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EX-99.2 - EX-99.2 - Colony Global Acquisition Corp.d83911dex992.htm
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Table of Contents

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 5, 2016

Registration No. 333-                     

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Colony Global Acquisition Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   6770  

81-0705104

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

515 South Flower Street, 44th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90071

Telephone: (310) 282-8820

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

Neale Redington

Chief Financial Officer

Colony Global Acquisition Corp.

515 South Flower Street, 44th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90071

Telephone: (310) 282-8820

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

Copies to:

 

Gregg A. Noel, Esq.

Jonathan Ko, Esq.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

300 South Grand Avenue, Suite 3400

Los Angeles, CA 90071

(213) 687-5000

 

Jennifer A. Bensch, Esq.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

767 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10153

(212) 310-8000

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.  ¨

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 Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, and one
warrant(2)

  34,500,000 Units   $10.00   $345,000,000   $34,742

Shares of Class A common stock included as part of the units(3)

  34,500,000 Shares       —(4)

Warrants included as part of the units(3)

  34,500,000 Warrants       —(4)

Total

          $345,000,000   $34,742

 

 

(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.
(2) Includes 4,500,000 units, consisting of 4,500,000 shares of Class A common stock and 4,500,000 warrants, which may be issued upon exercise of a 45-day option granted to the underwriters to cover over-allotments, if any.
(3) Pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act, there are also being registered an indeterminable number of additional securities as may be issued to prevent dilution resulting from stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.
(4) No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.

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, as amended, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

The information in this 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 it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED FEBRUARY 5, 2016

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

$300,000,000

 

LOGO

Colony Global Acquisition Corp.

30,000,000 Units

 

 

Colony Global Acquisition Corp. is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.

This is an initial public offering of our securities. Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of our Class A common stock and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $5.75 per half share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination and 12 months from the closing of this offering and will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation, as described in this prospectus. We have also granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 4,500,000 units to cover over-allotments, if any.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of our Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account described below as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Class A common stock that were sold as part of the units in this offering, which we refer to collectively as our public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor (as defined below)), we will redeem 100% of the public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to applicable law and as further described herein.

Our sponsor, Colony Global Acquisition, LLC (which we refer to as our “sponsor” throughout this prospectus) is an indirect subsidiary of Colony Capital, Inc., a NYSE-listed company. Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 warrants (or 17,800,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.50 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate, or $8,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of this offering. We refer to these warrants throughout this prospectus as the private placement warrants. Each private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at $5.75 per half share.

Prior to this offering, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 shares of Class F common stock (up to 1,125,000 of which are subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised). The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class F common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class F common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination or pursuant to warrants issued to our sponsor. Holders of the Class F common stock and holders of the Class A common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by law.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our units, Class A common stock or warrants. We intend to apply to list our units on the NASDAQ Capital Market, or NASDAQ, under the symbol “CCACU” on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on NASDAQ. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus, subject to certain conditions. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, we expect that the Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on NASDAQ under the symbols “CCAC” and “CCACW,” respectively.

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable federal securities laws and will be subject to reduced public company reporting requirements. Investing in our securities involves risks. See “Risk Factors” on page 28. Investors will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings.

 

      

Price to
Public

    

Underwriting
Discounts and
Commissions(1)

    

Proceeds, before
expenses, to us

Per Share

     $10.00      $0.55      $9.45

Total

     $300,000,000      $16,500,000      $283,500,000

 

(1) Includes $0.35 per unit, or $10,500,000 (or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus. Does not include certain fees and expenses payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See also “Underwriting” beginning on page 135 for a description of compensation and other items of value payable to the underwriters.

Of the proceeds we receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $300.0 million, or $345.0 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full ($10.00 per unit), will be deposited into a U.S.-based trust account with American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, or AST, acting as trustee.

The underwriters are offering the units for sale on a firm commitment basis. Delivery of the units will be made on or about                     , 2016.

Neither the SEC 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.

Book-Running Managers

Credit Suisse

The date of this prospectus is                     , 2016


Table of Contents

We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the units offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus is current only as of its date.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

     Page  

SUMMARY

     1   

SUMMARY FINANCIAL DATA

     27   

RISK FACTORS

     28   

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     56   

USE OF PROCEEDS

     57   

DIVIDEND POLICY

     61   

DILUTION

     62   

CAPITALIZATION

     64   

MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     65   

PROPOSED BUSINESS

     71   

MANAGEMENT

     101   

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

     109   

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     112   

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

     114   

UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

     127   

UNDERWRITING

     135   

LEGAL MATTERS

     142   

EXPERTS

     142   

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

     142   

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1   

 

 

Until                     , 2016, all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to unsold allotments or subscriptions.


Table of Contents

TRADEMARKS

This prospectus contains references to trademarks and service marks belonging to other entities. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ® or ™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that the applicable licensor will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights to these trademarks and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.


Table of Contents

SUMMARY

This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. 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.

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or the context otherwise requires, references to:

 

    “we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to Colony Global Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation;

 

    “public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

    “warrants” are to our warrants sold as part of the units in this offering (whether they are purchased in this offering or thereafter in the open market) and the private placement warrants;

 

    “public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, officers and directors to the extent our sponsor, officers or directors purchase public shares, provided that our sponsor’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

 

    “management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;

 

    “sponsor” are to Colony Global Acquisition, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect subsidiary of Colony Capital;

 

    “Colony Capital” are to Colony Capital, Inc., a Maryland corporation (NYSE: CLNY);

 

    “Colony” are to Colony Capital, its affiliated entities and the historical business acquired by Colony Capital as a result of the CLNY Combination;

 

    “CLNY Combination” are to that certain transaction, consummated on April 2, 2015, between Colony Capital (formerly known as Colony Financial, Inc.) and Colony Capital, LLC, involving the contribution to Colony Capital of substantially all of Colony Capital, LLC’s real estate and investment management business and operations;

 

    “Colony Capital Operating Partnership” are to Colony Capital Operating Company, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, the operating partnership of Colony Capital and the entity through which Colony Capital holds substantially all of its assets;

 

    “founder shares” are to shares of our Class F common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to this offering and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the automatic conversion thereof at the time of our initial business combination as provided herein;

 

    “common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class F common stock; and

 

    “private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of this offering.

Unless we tell you otherwise, the information in this prospectus assumes that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option.

General

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated on November 24, 2015 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.

 

 

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Table of Contents

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business industry or sector, we intend to focus on identifying a business combination opportunity in industries or sectors that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business, including in the media and entertainment, consumer and retail and financial services sectors in the United States or globally, as well as the European mid-market private equity sectors. While our management team will seek to effect an initial business combination in order to pursue a strategy of acquiring and operating a business, following our initial business combination we will evaluate all opportunities to enhance stockholder value as they arise, including but not limited to a subsequent merger or acquisition, sale of the company, capital stock exchange or other form of reorganization. We believe our management team is well-positioned to handle complexity and benefit from the inefficiency and misevaluations of others to create value for our stockholders, and that our contacts and sources, ranging from owners of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, attorneys, accountants and business brokers in our targeted sectors, will allow us to generate attractive acquisition opportunities in other sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations.

Colony is a leading global real estate and investment management firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California with 14 offices in 10 countries and more than 300 employees. Over the past 24 years, Colony has established 53 investment vehicles, including a publicly traded real estate investment trust, or REIT, global investment funds, dedicated regional investment funds, club transactions and investment-specific co-investment vehicles, raising an aggregate of over $25 billion of equity capital. Colony’s origins are rooted in distressed investing, and have spanned a broad spectrum of real estate, asset-intensive operating companies and other transactions in a myriad of sectors and geographies.

