxable year, we would be subject to an additional PHC tax, currently 20%, on our undistributed taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.

U.S. Holders

This section is addressed to U.S. holders of our securities. For purposes of this discussion, you are a “U.S. holder” if you are a beneficial owner of a security that is:

         an individual citizen or resident of the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes;

         a corporation, or other entity taxable as a corporation, created or organized in, or under the laws of, the United States or any state therof or the District of Columbia; or

         an estate or trust the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source.

Dividends and Distributions

As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. In the event that we do make distributions on our common stock, such distributions generally will be treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. Distributions in excess of our current or accumulated earnings and profits generally will first reduce your basis in the common stock (but not below zero) and then will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the common stock (as described in the first paragraph under “— Sale or Other Disposition or Conversion of Common Stock” below).

The conversion feature of the common stock described under “Proposed Business — Effecting a Business Combination — Conversion Rights” may be viewed as a position with respect to substantially similar or related property which diminishes your risk of loss and thereby affects your ability to satisfy the holding period requirements for the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income with respect to the time period prior to the approval of an initial business combination.

Sale or Other Disposition or Conversion of Common Stock

Gain or loss you realize on the sale or other disposition of our common stock (other than conversion into cash but including a liquidation in the event we do not consummate a business combination within the required time) will be capital gain or loss. The amount of your gain or loss will be equal to the difference between your tax basis in the common stock disposed of and the amount realized on the disposition. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations. Any capital gain or loss you realize on a sale or other disposition of our common stock will generally be long-term capital gain or loss if your holding period for the common stock is more than one year. However, the conversion feature of the common stock described under “Proposed Business — Effecting a Business Combination — Conversion Rights” could affect your ability to satisfy the holding period requirements for the long-term capital gain tax rate with respect to the time period prior to the approval of an initial business combination.

If you convert your common stock into a right to receive cash as described in “Proposed Business — Effecting a Business Combination — Conversion Rights,” the conversion generally will be treated as a sale of common stock described in the preceding paragraph (rather than as a dividend or distribution). The conversion will, however, be treated as a dividend or distribution and taxed as described in “— Dividends and Distributions” above if your percentage ownership in us (including shares that you are deemed to own under certain attribution rules, such as the shares into which the warrants are exercisable) after the conversion is not meaningfully reduced from what your percentage ownership was prior to the conversion. If you have a relatively minimal stock interest and, taking into account the effect of conversion by other stockholders, your percentage ownership in us is reduced as a result of

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the conversion, you may be regarded as having suffered a meaningful reduction in interest. For example, the IRS has ruled that any reduction in the stockholder’s proportionate interest will constitute a “meaningful reduction” in a transaction in which a holder held less than 1% of the shares of a corporation and did not have management control over the corporation. You should consult your own tax advisor as to whether conversion of your common stock will be treated as a sale or as a dividend under the Code and, if you actually or constructively own 5% (or, if our stock is not then publicly traded, 1%) or more of our common stock before conversion, whether you are subject to special reporting requirements with respect to such conversion.

Sale or Other Disposition, Exercise or Expiration of Warrants

Upon the sale or other disposition of a warrant (other than by exercise), you will generally recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale or other disposition and your tax basis in the warrant. This capital gain or loss will be long-term capital gain or loss if, at the time of the sale or other disposition, the warrant has been held by you for more than one year. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

In general, you will not be required to recognize income, gain or loss upon exercise of a warrant for its exercise price. Your basis in a share of common stock received upon exercise will be equal to the sum of (1) your basis in the warrant and (2) the exercise price of the warrant. Your holding period in the shares received upon exercise will commence on the day after you exercise the warrants. Although there is no direct legal authority as to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of an exercise of a warrant on a cashless basis, we intend to take the position that such exercise will not be taxable, either because the exercise is not a gain realization event or because it qualifies as a tax-free recapitalization. In the former case, the holding period of the common stock should commence on the day after the warrant is exercised. In the latter case, the holding period of the common stock would include the holding period of the exercised warrants. However, our position is not binding on the IRS and the IRS may treat a cashless exercise of a warrant as a taxable exchange. You are urged to consult your own tax advisor as to the consequences of an exercise of a warrant on a cashless basis.

If a warrant expires without being exercised, you will recognize a capital loss in an amount equal to your basis in the warrant. Such loss will be long-term capital loss if, at the time of the expiration, the warrant has been held by you for more than one year. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

Constructive Dividends on Warrants

As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. If at any time during the period you hold warrants, however, we were to pay a taxable dividend to our stockholders and, in accordance with the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, the conversion rate of the warrants were increased, that increase would be deemed to be the payment of a taxable dividend to you to the extent of our earnings and profits, notwithstanding the fact that you will not receive a cash payment. If the conversion rate is adjusted in certain other circumstances (or in certain circumstances, there is a failure to make adjustments), such adjustments may also result in the deemed payment of a taxable dividend to you. You should consult your tax advisor regarding the proper treatment of any adjustments to the warrants.

Unearned Income Medicare Tax

A 3.8% Medicare contribution tax will generally apply to all or some portion of the net investment income of a U.S. holder that is an individual with adjusted gross income that exceeds a threshold amount ($250,000 if married filing jointly or if considered a “surviving spouse” for federal income tax purposes, $125,000 if married filing separately, and $200,000 in other cases). This 3.8% tax will also apply to all or some portion of the undistributed net investment income of certain U.S. holders that are estates and trusts. For these purposes, dividends and gains from the taxable dispositions of the common stock and warrants will generally be taken into account in computing such a U.S. holder’s net investment income.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Information returns may be filed with the IRS with respect to dividends or other distributions we may pay to you and proceeds from the sale of your shares of common stock or warrants. You will be subject to backup withholding on these payments if you fail to provide your taxpayer identification number to the paying agent and comply with

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certain certification procedures or otherwise establish an exemption from backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld with respect to your shares of common stock or warrants under the backup withholding rules will be refunded to you or credited against your United States federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS provided that certain required information is furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.