On April 2, 2015, Colony Capital acquired Colony Capital, LLC’s trademark name and substantially all of its real estate and investment management business and operations, which we refer to as the CLNY Combination. In connection with the CLNY Combination, Colony Capital changed its name from “Colony Financial, Inc.” to “Colony Capital, Inc.” Colony Capital reclassified its common stock as Class A common stock, which continues to be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “CLNY.”

Since inception, Colony has strived to adapt its investment strategy to capitalize on the different market opportunities that have arisen from time to time. Beginning in 1991, Colony became one of the pioneering purchasers of distressed assets from the Resolution Trust Corporation and the FDIC. In the mid-1990s, Colony identified comparable investment opportunities in Europe. As a result, Colony began to build a significant European presence with an initial investment focus on distressed real estate and asset-rich operating companies. As market opportunities again shifted in the mid- to late-1990s, Colony broadened its focus to include equity investments in real estate and real estate-related assets and businesses in the United States, Europe and Asia, and expanded its global presence by setting up operations in Asia to capitalize on opportunities arising from the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Since then, Colony has established several closed-end investment funds primarily focused on equity investments in real estate and operating businesses significantly dependent on real estate. As the global economy suffered a significant downturn beginning in late 2007 and commercial real estate fundamentals began to deteriorate, Colony leveraged its prior experiences to capitalize on distressed real estate debt opportunities and single-family homes for rent, while complementing this investment activity with an increasing slate of private equity-style investments in areas such as media and entertainment, consumer and retail and financial services.

At present, none of Colony’s existing sources of managed capital require priority access to any investment opportunities the objectives of which overlap with ours. We believe that we will be able to continue to draw upon Colony’s experience and expertise in identifying and capitalizing on further investment opportunities, including acquisitions well suited for our objectives.

 

 

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Our Management Team

We believe that we will benefit from the extensive operating and deal-making experience of our management team. Our management team is led by Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., our Chairman of the Board, Justin Chang (Co-Chief Executive Officer), Philippe M. Costeletos (Co-Chief Executive Officer), Jonathan Grunzweig (Chief Investment Officer and Secretary) and Neale Redington (Chief Financial Officer). We expect to also draw from the additional support and expertise of the broader Colony organization and the rest of its senior leadership team, which includes Richard Saltzman, Mark Hedstrom, Darren Tangen and Kevin Traenkle.

Acquisition Philosophy

We believe there are abundant acquisition opportunities within our target acquisition theses that will present attractive risk-return profiles. These acquisition theses are expected to reflect to some degree the principal acquisition themes that tend to impact our assessment of these kinds of opportunities, reflecting our management team’s long-standing philosophy that has proven effective for Colony across geographic regions and throughout a variety of market conditions. Our investment strategy will be based on the following related tenets:

Exploitation of Inefficiencies—In efficient markets, many fully informed and qualified buyers achieve market returns. We believe that events in the financial markets continue to cause significant dislocation between price and intrinsic value in certain of our target opportunities. In addition, we believe exploiting circumstances that impede other investors creates opportunities to realize above-average, risk-adjusted returns that can result from situations that are less than fully competitive. These competitive impediments that inhibit many other investors include: (i) structural and situational complexity, including transaction size; (ii) information advantages, which optimize assessment of the risks and rewards inherent in a prospective investment; (iii) local market expertise; (iv) proprietary transaction sourcing, which can yield acquisition opportunities that are secured without enduring an auction process; and (v) financial sophistication, which can be an important skill in arbitraging financial market inefficiencies. We intend to leverage Colony’s network of in-country offices and strategic partners, which we believe will provide us a competitive advantage by contributing specialized expertise, expanding our local presence in important geographic markets and providing access to proprietary deal flow.

Value-Added Executions—Successful execution of a contrarian acquisition strategy that exploits inefficiencies requires a commitment to value-enhancing management in conjunction with a well-developed business plan. While financial arbitrage alone can produce compelling returns, mastering transactional complexities and enhancing an investment’s value through hands-on management can foster our position as an ideal acquirer of a target business, while also supporting the delivery of returns intended to exceed those afforded by the arbitrage opportunity.

Cautious Contrarianism—We intend to be guided by a contrarian, opportunistic acquisition philosophy that has allowed our management team to identify and capitalize on situations not yet fully understood or exploited by others. We view the market as a set of interdependent and independent cycles constantly redefining opportunities within distinct product types, geographic areas, industries and capital markets. Low points within these respective cycles often present highly attractive acquisition opportunities, as sellers outnumber buyers in relatively illiquid markets. As an example, we are focused on the current structural imbalance in the European private equity market where a large number of firms are looking for liquidity for investments closed over the past decade, in what has been a volatile and uncertain public market environment. We believe that the early recognition of capital misalignments, recapitalization and restructuring opportunities can produce profits as liquidity returns and valuation multiples expand during such times of cyclical recovery.

 

 

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Capitalizing on the Impact of “Disruptive” Forces—We intend to seek opportunities that arise from the impact of “disruptive” forces on the operations of any number of business lines, as industries such as media and entertainment struggle to adapt to the impact of developments such as Internet marketing and distribution, “rentership society” trends and other such “new economy” trends while laden with legacy and outdated or soon-to-be outdated organizational and operational structures based on outdated outlooks.

Situational Opportunities—We believe, based on our management team’s track record at Colony and its acquisition philosophy, that among the acquisition opportunities that management may identify and secure for us will be one or more prospective deals designed to benefit from their ability to distinguish and create transactions with attractive terms due to the facts and circumstances attendant to the specific situation. An example of these kinds of transactions would be deals conceived and structured with a particular effort to satisfy a selling party’s circumstantial objectives. Whether the circumstances surrounding an acquisition opportunity involve a shifting focus to so-called “core businesses”, a seller under duress divesting a healthy business, a seller that has grown disenchanted with a business, or a complex growth opportunity, we believe that our management team has long evidenced the ability to identify and structure successful deals with these characteristics, and will seek to continue to source such opportunities for us.

Competitive Strengths

We intend to leverage the following sources of competitive strengths in seeking to achieve our acquisition objectives:

Experienced Management Team with Expertise in a Broad Array of Sectors and Geographies—Over Colony’s 24-year history, our management team has built a distinguished track record of investing more than $60 billion in assets across a broad array of sectors, including real estate, lodging, media and entertainment, consumer and retail and financial services. Our officers, Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Justin Chang, Philippe M. Costeletos, Jonathan H. Grunzweig and Neale Redington have an average of 29 years of experience in investing and financing, including in both private equity-style and public security investments. In addition, our deep bench of deal partners possesses a broad range of regional and sector specializations and is highly motivated to contribute to our success. We believe our management team’s diverse sector experience and broad geographic experience throughout the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia represent significant competitive strengths in achieving our acquisition objectives.

From Colony’s inception to its expansion of significant operations and world-wide presence in the mid- to late-1990’s, Colony’s global footprint is expected to be a source of attractive, actionable acquisition opportunities for us. Representative transactions completed by one or more investment vehicles managed by Colony include:

 

    Formation of Colony American Finance, or CAF, in 2014 with an initial investment of approximately $250 million to create a leading financial services company in the single family residential lending industry; CAF has now closed in excess of $1 billion in loans since inception;

 

    $428 million acquisition of LodgeNet (renamed Sonifi), a leading U.S. provider of hospitality-based guest entertainment, as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy in 2013;

 

    Formation of Colony American Homes, or CAH, an institutional owner and manager of single family rental homes with total asset value of over $4 billion, in 2012. In January 2016, CAH and Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust (NYSE: SWAY) consummated a stock-for-stock transaction resulting in a combined company, named Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR), that owns and manages over 30,000 homes with an aggregate asset value in excess of $7 billion;

 

    $660 million acquisition of Miramax Films, the film library of an independent film production studio based in the U.S. with approximately 700 titles, including 68 Academy Award-winning films, from The Walt Disney Company in 2010;

 

 

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    $1.9 billion acquisition of First Republic Bank, or FRB, from Bank of America in 2010; Colony exited the FRB investment in 2013;

 

    $4.0 billion acquisition of Kerzner International, or Kerzner, a developer and operator of destination resorts, One&Only resorts, and gaming properties worldwide, in 2007;

 

    $30 million controlling investment for 55% stake in MARS Entertainment Group, or Mars, which included Mars Cinema, the largest movie theater chain in Turkey, and Mars Athletic Club, a chain of luxury fitness centers in Turkey, in 2007. Over the course of Colony’s investment, our management team helped to grow aggregate group revenues and EBITDA for Mars by more than 200% and 300%, respectively; Colony exited the MARS investment in 2010;

 

    $1 billion acquisition of Raffles Hotels and Resorts, or Raffles, in 2006 and subsequent merger of Raffles as part of Colony’s $4.0 billion acquisition of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, or Fairmont, alongside Kingdom Hotels International, or Kingdom, creating a global hospitality management company with over 100 flagged hotels totaling over 42,000 guest rooms in 23 countries; Colony exited the Raffles investment in 2013;

 

    Take-private transaction of Buffalo Grill, a themed restaurant and steakhouse chain in France, in 2005 in a transaction valued at approximately €340 million; Colony exited the Buffalo Grill investment in 2008.

Access to Proprietary Investment Opportunities—Our management team has extensive long-term relationships with owners, entrepreneurs and financial intermediaries. This network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that has resulted in numerous Colony transactions which were proprietary or where only a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale process. We believe these relationships will provide access to an ongoing pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities, both domestic and international. We further believe that these recent investments demonstrate our management team’s ability to identify and secure acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.

Despite the acquisition experience of our management team, none of our officers and directors has had direct experience with special purpose acquisition companies. Any past experience of Colony or our management team is not a guarantee either: (i) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (ii) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of Colony’s or our management team’s performance as indicative of our future performance.

Acquisition Criteria

We have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are consistent with our acquisition philosophy and important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

    Exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe are being underappreciated or misevaluated by the marketplace based on our company specific analysis and due diligence review. For a potential target business, this process will include, among other things, a review and analysis of the company’s capital structure, quality of earnings, potential for operational improvements, corporate governance, customers, material contracts, and industry background and trends. We intend to leverage the operational experience and disciplined investment approach of our management team and those of Colony to identify opportunities to unlock value that Colony’s 24-year experience in complex situations will allow us to pursue.

 

 

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    Are underperforming in their potential in industries that are otherwise exhibiting stable or improving fundamentals. We intend to evaluate each industry and the target businesses within those industries based on several factors, including the potential for sustainable competitive advantage, growth in excess of gross domestic product, ability to generate attractive returns and the sustainability of profit margins.

 

    Are at an inflection point, such as those requiring additional management expertise or are able to innovate by developing new products or services, or where we believe we can drive improved financial performance and where an acquisition may help facilitate growth. We believe that we are well-positioned to evaluate and improve a company’s growth prospects and help it realize the opportunities to create stockholder value following the consummation of a business combination.

 

    Have significant embedded and/or underexploited expansion opportunities. One of the key elements of Colony’s typical value creation approach is to acquire target businesses to accelerate their growth by leveraging Colony’s global relationships, infrastructure and resources. This can be accomplished through a combination of accelerating organic growth and finding attractive add-on acquisition targets. Our management team has significant experience in identifying such targets and helping management of such target businesses assess the strategic and financial fit. Similarly, our management team has the expertise to assess the likely synergies and a process to help such a target business integrate acquisitions.

 

    Will offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our stockholders. We will seek to acquire a target on terms and in a manner that leverages our experience in transformational investing. Financial returns will be evaluated based on (i) the potential for organic growth in cash flows, (ii) the ability to achieve cost savings, (iii) the ability to accelerate growth, including through the opportunity for follow-on acquisitions and (iv) the prospects for creating value through other value creation initiatives. Potential upside from growth in the target business’ earnings and an improved capital structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.

Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

If members of our management team acquire public shares or warrants after this offering, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to

 

 

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effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration, and our officers and directors have not had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriters or other advisors. Certain of the members of our management team are employed by Colony Capital or certain affiliates of Colony Capital. Colony Capital is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with us. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with whom we have had substantive discussions with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company with whom our sponsor has had substantive discussions on our behalf, as an acquisition candidate, prior to completion of this offering. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive 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 any such acquisition candidate.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, a change of control of our sponsor is defined as our sponsor ceasing to be wholly owned by Colony Capital Operating Partnership and its affiliates. Pursuant to a credit agreement (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time) among Colony Capital Operating Partnership, certain lenders party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent has been pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations under the credit agreement. The foreclosure on the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent would result in a change of control of our sponsor, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

 

 

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Initial Business Combination

The NASDAQ rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders will not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the 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 would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

Corporate Information

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

 

 

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In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th; and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Our executive offices are located at 515 South Flower Street, 44th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071 and our telephone number is (310) 282-8820.

 

 

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THE OFFERING

In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the backgrounds of the members of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company and the fact that this offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in Rule 419 blank check offerings. You should carefully consider these and the other risks set forth in the section below entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 28 of this prospectus.

 

Securities offered

30,000,000 units, at $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of:

 

    one share of Class A common stock; and

 

    one warrant to purchase one-half of one share of Class A common stock.

 

NASDAQ symbols

Units: “CCACU”

 

  Class A Common Stock: “CCAC”

 

  Warrants: “CCACW”

 

Trading commencement and separation of Class A common stock and warrants

The units will begin trading promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC 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 announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants.

 

Separate trading of the Class A common stock and warrants is prohibited until we have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K

     In no event will the Class A 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 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.

 

 

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Units:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

0

 

Number outstanding after this offering

30,000,000(1)

Common stock:

 

Number outstanding before this offering

8,625,000(2)(4)

 

Number outstanding after this offering

37,500,000(1)(3)(4)

Warrants:

 

Number of private placement warrants to be
sold in a private placement simultaneously
with this offering

16,000,000(1)

 

Number of warrants to be outstanding after
this offering and the private placement

46,000,000(1)

 

Exercisability

Each warrant offered in this offering is exercisable to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. As a result, warrant holders not purchasing an even number of warrants must sell any odd number of warrants in order to obtain any value from the fractional interest that will not be issued. We structured each warrant to be exercisable for one-half of one share of our Class A common stock, as compared to warrants issued by some other similar blank check companies which are exercisable for one whole share, in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination as compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses.

 

(1) Assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the forfeiture by our sponsor of 1,125,000 founder shares.
(2) This number consists solely of founder shares and includes up to 1,125,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. Except as otherwise specified, the rest of this prospectus has been drafted to give effect to the full forfeiture of these 1,125,000 shares.
(3) Includes 30,000,000 public shares and 7,500,000 founder shares.
(4) Founder shares are classified as shares of Class F common stock, which shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as described below adjacent to the caption “Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution.”

 

 

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Exercise price

$5.75 per half share of Class A common stock ($11.50 per whole share of Class A common stock), subject to adjustments as described herein.

 

Exercise period

The warrants will become exercisable on the later of:

 

    30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; and

 

    12 months from the closing of this offering;

 

  provided in each case that we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or we permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis under the circumstances specified in the warrant agreement).

 

  We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants at this time. However, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC and have an effective registration statement covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed; provided, that if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement.

 

  The warrants will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, five years after the completion of our initial business combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. On the exercise of any warrant, the warrant exercise price will be paid directly to us and not placed in the trust account.