Non-U.S. Holders

This section is addressed to non-U.S. holders of the securities. For purposes of this discussion, a “non-U.S. holder” is a beneficial owner of a security (other than an entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is not a U.S. holder.

Dividends and Distributions

As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. If, however, we were to pay taxable dividends to you with respect to your shares of common stock (including any deemed distributions treated as a dividend on the warrants, as described in “— Constructive Dividends on Warrants” below), those dividends would generally be subject to United States withholding tax at a rate of 30% of the gross amount, unless you are eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and you provide proper certification of your eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E). A distribution generally will constitute a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits as determined under the Code. Any distribution not constituting a dividend generally will be treated first as reducing your basis in your shares of common stock and, to the extent it exceeds your basis, as gain from the disposition of your shares of common stock treated as described under “Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock or Warrants” below. The full amount of any distributions to you may, however, be subject to United States withholding tax unless the applicable withholding agent elects to withhold a lesser amount based on a reasonable estimate of the amount of the distribution that would be treated as a dividend. In addition, if we determine that we are likely to be classified as a “United States real property holding corporation”(see “Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock or Warrants” below), we will withhold at least 10% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits as provided by the Code.

Dividends we pay to you that are effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, if certain income tax treaties apply, are attributable to a United States permanent establishment maintained by you) generally will not be subject to United States withholding tax if you comply with applicable certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends generally will be subject to United States federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same graduated individual or corporate rates applicable to United States persons. If you are a corporation, effectively connected income may also be subject to a “branch profits tax” at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty).

Exercise of Warrants

You generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the exercise of the warrants into shares of common stock. However, if a cashless exercise of warrants results in a taxable exchange, as described in “— U.S. Holders — Sale or Other Disposition, Exercise or Expiration of Warrants,” the rules described below under “Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock or Warrants” would apply.

Sale or Other Disposition of Common Stock or Warrants

You generally will not be subject to United States federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of our common stock (which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination within the required timeframe) or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), unless:

         the gain is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a United States permanent establishment you maintain);

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         you are an individual, you hold your shares of common stock or warrants as capital assets, you are present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and you meet other conditions, and you are not eligible for relief under an applicable income tax treaty; or

         we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for United States federal income tax purposes and, in the case where the shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, you hold or have held, directly or indirectly, at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding disposition or your holding period for your shares of common stock or warrants, more than 5% of our common stock. Special rules may apply to the determination of the 5% threshold in the case of a holder of a warrant. You are urged to consult your own tax advisors regarding the effect of holding the warrants on the calculation of such 5% threshold. We will be classified as a United States real property holding corporation if the fair market value of our “United States real property interests” equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of (1) the fair market value of our United States real property interests, (2) the fair market value of our non-United States real property interests and (3) the fair market value of any other of our assets which are used or held for use in our trade or business. Although we currently are not a United States real property holding corporation, we cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we consummate an initial business combination.

Gain that is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business within the United States generally will be subject to United States federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same rates applicable to United States persons. If you are a corporation, the branch profits tax also may apply to such effectively connected gain. If the gain from the sale or disposition of your shares of common stock or warrants is effectively connected with your conduct of a trade or business in the United States but under an applicable income tax treaty is not attributable to a permanent establishment you maintain in the United States, your gain may be exempt from United States tax under the treaty. If you are described in the second bullet point above, you generally will be subject to United States federal income tax at a rate of 30% on the gain realized, although the gain may be offset by some United States source capital losses realized during the same taxable year. If you are described in the third bullet point above, gain recognized by you on the sale, exchange or other disposition of shares of common stock or warrants will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at normal graduated U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of your shares of common stock or warrants may be required to withhold United States income tax at a rate of 10% of the amount realized upon such disposition.

If you convert your common stock into a right to receive cash as described in “Proposed Business — Effecting a Business Combination — Conversion Rights,” the conversion generally will be treated as a sale of common stock rather than as a dividend or distribution. The conversion will, however, be treated as a dividend or distribution and taxed as described in “Dividends and Distributions” if your percentage ownership in us (including shares that you are deemed to own under certain attribution rules, such as the shares into which the warrants are exercisable) after the conversion is not meaningfully reduced from what your percentage ownership was prior to the conversion. See the discussion in “— U.S. Holders — Sale or Other Disposition or Conversion of Common Stock.”  You should consult your own tax advisor as to whether conversion of your common stock will be treated as a sale or as a dividend under the Code.

Constructive Dividends on Warrants

As discussed under “Dividend Policy” above, we do not anticipate that any dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. If at any time during the period you hold warrants, however, we were to pay a taxable dividend to our stockholders and, in accordance with the anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, the conversion rate of the warrants were increased, that increase would be deemed to be the payment of a taxable dividend to you to the extent of our earnings and profits, notwithstanding the fact that you will not receive a cash payment. If the conversion rate is adjusted in certain other circumstances (or in certain circumstances, there is a failure to make adjustments), such adjustments may also result in the deemed payment of a taxable dividend to you. Any resulting withholding tax attributable to deemed dividends would be collected from other amounts payable or distributable to you. You should consult your tax advisor regarding the proper treatment of any adjustments to the warrants.