 

Redemption of warrants

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the private placement warrants):

 

    in whole and not in part;

 

    at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

    upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, which we refer to as the 30-day redemption period; and

 

 

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    if, and only if, the last reported sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $24.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

  We will not redeem the warrants unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period, except if the warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

  If 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 determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A 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 Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. Please see the section entitled “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants” for additional information.

 

  None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

Founder shares

In December 2015, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by our sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount of cash contributed to us by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size

 

 

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of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class F common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Up to 1,125,000 founder shares are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.

 

  The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that:

 

    the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below;

 

    our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees have entered into letter agreements with us, pursuant to which they have agreed: (i) to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares, as applicable, in connection with the completion of our initial business combination; and (ii) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame). If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination; and

 

    the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described in more detail below.

 

Transfer restrictions on founder shares

Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of its founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; or (ii) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (except as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this prospectus as the lock-up.

 

 

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  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.

 

Founder shares conversion and anti-dilution rights

The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class F common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class F common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination or pursuant to warrants issued to our sponsor.

 

Voting

Holders of the Class F common stock and holders of the Class A common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, except as required by law. Each share of common stock shall have one vote.

 

Private placement warrants

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 private placement warrants (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), each exercisable to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at $5.75 per half share, at a price of $0.50 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. The purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law) and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees (except as described below under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares

 

 

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and Private Placement Warrants”). If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold as part of this offering. Our sponsor, or its permitted transferees, has the option to exercise the private placement warrants on a cashless basis.

 

Transfer restrictions on private placement warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

 

Proceeds to be held in trust account

The rules of NASDAQ provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds we will receive from this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants described in this prospectus, $300.0 million ($10.00 per unit), or $345.0 million ($10.00 per unit) if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, will be deposited into a segregated trust account located in the United States with AST acting as trustee and $2.0 million will be used to pay expenses in connection with the closing of this offering and for working capital following this offering. The proceeds to be placed in the trust account include $10,500,000 (or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in deferred underwriting commissions.

 

  Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the proceeds from this offering will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor); and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), subject to applicable law. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could become subject to the claims of our creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of our public stockholders.

 

Anticipated expenses and funding sources

Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, no proceeds held in the trust account will be available for our use, except the withdrawal of interest to pay taxes. Based upon current interest rates, we expect the trust account to generate approximately $60,000

 

 

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of interest annually (assuming an interest rate of 0.02% per year). Unless and until we complete our initial business combination, we may pay our expenses only from:

 

    the net proceeds of this offering not held in the trust account, which will be approximately $1,250,000 in working capital after the payment of approximately $750,000 in expenses relating to this offering; and

 

    any loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their affiliates or other third parties, although they are under no obligation to advance funds or invest in us, and provided any such loans will not have any claim on the proceeds held in the trust account unless such proceeds are released to us upon completion of our initial business combination.

 

Conditions to completing our initial business combination

     There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. The NASDAQ rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.

 

  If our board of directors is not able to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm. Our stockholders will not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We will complete our initial business combination only if the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 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 our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination transaction. 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 net assets test, provided that in the event that our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

 

 

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Permitted purchases of public shares by our affiliates

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information; and (ii) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

 

  We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will not make any purchases if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

 

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

    

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business

 

 

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combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering.

 

Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either: (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

 

  If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

    conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and

 

    file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

 

 

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  Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

 

  In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.

 

  If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will:

 

    conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and

 

    file proxy materials with the SEC.

 

  If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our sponsor will count towards this quorum and has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to any public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

 

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  Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

 

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold stockholder vote

    

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering. We believe the restriction described above will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to redeem their shares as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights against a business combination if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we

 

 

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would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including all shares held by those stockholders that hold more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering) for or against our initial business combination.

 

Redemption rights in connection with proposed amendments to our certificate of incorporation

     Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain charter provisions. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that it may be amended by holders of a majority of our common stock, subject to applicable provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, or applicable stock exchange rules. Our sponsor, who will beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering (assuming it does not purchase any units in this offering), may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner it may choose. Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering.

 

 

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Release of funds in trust account on closing of our initial business combination

     On the completion of our initial business combination, all amounts held in the trust account will be released to us. We will use these funds to pay amounts due to any public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights as described above under “Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination,” to pay the underwriters their deferred underwriting commissions, to pay all or a portion of the consideration payable to the target or owners of the target of our initial business combination and to pay other expenses associated with our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of post-transaction businesses, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

 

Redemption of public shares and distribution and liquidation if no initial business combination

     Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, a change of control of our sponsor) to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period.

 

 

Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has waived its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete

 

 

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our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or any of their affiliates acquires public shares after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time frame. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission held in the trust account in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the trust account that will be available to fund the redemption of our public shares.

 

  Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).

 

Limited payments to insiders

There will be no finder’s fees, reimbursements or cash payments made to our sponsor, officers or directors or our or any of their affiliates, for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, other than the following payments, none of which will be made from the proceeds of this offering held in the trust account prior to the completion of our initial business combination:

 

    Repayment of up to an aggregate of $200,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering;

 

    Payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support;

 

    Reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination; and

 

   

Repayment of loans which may be made by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to

 

 

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finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which have not been determined nor have any written agreements been executed with respect thereto. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $0.50 per warrant at the option of the lender.

 

  Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors or our or any of their affiliates.

 

Audit Committee

Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement, we will have established and will maintain an audit committee (which will be comprised of all independent directors) to, among other things, monitor compliance with the terms described above and the other terms relating to this offering. If any noncompliance is identified, then the audit committee will be charged with the responsibility to immediately take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise to cause compliance with the terms of this offering. For more information, see the section entitled “Management—Committees of the Board of Directors—Audit Committee.”

 

Conflicts of Interest

Colony Capital manages several investment vehicles. Entities managed by Colony Capital or its affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Colony Capital may be suitable for both us and for a current or future entity managed by Colony Capital and may be directed to such entity rather than to us. None of the members of our management team who are also employed by Colony Capital or certain affiliates of Colony Capital have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. Colony Capital and/or our management, in their capacities as officers or managing directors of Colony Capital or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with Colony Capital investment vehicles or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us.

 

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or

 

 

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directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

 

Indemnity

Colony Capital Operating Partnership has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Colony Capital Operating Partnership will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether Colony Capital Operating Partnership has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we have not asked Colony Capital Operating Partnership to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that Colony Capital Operating Partnership would be able to satisfy those obligations. We believe the likelihood of Colony Capital Operating Partnership having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

Risks

We are a newly-formed company that has conducted no operations and has generated no revenues. Until we complete our initial business combination, we will have no operations and will generate no operating revenues. In making your decision whether to invest in our securities, you should take into account not only the background of our management team, but also the special risks we face as a blank check company. This offering is not being conducted in compliance with Rule 419 promulgated under the Securities Act. Accordingly, 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 of This Offering to Those 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 28 of this prospectus.

 

 

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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, so only balance sheet data is presented.

 

     As of December 31, 2015  

Balance Sheet Data:

  

Working capital(1)

   $ 20,000   

Total assets

   $ 260,000   

Total liabilities

   $ 240,000   

Total stockholder’s equity

   $ 20,000   

 

(1) Working capital is defined as assets less liabilities.

If our initial business combination is not completed within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period.

 

 

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to invest in our units. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

We are a newly-formed company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

We are a recently formed company with no operating results, and we will not commence operations until obtaining funding through this offering. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

Past performance by Colony, including our management team, may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, Colony is presented for informational purposes only. Any past acquisition experience of Colony or our management team is not a guarantee either: (i) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (ii) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of Colony’s or our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. None of our officers or directors has had experience with special purpose acquisition corporations in the past.

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons. For instance, the NASDAQ rules currently allow us to engage in a tender offer in lieu of a stockholder meeting but would still require us to obtain stockholder approval if we were seeking to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares to a target business as consideration in any business combination. Therefore, if we were structuring a business combination that required us to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares, we would seek stockholder approval of such business combination. However, except for as required by law, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock do not approve of the business combination we consummate. Please see the section entitled “Proposed Business—Stockholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

 

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

Unlike many other blank check companies in which the sponsor agrees to vote its founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public stockholders in connection with an initial business combination, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares, as well as any public shares purchased during or after this offering, in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. Our sponsor will own 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of this offering. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary stockholder approval will be received than would be the case if our sponsor agreed to vote its founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public stockholders.

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of the business combination.

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses. Since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding our initial business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price or

 

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requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares are submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

If our business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach the end of the 24 month period from the closing of this offering, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we must complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable, and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

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Pursuant to a credit agreement (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time) among Colony Capital Operating Partnership, certain lenders party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent has been pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations under the credit agreement. The foreclosure on the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent would result in a change of control of our sponsor, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. See “Proposed Business—Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination.”

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may elect to purchase shares from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the publicfloat of our common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such public stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling public stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of such purchases would be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of our initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, possibly making it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business—Business Strategy—Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights.”

 

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You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. To liquidate your investment, therefore, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor); and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

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

We intend to apply to have our units listed on NASDAQ on or promptly after the date of this prospectus and our Class A common stock and warrants listed on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to this offering we expect to meet the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the NASDAQ listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on NASDAQ in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on NASDAQ prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. In general, we must maintain a minimum amount in stockholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 round-lot holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with NASDAQ’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than NASDAQ’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on NASDAQ. For instance, our stock price would generally be required to be at least $4 per share and our stockholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5 million. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

If NASDAQ delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

    a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

    reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

    a determination that our Class A common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

 

    a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

    a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our units and eventually our Class A common stock and warrants will be listed on NASDAQ, our units, Class A common stock and warrants will qualify as covered securities under such statute. 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

 

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having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on NASDAQ, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under such statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

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

Since the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the U.S. securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the successful completion of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants 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 in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units will be immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if this offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of our initial business combination. For a more detailed comparison of our offering to offerings that comply with Rule 419, please see “Proposed Business—Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419.”

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or agroup of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on our redemption, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting,

 

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directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, if we are obligated to pay cash for the shares of Class A common stock redeemed and, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we may make purchases of our Class A common stock, potentially reducing the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In certain circumstances, our public stockholders may receive less than $10.00 per share on the redemption of their shares. See “—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors below.

If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months following this offering, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination.

The funds available to us outside of the trust account may not be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months following this offering, assuming that our initial business combination is not completed during that time. We believe that, upon the closing of this offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

If the net proceeds of this offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of this offering, only approximately $1,250,000 will be available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have

 

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sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on our redemption of our public shares and our warrants will expire worthless.

Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, we may be required to subsequently take write-downs or write-offs, restructuring and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues that may be present with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. The fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

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

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Colony Capital Operating Partnership has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the

 

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extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Colony Capital Operating Partnership will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether Colony Capital Operating Partnership has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we have not asked Colony Capital Operating Partnership to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that Colony Capital Operating Partnership would be able to satisfy those obligations.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of Colony Capital Operating Partnership, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) other than due to the failure to obtain such waiver such lesser amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and Colony Capital Operating Partnership asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against Colony Capital Operating Partnership to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against Colony Capital Operating Partnership to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in certain instances. 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, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover orclawback such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the

 

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trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.

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

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:

 

    restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

 

    restrictions on the issuance of securities;

each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

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

 

    registration as an investment company with the SEC;

 

    adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

    reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and compliance with other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. treasuries and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Because the investment of the proceeds will be restricted to these instruments, we believe we will meet the requirements for the exemption provided in Rule 3a-1 promulgated under the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to consummate our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.

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

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

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to

 

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our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 24th month from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, a change of control of our sponsor) in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures.

Because we do not intend to comply with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination and you will not be entitled to any of the corporate protections provided by such a meeting.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination (unless required by NASDAQ) and thus may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting of stockholders be held for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with a company’s bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time, and such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on acashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless.

We are not registering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial

 

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business combination, to use our best efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of such shares and maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder or an exemption is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the shares of Class A common stock included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of Class A common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

The grant of registration rights to our sponsor and its permitted transferees may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to complete. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the common stock and private placement warrants owned by our sponsor or holders of our working capital loans or their respective permitted transferees are registered for resale.

Because we are neither limited to evaluating target businesses in a particular industry nor have we identified any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.

We may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector, but we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial

 

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business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet identified or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

We may seek acquisition opportunities in companies that may be outside of our management’s areas of expertise.

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s areas of expertise if such business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this prospectus regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following such business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the tender offer materials or proxy statement relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it

 

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may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may seek acquisition opportunities with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings.

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include volatile revenues or earnings and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

In addition, if our board of directors is not able to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, in connection with the NASDAQ rules that require that our initial business combination be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders will not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion.

Other than the two circumstances described above, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class F common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 25,000,000 shares of Class F common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. Immediately after this offering, there will be 447,000,000 and 17,500,000 (assuming in each case, that the

 

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underwriters have not exercised their over-allotment option) authorized but unissued shares of Class A and Class F common stock available, respectively, for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon the conversion of the Class F common stock. Shares of Class F common stock are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. Immediately after this offering, there will be no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock, and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class F common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

 

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

 

    may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

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

 

    may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, common stock and/or warrants.

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We are dependent upon our officers and directors and the departure of any of them could adversely affect our ability to operate.

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Moreover, certain of our officers and directors have time and attention requirements for private

 

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investment funds of which Colony Capital is the investment manager. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination and to be successful thereafter will be totally dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combination is dependent upon the efforts of our key personnel. The role of our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expend time and resources helping them become familiar with such requirements.

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may cause our key personnel to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination. Further, there is no certainty that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination.

Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. However, we believe the ability of such individuals to remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination will not be the determining factor in our decision as to whether or not we will proceed with any potential business combination. There is no certainty, however, that any of our key personnel will remain with us after the completion of our initial business combination and we cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with us. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with us will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may effect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any stockholders who choose to remain stockholders following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such stockholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

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The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The departure of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business. The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.

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

Following the completion of this offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Our sponsor and officers and directors are, or may in the future become, affiliated with entities that are engaged in a similar business. Moreover, certain of our officers and directors have time and attention requirements for entities of which Colony Capital is the investment manager.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Management—Directors, Director Nominees and Executive Officers,” “Management—Conflicts of Interest” and “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

In particular, affiliates of our sponsor have invested in a broad array of sectors, including real estate, lodging, media and entertainment and consumer and retail, as well as with regulated industries such as financial services, casinos, and hospitals. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would make an attractive target for such other affiliates.

 

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We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers and directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Management—Conflicts of Interest.” Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination as set forth in “Proposed Business—Effecting our initial business combination—Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public stockholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Since our sponsor will lose its entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares it may acquire during or after this offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

In December 2015, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants, each exercisable for one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at $5.75 per half share, for a purchase price of $8,000,000 (or $8,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), or $0.50 per warrant, that will also be worthless if we do not complete our initial business combination.

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, except that: (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions; (ii) our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (b) to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) (although our sponsor will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares it holds if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame); and (iii) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein. In addition, our officers and directors have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to any public shares acquired by them following this offering.

The financial interests of our sponsor may influence its motivation in completing our initial business combination, and the association of our officers with our sponsor may also influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination.

 

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We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this prospectus to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete a business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

    our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

    using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

 

    limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

    increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

 

    limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.