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Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

We must report annually to the IRS the amount of dividends or other distributions we may pay to you on your shares of common stock and the amount of tax we withhold on any such distributions regardless of whether withholding is required. The IRS may make copies of the information returns reporting those dividends and amounts withheld available to the tax authorities in the country in which you reside pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty or exchange of information treaty.

The United States imposes backup withholding on dividends and certain other types of payments to United States persons. You will not be subject to backup withholding on dividends you receive on your shares of common stock if you provide proper certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E) of your status as a non-United States person or you are a corporation or one of several types of entities and organizations that qualify for exemption (an “exempt recipient”).

Information reporting and backup withholding generally are not required with respect to the amount of any proceeds from the sale of your shares of common stock or warrants outside the United States through a foreign office of a foreign broker that does not have certain specified connections to the United States. However, if you sell your shares of common stock or warrants through a United States broker or the United States office of a foreign broker, the broker will be required to report to the IRS the amount of proceeds paid to you unless you provide appropriate certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or Form W-8BEN-E) to the broker of your status as a non-United States person or you are an exempt recipient. Information reporting also would apply if you sell your shares of common stock or warrants through a foreign broker deriving more than a specified percentage of its income from United States sources or having certain other connections to the United States.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts withheld with respect to your shares of common stock or warrants under the backup withholding rules will be refunded to you or credited against your United States federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS provided that certain required information is furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.

Estate Tax

Common stock owned or treated as owned by an individual who is not a citizen or resident (as defined for United States federal estate tax purposes) of the United States at the time of his or her death, or by an entity the property of which is potentially includible in such an individual’s gross estate, will be included in the individual’s gross estate for United States federal estate tax purposes and therefore may be subject to United States federal estate tax unless an applicable estate tax treaty provides otherwise. The foregoing may also apply to warrants.

Unearned Income Medicare Tax

If you are a foreign estate or trust, you may be subject to the Medicare contribution tax described under “U.S. Holders — Unearned Income Medicare Tax” above. Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of the Medicare contribution tax on their investments in the units.

FATCA

A 30% withholding tax will be imposed on payments to certain foreign entities of U.S.-source dividends and the gross proceeds of dispositions of stock (including our securities) that can produce U.S.-source dividends, unless various U.S. information reporting and due diligence requirements (generally relating to ownership by U.S. persons of interests in or accounts with those entities) have been satisfied or an exemption has otherwise been established. This withholding tax will not apply, however, to payments of gross proceeds from dispositions of stock before January 1, 2017. Potential investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of this withholding tax on their investment in the units.

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UNDERWRITING

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as book-running manager of the offering and as representative of the underwriters named below. Subject to the terms and conditions stated in the underwriting agreement dated as of the date of this prospectus, each underwriter named below has severally agreed to purchase, and we have agreed to sell to that underwriter, the number of units set forth opposite the underwriter’s name.

Underwriter

 

Number of Units

Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

Total

 

35,000,000

The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the units included in this offering are subject to approval of legal matters by counsel and to other conditions. The underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units (other than those covered by the over-allotment option described below) if they purchase any of the units.

Units sold by the underwriters to the public will initially be offered at the initial public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. Any units sold by the underwriters to securities dealers may be sold at a discount from the initial public offering price not to exceed $     per unit. If all the units are not sold at the initial offering price, the underwriters may change the offering price and the other selling terms. The representative has advised us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.

If the underwriters sell more units than the total number set forth in the table above, we have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 30 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to 5,250,000 additional units at the public offering price less the underwriting discount. The underwriters may exercise the option solely for the purpose of covering over-allotments, if any, in connection with this offering. To the extent the option is exercised, each underwriter must purchase a number of additional units approximately proportionate to that underwriter’s initial purchase commitment. Any units issued or sold under the option will be issued and sold on the same terms and conditions as the other units that are the subject of this offering.

We, our sponsors and our officers and directors have agreed that, for a period of 180 days from the date of this prospectus, we and they will not, without the prior written consent of the representative, offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge, hedge or otherwise dispose of any units, warrants, shares of common stock or any securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for shares of our common stock (except in connection with an initial business combination). The representative in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.

On the date of this prospectus, the founders’ shares will be placed into an escrow account maintained in New York, New York by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as escrow agent. Subject to certain limited exceptions, these shares will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until one year after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination or earlier if, subsequent to our business combination, (i) the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination or (ii) we consummate a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. The limited exceptions include transfers, assignments or sales (i) to our officers, directors, consultants or their affiliates, (ii) to an entity’s members upon its liquidation, (iii) to relatives and trusts for estate planning purposes, (iv) by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death, (v) pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, (vi) to us for no value for cancellation in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination, or (vii) in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased, in each case (except for clause (vi)) where the transferee agrees to the terms of the escrow agreement and to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

The purchasers of the founders’ warrants have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founders’ warrants, including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the founders’ warrants (except in connection with the same limited exceptions that the founders’ shares may be transferred as described above), until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

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Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our units. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price were our results of operations, our current financial condition, our future prospects, our markets, the economic conditions in and future prospects for the industry in which we compete, our management, and currently prevailing general conditions in the equity securities markets, including current market valuations of publicly traded companies considered comparable to our company. We cannot assure you, however, that the price at which the units will sell in the public market after this offering will not be lower than the initial public offering price or that an active trading market in our units will develop and continue after this offering.

We intend to apply to have our units listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “[•]” and, once the common stock and warrants begin separate trading, to have our common stock and warrants listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “[•]” and “[•]”, respectively.