The net proceeds from this offering and the private placement of warrants will provide us with $300,000,000 (or $345,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) that we may use to complete our initial business combination (which includes $10,500,000 or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).

 

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We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single target business or multiple target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However, we may not be able to effectuate our initial business combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity our lack of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operations or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

 

    solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or

 

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

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

We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to complete our initial business combination and give rise to increased costs and risks that could negatively impact our operations and profitability.

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us, and delay our ability, to complete our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

We may attempt to complete our initial business combination with a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. By definition, very little public information exists about private companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. We cannot provide assurance that, upon loss of control of a target business, new management will possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or

 

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more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination 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 of common stock in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares of common stock, our stockholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority stockholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s stock than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.

We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our stockholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (such that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public stockholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all shares of common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

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 public warrants is higher than is typical in many similar blank check companies in the past. 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 $5.75 per half share, or $11.50 per whole share. As a result, the warrants are less likely to ever be in the money and more likely to expire worthless.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our stockholders may not support.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and modified governing instruments. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds and changed industry focus. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our charter or governing instruments in order to effectuate our initial business combination.

 

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The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) will provide that it may be amended with the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our stockholders may not support.

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s stockholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public stockholders. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of this offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public stockholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of 65% of our common stock. In all other instances, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that it may be amended by holders of a majority of our common stock, subject to applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules. Our sponsor, who will beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which will govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete our initial business combination with which you do not agree. Our stockholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

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

Although we believe that the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial 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 and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to repurchase for cash a significant number of shares from stockholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or stockholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may only receive $10.00 per share, or possibly less than $10.00 per share, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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Our sponsor controls a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

Upon the closing of this offering, our sponsor will own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (assuming it does not purchase units in this offering).

Accordingly, our sponsor may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a stockholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of major corporate transactions. If our sponsor purchases any additional shares of common stock in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its influence.

Our sponsor has no current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this prospectus, and our directors and officers have no current intention of purchasing any of our securities. Factors that would be considered in making such purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A common stock. Our sponsor may also purchase public shares for the purpose of voting such shares in favor of our initial business combination, thereby increasing the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of our initial business combination, or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases of our securities.” We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of our initial business combination.

Our sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per founder share, and, accordingly, you will experience immediate and substantial dilution from the purchase of our Class A common stock.

The difference between the public offering price per share (allocating all of the unit purchase price to the common stock and none to the warrant included in the unit) and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock after this offering constitutes the dilution to you and the other investors in this offering. Our sponsor acquired the founder shares at a nominal price, significantly contributing to this dilution. Upon the closing of this offering, and assuming no value is ascribed to the warrants included in the units, you and the other public stockholders will incur an immediate and substantial dilution of approximately 94.4% (or $9.44 per share, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), the difference between the pro forma net tangible book value per share of $0.56 and the initial offering price of $10.00 per unit. This dilution would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class F common stock result in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class F common stock at the time of our initial business combination and would become exacerbated to the extent that public stockholders seek redemptions from the trust. In addition, because of the anti-dilution protection in the founder shares, any equity or equity-linked securities issued in connection with our initial business combination would be disproportionately dilutive to our Class A common stock.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants.

Our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between AST, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

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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 our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $24.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to: (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.

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

We will be issuing warrants to purchase 15,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 17,250,000 shares of Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) as part of the units offered by this prospectus and, simultaneously with the closing of this offering, we will be issuing in a private placement an aggregate of 16,000,000 (or up to 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants to purchase 8,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock (or up to 8,900,000 shares of our Class A common stock if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). To the extent we issue shares of Class A common stock to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and reduce the value of the shares of Class A common stock issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants sold as part of the units in this offering except that, so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees: (i) they will not be redeemable by us; (ii) they (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of these warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination; and (iii) they may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis.

Because each warrant is exercisable for only one-half of one share of our Class A common stock, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

Each warrant is exercisable for one-half of one share of Class A common stock. Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. As a result, warrant holders not purchasing an even number of warrants must sell any odd number of warrants in order to obtain any value from the fractional interest that will not be issued. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one share of Class A common stock and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the

 

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warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

The determination of the offering price of our units and the size of this offering is more arbitrary than the pricing of securities and size of an offering of an operating company in a particular industry. You may have less assurance, therefore, that the offering price of our units properly reflects the value of such units than you would have in a typical offering of an operating company.

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 the underwriters. In determining the size of this offering, management held customary organizational meetings with representatives of the underwriters, both prior to our inception and thereafter, with respect to the state of capital markets, generally, and the amount the underwriters believed they reasonably could raise on our behalf. Factors considered in determining the size of this offering, prices and terms of the units, including the Class A 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;

 

    our prospects for acquiring an operating business at attractive values;

 

    a review of debt to equity ratios in leveraged transactions;

 

    our capital structure;

 

    an assessment of our management and their experience in identifying suitable acquisition opportunities;

 

    general conditions of the securities markets at the time of this offering; and

 

    other factors as were deemed relevant.

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

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.

Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combination with some prospective target businesses.

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be

 

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required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financing reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

We are an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2017. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply

 

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with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete a business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and Delaware law may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A common stock and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that stockholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preferred shares, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

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.

If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

If our management team pursues a company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign market, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

 

    costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;

 

    rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

    complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

    laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

 

    tariffs and trade barriers;

 

    regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

    longer payment cycles;

 

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

 

    currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

    rates of inflation;

 

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    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 may not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such combination or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

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

 

    our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

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

 

    our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses;

 

    our sponsors, officers and directors potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

 

    our ability to draw from the support and expertise of the Colony organization and the rest of its senior leadership team;

 

    our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

 

    our pool of prospective target businesses, including the location and industry of such target businesses;

 

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

 

    our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

    the lack of a market for our securities;

 

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

 

    the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

 

    our 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” beginning on page 28. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We are offering 30,000,000 units at an offering price of $10.00 per unit. We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering together with the funds we will receive from the sale of the private placement warrants will be used as set forth in the following table.

 

     Without
Over-Allotment
Option
    Over-Allotment
Option
Exercised
 

Gross proceeds

    

Gross proceeds from units offered to public(1)

   $ 300,000,000      $ 345,000,000   

Gross proceeds from private placement warrants offered in the private placement

     8,000,000        8,900,000   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross proceeds

   $ 308,000,000      $ 353,900,000   

Offering expenses(2)

    

Underwriting commissions (2.0% of gross proceeds from units offered to public, excluding deferred portion)(3)

   $ 6,000,000      $ 6,900,000   

Legal fees and expenses

     300,000        300,000   

Printing and engraving expenses

     40,000        40,000   

Accounting fees and expenses

     40,000        40,000   

SEC/FINRA Expenses

     86,992        86,992   

Travel and road show

     90,000        90,000   

Directors and officers insurance

     95,000        95,000   

NASDAQ listing and filing fees

     75,000        75,000   

Miscellaneous expenses

     23,008        23,008   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total offering expenses (other than underwriting commissions)

     750,000        750,000   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Proceeds after offering expenses

   $ 301,250,000      $ 346,250,000   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Held in trust account(3)

   $ 300,000,000      $ 345,000,000   

% of public offering size

     100     100

Not held in trust account

   $ 1,250,000      $ 1,250,000   

The following table shows the use of the approximately $1,250,000 of net proceeds not held in the trust account.(4)

 

     Amount      % of
Total
 

Legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses in connection with any business combination(5)

   $ 500,000         40.0

Legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting obligations

     200,000         16.0   

Payment for office space, administrative and support services

     240,000         19.2   

Reserve for liquidation expenses

     100,000         8.0   

NASDAQ continued listing fees

     75,000         6.0   

Other miscellaneous expenses (including franchise taxes net of anticipated interest income)

     135,000         10.8   
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 1,250,000         100.0
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1) Includes amounts payable to public stockholders who properly redeem their shares in connection with our successful completion of our initial business combination.
(2) Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has loaned us up to $200,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon completion of this offering out of the $750,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated for the payment of offering expenses other than underwriting commissions. In the event that offering expenses are less than set forth in this table, any such amounts will be used for post-closing working capital expenses.