The following table shows the underwriting discounts and commissions that we are to pay to the underwriters in connection with this offering. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

 

Paid by
Capitol Acquisition Corp. III

 

 

No Exercise

 

Full Exercise

Per unit

 

$

0.55

 

$

0.55

Total(1)

 

$

19,250,000

 

$

22,137,500

____________

(1)      Includes $0.35 per unit, or approximately $12.3 million (or $14.1 million if the underwriters exercise the over-allotment option in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting discounts and commissions (which we refer to throughout this prospectus as the “deferred commissions”) to be placed in the trust account described in this prospectus. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, as described in this prospectus.

If we do not complete an initial business combination and the trustee must distribute the balance of the trust account, the underwriters have agreed that: (i) they will forfeit any rights or claims to the deferred commissions, including any accrued interest thereon, then in the trust account, and (ii) the deferred commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis among the public stockholders, together with any accrued interest thereon and net of income taxes payable on such interest.

In connection with the offering, the underwriters may purchase and sell units in the open market. Purchases and sales in the open market may include short sales, purchases to cover short positions, which may include purchases pursuant to the over-allotment option, and stabilizing purchases.

         Short sales involve secondary market sales by the underwriters of a greater number of units than they are required to purchase in the offering.

°         “Covered” short sales are sales of units in an amount up to the number of units represented by the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

°         “Naked” short sales are sales of units in an amount in excess of the number of units represented by the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

         Covering transactions involve purchases of units either pursuant to the over-allotment option or in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover short positions.

°         To close a naked short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the units in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering.

°         To close a covered short position, the underwriters must purchase units in the open market after the distribution has been completed or must exercise the over-allotment option. In determining the source of units to close the covered short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of units available for purchase in the open market as compared to the price at which they may purchase units through the over-allotment option.

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         Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase units so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

The underwriters also may impose a penalty bid. Penalty bids permit the underwriters to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the underwriters, in covering short positions or making stabilizing purchases, repurchase units originally sold by that syndicate member.

Purchases to cover short positions and stabilizing purchases, as well as other purchases by the underwriters for their own accounts, may have the effect of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. They may also cause the price of the units to be higher than the price that would otherwise exist in the open market in the absence of these transactions. The underwriters may conduct these transactions in the over-the-counter market or otherwise. If the underwriters commence any of these transactions, they may discontinue them at any time.

We estimate that our portion of the total expenses of this offering payable by us will be $750,000, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions. We have agreed to reimburse the underwriters for expenses relating to the closing of this offering with FINRA in the amount of $[•].

The underwriters have performed commercial banking, investment banking and advisory services for our affiliates, including Mark D. Ein [and L. Dyson Dryden], from time to time for which they have received customary fees and reimbursements of expenses. The underwriters may, from time to time, engage in transactions with and perform services for us in the ordinary course of their business for which they may receive customary fees and reimbursement of expenses. We are not under any contractual obligation to engage any of the underwriters to provide any services for us after this offering, and have no present intent to do so. However, any of the underwriters may introduce us to potential target businesses or assist us in raising additional capital in the future. If any of the underwriters provide services to us after this offering, we may pay such underwriter fair and reasonable fees that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation; provided that no agreement will be entered into with any of the underwriters and no fees for such services will be paid to any of the underwriters prior to the date that is 90 days from the date of this prospectus, unless FINRA determines that such payment would not be deemed underwriters’ compensation in connection with this offering and we may pay the underwriters of this offering or any entity with which they are affiliated a finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us in connection with the consummation of a business combination.

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make because of any of those liabilities.

Notice to Prospective Investors in the European Economic Area

In relation to each member state of the European Economic Area that has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a relevant member state), with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that relevant member state (the relevant implementation date), an offer of shares described in this prospectus may not be made to the public in that relevant member state other than:

         to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive;

         to fewer than 100 or, if the relevant member state has implemented the relevant provision of the 2010 PD Amending Directive, 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), as permitted under the Prospectus Directive, subject to obtaining the prior consent of the relevant Dealer or Dealers nominated by us for any such offer; or

         in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive,

provided that no such offer of shares shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

For purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of securities to the public” in any relevant member state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for the shares, as the expression may be varied in that member state by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that member state, and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the

83

2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the relevant member state) and includes any relevant implementing measure in the relevant member state. The expression 2010 PD Amending Directive means Directive 2010/73/EU.

The sellers of the shares have not authorized and do not authorize the making of any offer of shares through any financial intermediary on their behalf, other than offers made by the underwriters with a view to the final placement of the shares as contemplated in this prospectus. Accordingly, no purchaser of the shares, other than the underwriters, is authorized to make any further offer of the shares on behalf of the sellers or the underwriters.

Notice to Prospective Investors in the United Kingdom

This prospectus is only being distributed to, and is only directed at, persons in the United Kingdom that are qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive that are also (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the “Order”) or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (each such person being referred to as a “relevant person”). This prospectus and its contents are confidential and should not be distributed, published or reproduced (in whole or in part) or disclosed by recipients to any other persons in the United Kingdom. Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.

Notice to Prospective Investors in France

Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the shares described in this prospectus has been submitted to the clearance procedures of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers or of the competent authority of another member state of the European Economic Area and notified to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The shares have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this prospectus nor any other offering material relating to the shares has been or will be:

         released, issued, distributed or caused to be released, issued or distributed to the public in France; or

         used in connection with any offer for subscription or sale of the shares to the public in France.

Such offers, sales and distributions will be made in France only:

         to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) and/or to a restricted circle of investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs), in each case investing for their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with articles L.411-2, D.411-1, D.411-2, D.734-1, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Code monétaire et financier;

         to investment services providers authorized to engage in portfolio management on behalf of third parties; or

         in a transaction that, in accordance with article L.411-2-II-1°-or-2°-or 3° of the French Code monétaire et financier and article 211-2 of the General Regulations (Règlement Général) of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, does not constitute a public offer (appel public à l’épargne).

The shares may be resold directly or indirectly, only in compliance with articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 through L.621-8-3 of the French Code monétaire et financier.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Hong Kong

The shares may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), or (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder, or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong) and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to the shares may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under

84

the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to shares which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Japan

The shares offered in this prospectus have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan. The shares have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to or for the account of any resident of Japan (including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan), except (i) pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law and (ii) in compliance with any other applicable requirements of Japanese law.

Notice to Prospective Investors in Singapore

This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the shares may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the shares be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “SFA”), (ii) to a relevant person pursuant to Section 275(1), or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA, in each case subject to compliance with conditions set forth in the SFA.

Where the shares are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 of the SFA by a relevant person which is:

         a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or

         a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor,

shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the shares pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 of the SFA except:

         to an institutional investor (for corporations, under Section 274 of the SFA) or to a relevant person defined in Section 275(2) of the SFA, or to any person pursuant to an offer that is made on terms that such shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or such rights and interest in that trust are acquired at a consideration of not less than S$200,000 (or its equivalent in a foreign currency) for each transaction, whether such amount is to be paid for in cash or by exchange of securities or other assets, and further for corporations, in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA;

         where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer; or

         where the transfer is by operation of law.

85

LEGAL MATTERS

Graubard Miller, New York, New York, is acting as our counsel in connection with the registration of our securities under the Securities Act, and as such, will pass upon the validity of the securities offered in this offering. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel to the underwriters.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of Capitol Acquisition Corp. III at July 22, 2015 and for the period from July 13, 2015 (inception) through July 22, 2015 included in this Prospectus and Registration Statement have been audited by Marcum LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report, thereon (which contains an explanatory paragraph relating to substantial doubt about the ability of Capitol Acquisition Corp. III to continue as a going concern as described in Note 1 to the financial statements), appearing elsewhere herein, and are included in reliance on such report given upon such firm’s authority as an expert in auditing and accounting.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the securities we are offering by this prospectus. This prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration statement. For further information about us and our securities, you should refer to the registration statement and the exhibits and schedules filed with the registration statement. Whenever we make reference in this prospectus to any of our contracts, agreements or other documents, the references are materially complete but may not include a description of all aspects of such contracts, agreements or other documents, and you should refer to the exhibits attached to the registration statement for copies of the actual contract, agreement or other document.

Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual, quarterly and current event reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, including the registration statement, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. You may also read and copy any document we file with the SEC at its public reference facility at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549.

You may also obtain copies of the documents at prescribed rates by writing to the Public Reference Section of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference facilities.

86

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

F-2

Financial Statements:

 

 

Balance Sheet

 

F-3

Statement of Operations

 

F-4

Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

 

F-5

Statement of Cash Flows

 

F-6

Notes to Financial Statements

 

F-7 – F-11

F-1

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders
of Capitol Acquisition Corp. III

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Capitol Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) as of July 22, 2015, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from July 13, 2015 (inception) through July 22, 2015. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audit included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, 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. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation.  We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Capitol Acquisition Corp. III, as of July 22, 2015, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from July 13, 2015 (inception) through July 22, 2015 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has no present revenue, its business plan is dependent on the completion of a financing and the Company’s cash and working capital as of July 22, 2015 is not sufficient to complete its planned activities for the upcoming year. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans regarding these matters are also described in Notes 1 and 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Marcum llp
New York, NY
July 29, 2015

F-2

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III 
BALANCE SHEET

 

 

July 22,
2015

ASSETS

 

 

 

 

Current assets – cash

 

$

199,985

 

Deferred offering costs

 

 

25,000

 

Total assets

 

$

224,985

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

 

Accrued expenses

 

$

510

 

Note payable to related party

 

 

200,000

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

200,510

 

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, par value of $0.0001 per share, 1,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding

 

 

 

Common Stock, par value of $0.0001 per share, 120,000,000 shares authorized, 10,062,500 shares issued and outstanding(1)

 

 

1,006

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

23,994

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(525

)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

 

24,475

 

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

 

$

224,985

 

____________

(1)      This number includes an aggregate of 1,312,500 shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

F-3

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III 
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

 

 

For the
Period from
July 13, 2015
(Inception) Through
July 22,
2015

Formation and operating costs

 

 

(525

)

Net loss

 

$

(525

)

Weighted average number of shares outstanding, basic and diluted(1)

 

 

8,750,000

 

Basic and diluted net loss per share

 

 

(0.00

)

____________

(1)      This number excludes an aggregate of 1,312,500 shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

F-4

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III 
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
For the Period from July 13, 2015 (Inception) Through July 22, 2015

 

 

Common Stock

 

Additional Paid-in

 

Accumulated

 

Total Stockholders’

 

 

Shares

 

Amount

 

Capital

 

Deficit

 

Equity

Balances, July 13, 2015

 

 

$

 

$

 

$

 

 

$

 

Common stock issued to initial stockholders(1)

 

10,062,500

 

 

1,006

 

 

23,994

 

 

 

 

 

25,000

 

Net loss for the period

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(525

)

 

 

(525

)

Balance, July 22, 2015

 

10,062,500

 

$

1,006

 

$

23,994

 

$

(525

)

 

$

24,475

 

____________

(1)      This number includes an aggregate of 1,312,500 shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

F-5

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III 
STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

 

 

For the
Period from July 13, 2015 (Inception) Through
July 22,
2015

Cash flows from operating activities:

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(525

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:

 

 

 

 

Change in operating assets and liabilities:

 

 

 

 

Increase in accrued expenses

 

 

510

 

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

(15

)

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

 

 

 

Proceeds from note payable to stockholder

 

 

200,000

 

Proceeds from issuance of common stock to initial stockholders

 

 

25,000

 

Payment of deferred offering costs

 

 

(25,000

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

 

200,000

 

Net increase in cash

 

 

199,985

 

Cash at beginning of period

 

 

 

Cash at end of period

 

$

199,985

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

F-6

CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 1 — Organization, Plan of Business Operations and Going Concern Consideration

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on July 13, 2015 as a blank check company whose objective is to acquire, through a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination, one or more businesses or entities (a “Business Combination”).