 

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(3) The underwriters have agreed to defer underwriting commissions equal to 3.5% of the gross proceeds of this offering. Upon completion of our initial business combination, $10,500,000, which constitutes the underwriters’ deferred commissions (or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be paid to the underwriters from the funds held in the trust account and the remaining funds will be released to us and can be used to pay all or a portion of the purchase price of the business or businesses with which our initial business combination occurs or for general corporate purposes, including payment of principal or interest on indebtedness incurred in connection with our initial business combination, to fund the purchases of other companies or for working capital. The underwriters will not be entitled to any interest accrued on the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions.
(4) These expenses 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 a business combination based upon the level of complexity of such business combination. In the event we identify an acquisition target in a specific industry subject to specific regulations, we may incur additional expenses associated with legal due diligence and the engagement of special legal counsel. In addition, our staffing needs may vary and as a result, we may engage a number of consultants to assist with legal and financial due diligence. 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 not be available for our expenses. The amount in the table above does not include interest available to us from the trust account. Based on current interest rates, we would expect approximately $120,000 to be available to us from interest earned on the funds held in the trust account over 24 months following the closing of this offering; however, we can provide no assurances regarding this amount. This estimate assumes an interest rate of 0.02% per annum based upon current yields of securities in which the trust account may be invested. In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $0.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.
(5) Includes estimated amounts that may also be used in connection with our initial business combination to fund a “no shop” provision and commitment fees for financing.

The rules of NASDAQ provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account. Of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $300,000,000 (or $345,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), including $10,500,000 (or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions, will be placed in a trust account with AST acting as trustee and will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Based on current interest rates, we estimate that the interest earned on the trust account will be approximately $60,000 per year, assuming an interest rate of 0.02% per year. We will not be permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the trust account, except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the proceeds from

 

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this offering will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance and timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor); and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), subject to applicable law. Based on current interest rates, we do not expect that interest earned on the trust account will be sufficient to pay taxes.

The net proceeds held in the trust account may be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination, we may apply the balance of the cash released from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

We believe that amounts not held in trust will be sufficient to pay the costs and expenses to which such proceeds are allocated. This belief is based on the fact that while we may begin preliminary due diligence of a target business in connection with an indication of interest, we intend to undertake in-depth due diligence, depending on the circumstances of the relevant prospective acquisition, only after we have negotiated and signed a letter of intent or other preliminary agreement that addresses the terms of a business combination. However, 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, we may be required to raise additional capital, the amount, availability and cost of which is currently unascertainable. If we are required to seek additional capital, we could seek such additional capital through loans or additional investments from our sponsor, members of our management team or any of their affiliates, but such persons are not under any obligation to advance funds to, or invest in, us.

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has loaned us up to $200,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of June 30, 2016 or the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $750,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $0.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

 

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If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business—Permitted purchases of our securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

We may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) and the agreement for our business combination may require as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights so that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement or any net worth or cash requirements, we would not proceed with the redemption of our public shares or the business combination, and instead may search for an alternate business combination.

A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor); and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), subject to applicable law. In no other circumstances will a public stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account.

Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one entered into by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. In addition, our sponsor has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. However, if our sponsor or any of our officers, directors or affiliates acquires public shares in or after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

 

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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 our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. 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 this offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend or other appropriate mechanism immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in an amount as to maintain the ownership of our sponsor prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, 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 of Class A common stock, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units we are offering pursuant to this prospectus or the private placement warrants, and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our Class A common stock 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 private placement warrants, which would cause the actual dilution to the public stockholders to be higher, particularly where a cashless exercise is utilized. 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 Class A common stock which may be redeemed for cash), by the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.

At December 31, 2015, our net tangible book value was $20,000, or approximately $0.002 per share of Class F common stock. After giving effect to the sale of 30,000,000 shares of Class A common stock included in the units we are offering by this prospectus, the sale of the private placement warrants and the deduction of underwriting commissions and estimated expenses of this offering, our pro forma net tangible book value at December 31, 2015 would have been $5,000,001 or $0.56 per share, representing an immediate increase in net tangible book value (as decreased by the value of the approximately 28,576,999 shares of Class A common stock that may be redeemed for cash in connection with our initial business combination and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) of $9.44 per share to our sponsor as of the date of this prospectus and an immediate dilution of $10.00 per share or 100% to our public stockholders not exercising their redemption rights. Total dilution to public stockholders from this offering will be $9.44 per share. The dilution to new investors if the underwriters exercise the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full would be an immediate dilution of $9.51 per share or 95.1%.

The following table illustrates the dilution to the public stockholders on a per share basis, assuming no value is attributed to the warrants included in the units or the private placement warrants:

 

Public offering price

     $ 10.00   

Net tangible book value before this offering

   $ 0.002     

Increase attributable to public stockholders

     9.438     

Decrease attributable to public shares subject to redemption

     (10.00  
  

 

 

   
    

Pro forma net tangible book value after this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants

     $ 0.56   
    

 

 

 
    
    

 

 

 

Dilution to public stockholders

     $ 9.44   
    

 

 

 

For purposes of presentation, we have reduced our pro forma net tangible book value after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) by $285,769,999 because holders of up to approximately 95% of our public shares may redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account at a per share redemption price equal to the amount in the trust account as set forth in our tender offer or proxy materials (initially anticipated to be the aggregate amount held in trust two days prior to the commencement of our tender offer or stockholders meeting, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) divided by the number of shares of Class A common stock sold in this offering).

The following table sets forth information with respect to our sponsor and the public stockholders:

 

     Shares Purchased     Total Consideration     Average
Price per
Share
 
     Number      Percentage     Amount      Percentage    

Sponsor(1)(2)

     7,500,000         20.00   $ 25,000         0.01   $ 0.003   

Public Stockholders

     30,000,000         80.00        300,000,000         99.99   $ 10.00   
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   
     37,500,000         100.0   $ 300,025,000         100.0  

 

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(1) Assumes the full forfeiture of 1,125,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised.
(2) Assumes conversion of Class F common stock into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. The dilution to public stockholders would increase to the extent that the anti-dilution provisions of the Class F common stock result in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon such conversion.