The accompanying financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”) and pursuant to the accounting and disclosure rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

At July 22, 2015, the Company had not yet commenced any operations. All activity through July 22, 2015 relates to the Company’s formation and the proposed public offering described below. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year-end.

The Company’s ability to commence operations is contingent upon obtaining adequate financial resources through a proposed public offering of up to 35,000,000 units (“Units”) which is discussed in Note 3 (“Proposed Public Offering”) and the sale of 8,750,000 warrants (“Founders’ Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per warrant in a private placement to Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC and Capitol Acquisition Founder LLC (collectively, the “Sponsors”), entities affiliated with the Company’s executive officers. The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of this Proposed Public Offering and the Founders’ Warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to effect a Business Combination successfully. Upon the closing of the Proposed Public Offering, it is anticipated that $10.00 per Unit sold in the Proposed Public Offering (regardless of whether the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full or in part), including the proceeds of the private placement of the Founders’ Warrants will be held in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and invested 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 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act until the earlier of (i) the consummation of the Company’s first Business Combination and (ii) the Company’s failure to consummate a Business Combination within the prescribed time. Placing funds in the Trust Account may not protect those funds from third party claims against the Company. Although the Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers, prospective target businesses or other entities it engages, execute agreements with the Company waiving any claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account, there is no guarantee that such persons will execute such agreements. The Company’s executive officers will agree that they will be liable under certain circumstances to ensure that the proceeds in the Trust Account are not reduced by the claims of target businesses or vendors or other entities that are owed money by the Company for services rendered, contracted for or products sold to the Company. However, there can be no assurance that they will be able to satisfy those obligations should they arise. The remaining net proceeds (not held in the Trust Account) may be used to pay for business, legal and accounting due diligence on prospective acquisitions and continuing general and administrative expenses. The estimated amount of proceeds not held in trust will remain constant at approximately $1,000,000 even if the over-allotment is exercised. In addition, interest income on the funds held in the Trust Account can be released to the Company to pay its income and other tax obligations and (ii) up to $3.5 million, subject to adjustment, of interest income on the funds held in the Trust Account can be released to the Company to pay for its working capital requirements in connection with searching for a Business Combination.

The Company will seek shareholder approval of any Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which shareholders may seek to convert their shares into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, less any taxes then due but not yet paid. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Public Stockholder (defined below), together with any affiliate of his or any other person with whom he is acting in concert or as a “group”(as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended) will be restricted from seeking conversion rights with respect to 20% or more of the shares of common stock sold in the Proposed Public Offering without the Company’s prior written consent. The Company will proceed with a Business Combination only if it has net tangible assets of at least $5 million upon consummation of the Business

F-7

CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 1 — Organization, Plan of Business Operations and Going Concern Consideration (cont.)

Combination and a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. In connection with any shareholder vote required to approve any Business Combination, the Sponsors and any other initial shareholders of the Company (collectively, the “Initial Stockholders”) will agree (i) to vote any of their respective shares in favor of the initial Business Combination and (ii) not to convert any of their respective shares.

The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation will be amended prior to the Proposed Public Offering to provide that the Company will continue in existence only until 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering. If the Company has not completed a Business Combination by such date, the Company 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 100% of the outstanding public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including any interest not previously released to the Company but net of franchise and income taxes payable, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish the rights of public stockholders of the Company (“Public Stockholders”) (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and its board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject (in the case of (ii) and (iii) above) to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In the event of a liquidation, the Public Stockholders will be entitled to receive a full pro rata interest in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the Trust Fund not previously released to the Company).

Going Concern Consideration

At July 22, 2015, the Company had $199,985 in cash and working capital deficiency of $525. Further, the Company expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management plans to address this uncertainty through a Proposed Offering as discussed in Note 3. There is no assurance that the Company’s plans to raise capital or to consummate a business combination will be successful or successful within the target business acquisition period. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Note 2 — Significant Accounting Policies

Loss Per Share

Loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, excluding shares of common stock subject to forfeiture (Note 7).

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are carried at cost, which approximates fair value.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America 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 and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

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CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 2 — Significant Accounting Policies (cont.)

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under ASC 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 statement 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 statement 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 is required to file income tax returns in the United States (federal) and in various state and local jurisdictions. Based on the Company’s evaluation, it has been concluded that there are no significant uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements. Since the Company was incorporated on July 13, 2015, the evaluation was performed for the upcoming 2015 tax year. The Company believes that its income tax positions and deductions would be sustained on audit and does not anticipate any adjustments that would result in a material changes to its financial position.

The Company’s policy for recording interest and penalties associated with audits is to record such expense as a component of income tax expense. There were no amounts accrued for penalties or interest as of or during the period from July 13, 2015 (inception) through July 22, 2015. Management is currently unaware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviations from its position.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the accompanying financial statements.

Subsequent Events

Management of the Company evaluates events that have occurred after the balance sheet date of July 22, 2015 through July 29, 2015, the date which these financial statements were available to be issued. Based upon the review, Management did not identify any recognized or non-recognized subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

Note 3 — Proposed Public Offering

The Proposed Public Offering calls for the Company to offer for public sale up to 35,000,000 units at a proposed offering price of $10.00 per unit (plus up to an additional 5,250,000 units solely to cover over-allotments, if any). Each unit consists of one share of common stock in the Company and one half of one Warrant of the Company (“Warrants”). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 commencing on the later of 30 days after the Company’s completion of a Business Combination or 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Public Offering and expiring five years from the completion of a Business Combination. The Company may redeem the Warrants at a price of $0.01 per Warrant upon 30 days’ notice, only in the event that the last sale price of the shares of common stock is at least $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is given. If the Company redeems the Warrants as described above, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise their Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” No warrants will be exercisable for cash unless the

F-9

CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 3 — Proposed Public Offering (cont.)

Company has an effective and current registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of common stock. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of an initial Business Combination, Warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise Warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, provided that such exemption 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 accordance with the warrant agreement relating to the Warrants to be sold and issued in the Proposed Public Offering the Company is only required to use its best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of the registration statement covering the Warrants.

Note 4 — Deferred Offering Costs

Deferred offering costs consist principally of legal, underwriting fees and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are directly related to the Proposed Public Offering and that will be charged to stockholders’ equity upon the receipt of the capital raised. Should the Proposed Public Offering prove to be unsuccessful, these deferred costs as well as additional costs to be incurred will be charged to operations.

Note 5 — Note Payable to Related Party

The Company issued a $200,000 principal amount unsecured promissory note to an affiliate of the Company’s chief executive officer on July 13, 2015. The note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier to occur of (i) August 1, 2016, (ii) the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering or (iii) the abandonment of the Proposed Public Offering. Due to the short-term nature of the note, the fair value of the note approximates the carrying amount.

Note 6 — Commitments

The Company anticipates entering into an agreement with the underwriters of the Proposed Public Offering (“Underwriting Agreement”). It is anticipated that the Underwriting Agreement will require the Company to pay an underwriting discount of 2.0% of the gross proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering as an underwriting discount. It is also anticipated that the Company will pay the underwriters in the Proposed Public Offering a deferred underwriting discount of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the Proposed Public Offering (“Deferred Commissions”) which will be placed in the Trust Account.

The Company presently occupies office space provided by two affiliates of the Company’s executive officers. Such affiliates have agreed that, until the Company consummates a Business Combination, they will make such office space, as well as certain office and secretarial services, available to the Company, as may be required by the Company from time to time. The Company will pay such affiliates an aggregate of $10,000 per month for such services.

The Company’s Sponsors have committed that they and/or their designees will purchase 8,750,000 Founders’ Warrants at $1.00 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $8.75 million) from the Company. These purchases will take place concurrently with the consummation of the Proposed Public Offering. The Sponsors have also agreed that if the over-allotment option is exercised by the underwriters in full or in part, they will purchase an additional number of Sponsors’ Warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant (up to a maximum of 1,050,000 warrants) necessary to maintain in the trust account an amount equal to $10.00 per unit sold to the public in this offering. All of the proceeds received from the Founders’ Warrants purchases will be placed in the Trust Account. The Founders’ Warrants are identical to the Warrants included in the Units to be sold in the Proposed Public Offering except that the Founders’ Warrants: (i) will not be redeemable by the Company and (ii) may be exercised for cash or on a cashless basis, as described in the registration statement relating to the Proposed Public Offering, so long as they are held by the initial purchaser or any of its permitted transferees. Additionally, the Sponsors have agreed not to transfer, assign

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CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 6 — Commitments (cont.)

or sell any of the Founders’ Warrants, including the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Founders’ Warrants (except to certain permitted transferees), until 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination.

The Initial Stockholders and the holders of the Founders’ Warrants (or underlying shares of common stock) will be entitled to registration rights with respect to their initial shares and the Founders’ Warrants (or underlying shares of common stock) pursuant to an agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of the Proposed Public Offering. The holders of the majority of the initial shares are entitled to demand that the Company register these shares at any time commencing three months prior to the first anniversary of the consummation of a Business Combination. The holders of the Founders’ Warrants (or underlying shares of common stock) are entitled to demand that the Company register these securities at any time after the Company consummates a Business Combination. In addition, the Initial Stockholders and holders of the Founders’ Warrants (or underlying shares of common stock) have certain “piggy-back” registration rights on registration statements filed after the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination.

Note 7 — Stockholder Equity

Preferred Stock

The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designation, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors.

As of July 22, 2015, there are no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

Common Stock

The Company is authorized to issue 120,000,000 shares of common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share.

In connection with the organization of the Company, on July 13, 2015, a total of 10,062,500 shares of the Company’s common stock were sold to the Sponsors at a price of approximately $0.0025 per share for an aggregate of $25,000. This number includes an aggregate of 1,312,500 shares that are subject to forfeiture if the over-allotment option is not exercised by the underwriters. On closing of the Proposed Public Offering, the shares will be placed into an escrow account and will not be transferred, assigned, sold or released from escrow until one year after the date of the consummation of an initial Business Combination or earlier if, subsequent to an initial Business Combination, (i) the last sales price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and recapitalizations) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination or (ii) the Company consummates a subsequent liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

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35,000,000 Units

Capitol Acquisition Corp. III

____________

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

             , 2015

____________

Book-Running Manager

Citigroup

Until ________, 2015 (25 days after the date of this prospectus), all dealers that buy, sell or trade in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.                   

 

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The estimated expenses payable by us in connection with the offering described in this registration statement (other than the underwriting discount and commissions) will be as follows:

Initial Trustees’ fee

 

$

1,000

(1)

SEC Registration Fee

 

 

46,800

 

FINRA filing fee

 

 

60,875

 

Accounting fees and expenses

 

 

40,000

 

Nasdaq listing fees

 

 

75,000

 

Printing and engraving expenses

 

 

50,000

 

Directors & Officers liability insurance premiums

 

 

125,000

(2)

Legal fees and expenses

 

 

340,000

 

Miscellaneous

 

 

21,325

(3)

 

 

 

Total

 

$

750,000

 

____________

(1)      In addition to the initial acceptance fee that is charged by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee, the registrant will be required to pay to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company $16,100 for acting as trustee, as transfer agent of the registrant’s common stock, as warrant agent for the registrant’s warrants and as escrow agent.

(2)      This amount represents the approximate amount of director and officer liability insurance premiums the registrant anticipates paying following the consummation of its initial public offering and until it consummates a business combination.

(3)      This amount represents additional expenses that may be incurred by the Company in connection with the offering over and above those specifically listed above, including distribution and mailing costs.

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that all directors, officers, employees and agents of the registrant shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law.

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law concerning indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents is set forth below.

“Section 145. Indemnification of officers, directors, employees and agents; insurance.

(a)      A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that the person’s conduct was unlawful.

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(b)     A corporation shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

(c)      To the extent that a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith.

(d)     Any indemnification under subsections (a) and (b) of this section (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because the person has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer at the time of such determination, (1) by a majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (2) by a committee of such directors designated by majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, or (4) by the stockholders.

(e)      Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in this section. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by former directors and officers or other employees and agents may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the corporation deems appropriate.

(f)      The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, the other subsections of this section shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office.

(g)     A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under this section.

(h)      For purposes of this section, references to “the corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a

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consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this section with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as such person would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.

(i)       For purposes of this section, references to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this section.

(j)       The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

(k)      The Court of Chancery is hereby vested with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all actions for advancement of expenses or indemnification brought under this section or under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Court of Chancery may summarily determine a corporation’s obligation to advance expenses (including attorneys’ fees).”

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

Paragraph B of Article Eighth of our certificate of incorporation provides:

The Corporation, to the full extent permitted by Section 145 of the GCL, as amended from time to time, shall indemnify all persons whom it may indemnify pursuant thereto. Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director in defending any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which such officer or director may be entitled to indemnification hereunder shall be paid by the Corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the Corporation as authorized hereby.”

Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Registration Statement, we have agreed to indemnify the Underwriters and the Underwriters have agreed to indemnify us against certain civil liabilities that may be incurred in connection with this offering, including certain liabilities under the Securities Act.

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Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

(a)      During the past three years, we sold the following shares of common stock without registration under the Securities Act:

Stockholders

 

Number of Shares

Capitol Acquisition Management 3 LLC

 

7,546,875

Capitol Acquisition Founder 3 LLC

 

2,515,625

Such shares were issued on July 13, 2015 in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as the shares were sold to accredited investors. The shares issued were sold for an aggregate offering price of $25,000 at an average purchase price of approximately $0.002 per share.

The Company’s initial stockholders have committed to purchase from us 8,750,000 warrants at $1.00 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $8,750,000). This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the consummation of our initial public offering. This issuance will be made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sales.

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

(a)      The following exhibits are filed as part of this Registration Statement:

Exhibit No.

 

Description

1.1

 

Form of Underwriting Agreement.*

3.1

 

Certificate of Incorporation.*

3.2

 

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.*

3.3

 

By-laws.*

4.1

 

Specimen Unit Certificate.*

4.2

 

Specimen Common Stock Certificate.*

4.3

 

Specimen Warrant Certificate.*

4.4

 

Form of Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.*

5.1

 

Opinion of Graubard Miller.*

10.1

 

Form of Letter Agreement from each of the Registrant’s sponsors, officers and directors.*

10.2

 

Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.*

10.3

 

Form of Stock Escrow Agreement between the Registrant, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Initial Stockholders.*

10.4

 

Form of Promissory Note issued to Leland Investments.*

10.5

 

Form of Registration Rights Agreement among the Registrant and the Initial Stockholders.*

10.6

 

Form of Subscription Agreement for founders’ warrants.*

10.7

 

Form of Administrative Services Agreement.*

14

 

Code of Ethics.*

23.1

 

Consent of Marcum LLP.

23.2

 

Consent of Graubard Miller (included in Exhibit 5.1).*

24

 

Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this Registration Statement).

____________

*         To be filed by amendment.

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Item 17. Undertakings.

(a)      The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

(1)      To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

i.        To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

ii.       To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement;

iii.      To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement.

(2)      That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3)      To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(4)      That for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933 in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

(i)       Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;

(ii)      Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;

(iii)     The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

(iv)     Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

(b)     The undersigned hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements, certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

(c)      Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore,

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unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

(d)     The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

(1)      For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

(2)      For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Washington, D.C., on the 31st day of August, 2015.

 

 

CAPITOL ACQUISITION CORP. III

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Mark D. Ein

 

 

 

 

Name: Mark D. Ein

 

 

 

 

Title: Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Mark D. Ein and L. Dyson Dryden his true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution and resubstitution for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any and all amendments including pre- and post-effective amendments to this registration statement, any subsequent registration statement for the same offering which may be filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and pre- or post-effective amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact or his substitute, each acting alone, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Name

 

Position

 

Date

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ Mark D. Ein

 

Chief Executive Officer

 

August 31, 2015

Mark D. Ein

 

(Principal Executive Officer) and Director

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ L. Dyson Dryden

 

President, Chief Financial Officer

 

August 31, 2015

L. Dyson Dryden

 

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) and Director

 

 

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