The number of shares of Class A common stock subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 is calculated as follows:

 

Net tangible book value before this offering

   $ 20,000   

Proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants, net of expenses

     301,250,000   

Less: deferred underwriters’ commissions payable

     (10,500,000
  

 

 

 

Net tangible book value after giving effect to this offering and sale of the private placement warrants

   $ 290,770,000   

Less: required minimum net tangible assets

     (5,000,001
  

 

 

 

Amount available for redemption of Class A common stock

   $ 285,769,999   

Number of whole shares of Class A common stock that can be redeemed at $10 per share

     28,576,999   

The pro forma net tangible book value per share as of December 31, 2015 giving effect to the offering is calculated as follows:

 

Numerator:

  

Net tangible book value before this offering

   $ 20,000   

Proceeds from this offering and sale of the private placement warrants, net of expenses

     301,250,000   

Offering costs excluded from net tangible book value before this offering

     —     

Less: deferred underwriters’ commissions payable

     (10,500,000

Less: amount of Class A common stock subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001

     (285,769,999)   
  

 

 

 
   $ 5,000,001   
  

 

 

 

Denominator:

  

Shares of Class F common stock outstanding prior to this offering

     8,625,000   

Shares forfeited if over-allotment is not exercised

     (1,125,000

Shares of Class A common stock included in the units offered

     30,000,000   

Less: shares subject to redemption to maintain net tangible assets of $5,000,001

     (28,576,999)   
  

 

 

 
     8,923,001   

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our capitalization at December 31, 2015 and as adjusted to give effect to the filing of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the sale of our 30,000,000 units in this offering for $300,000,000 (or $10.00 per unit) and the sale of 16,000,000 private placement warrants for $8,000,000 (or $0.50 per warrant) and the application of the estimated net proceeds (excluding net working capital of $1,250,000 not held in the trust account) of $306,750,000 derived from the sale of such securities:

 

     December 31, 2015  
     Actual     As Adjusted(1)  

Deferred underwriting commissions

   $ —        $ 10,500,000   

Loan payable to related party

     100,000        —     

Class A common stock, subject to redemption(2)

     —          285,769,999   

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

    

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding (actual); 5,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding (as adjusted)

     —            

Common Stock

    

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 125,000,000 shares authorized (actual); no shares issued or outstanding (actual); 500,000,000 shares authorized (as adjusted); 1,423,001(3) shares issued and outstanding (excluding 28,576,999 shares subject to redemption) (as adjusted)

     —          142   

Class F common stock, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized (actual); 8,625,000(3) shares issued and outstanding (actual); 25,000,000 shares authorized (as adjusted); 7,500,000(3) shares issued and outstanding (as adjusted)

     863        750   

Additional paid-in capital(4)

     24,137        5,004,109   

Accumulated deficit

     (5,000     (5,000)   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity

     20,000        5,000,001   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 120,000      $ 301,270,000   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1) Assumes the full forfeiture of 1,125,000 shares that are subject to forfeiture by our sponsor depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised. The proceeds of the sale of such shares will not be deposited into the trust account, the shares will not be eligible for redemption from the trust account nor will they be eligible to vote upon the initial business combination.
(2) Upon the completion of our initial business combination, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), subject to the limitations described herein whereby our net tangible assets will be maintained at a minimum of $5,000,001 and any limitations (including, but not limited to, cash requirements) created by the terms of the proposed business combination. The “as adjusted” amount of common stock, subject to redemption equals the “as adjusted” total assets of $301,270,000, less the “as adjusted” total liabilities of $10,500,000 less “as adjusted” total stockholder’s equity. The value of Class A common stock that may be redeemed is equal to $10.00 per share (which is the assumed redemption price) multiplied by 28,576,999 shares of Class A common stock, which is the maximum number of shares of common stock that may be redeemed for a $10.00 purchase price per share and still maintain at least $5,000,001 of net tangible assets.
(3) Actual share amount is prior to any forfeiture of founder shares by our sponsor and as adjusted share amount assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
(4) The “as adjusted” additional paid-in capital calculation is equal to the “as adjusted” total stockholder’s equity of $5,000,001, minus common stock (par value) of $892, minus the accumulated deficit of $(5,000).

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with respect to identifying any business combination target. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, stock and debt.

The issuance of additional shares of our stock in a business combination:

 

    may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in this offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class F common stock resulted in the issuance of Class A shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class F common stock;

 

    may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

 

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

 

    may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us; and

 

    may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our Class A common stock and/or warrants.

Similarly, if we issue debt securities or otherwise incur significant indebtedness, it could result in:

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

    our inability to pay dividends on our common stock;

 

    using a substantial portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which will reduce the funds available for dividends on our common stock if declared, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

 

    limitations on our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

 

    increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

 

    limitations on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compared to our competitors who have less debt.

 

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As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, as of December 31, 2015, we had $72,750 in cash and deferred offering costs of $187,250. Further, we expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to raise capital or to complete our initial business combination will be successful.

Results of Operations and Known Trends or Future Events

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for this offering. Following this offering, we will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. We will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents after this offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. After this offering, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses. We expect our expenses to increase substantially after the closing of this offering.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of this offering through receipt of $25,000 from the sale of the founder shares to our sponsor and up to $200,000 in loans from our sponsor. 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 commissions of $6,000,000 ($6,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) (excluding deferred underwriting commissions of $10,500,000 (or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)); and (ii) the sale of the private placement warrants for a purchase price of $8,000,000 (or $8,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), will be $301,250,000 (or $346,250,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). Of this amount, $300,000,000 (or $345,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be held in the trust account, which includes $10,500,000 (or up to $12,075,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) of deferred underwriting commissions. The remaining $1,250,000 will not be held in the trust account. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the trust account, including any amounts representing interest earned on the trust account (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and excluding deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial business combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes, if any. Delaware franchise tax is based on our authorized shares or on our assumed par and non-par capital, whichever yields a lower result. Under the authorized shares method, each share is taxed at a graduated rate based on the number of authorized shares with a maximum aggregate tax of $180,000 per year. Under the assumed par value capital method, Delaware taxes each $1,000,000 of assumed par value capital at the rate of $350; where assumed par value would be (i) our total gross assets following this offering, divided by (ii) our total issued shares of common stock following this offering, multiplied by (iii) the number of our authorized shares following this offering. Based on the number of shares of our common stock authorized and outstanding and our estimated total gross proceeds after the completion of this offering, our annual franchise tax obligation is expected to be capped at the maximum amount of annual franchise taxes payable by us as a Delaware corporation of $180,000. Our annual income tax obligations will depend on the amount of interest and other income earned on the amounts held in the trust account. We do not expect the interest earned on the amount in the trust account will be sufficient to pay our taxes. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole

 

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or in part, as consideration to complete our initial business combination, the remaining proceeds held in the trust account will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will have available to us $1,250,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the trust account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $0.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

We expect our primary liquidity requirements during that period to include approximately $500,000 for legal, accounting, due diligence, travel and other expenses associated with structuring, negotiating and documenting successful business combinations; $200,000 for legal and accounting fees related to regulatory reporting requirements; $75,000 for NASDAQ and other regulatory fees; $240,000 for office space, administrative and support services; $100,000 as a reserve for liquidation expenses; and approximately $135,000 for general working capital that will be used for miscellaneous expenses and reserves net of estimated interest income.

These amounts are estimates and may differ materially from our actual expenses. In addition, we could use a portion of the funds not being placed in trust to pay commitment fees for financing, fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business or as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into an agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, prospective target businesses.

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, if our estimates of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating an initial business combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, 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 complete our initial business combination or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination.

 

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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, 2017. Only in the event that we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer would we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement.

Prior to the closing of this offering, 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. Many small and mid-sized 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 target business, we may incur significant expenses 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 and the sale of the private placement warrants held in the trust account will be invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

Related Party Transactions

In December 2015, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. The purchase price of the founder shares was determined by

 

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dividing the amount of cash contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or a share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable with respect to our Class F common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering. Our sponsor does not intend to purchase any units in this offering.

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement pursuant to which we will also pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

Our sponsor, officers and directors or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has loaned us up to $200,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of June 30, 2016 or the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the $750,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $0.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

Our sponsor has committed to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $0.50 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at $5.75 per share. Our sponsor will be permitted to transfer the private placement warrants held by them to certain permitted transferees, including our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with or related to them, but the transferees receiving such securities will be subject to the same agreements with respect to such securities as our sponsor. Otherwise, these warrants will not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees (except as described below under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). The private placement warrants may also be exercised by our sponsor or its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.

 

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Pursuant to a registration rights agreement we will enter into with our sponsor on or prior to the closing of this offering, we may be required to register certain securities for sale under the Securities Act. Our sponsor, and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, are entitled under the registration rights agreement to make up to three demands that we register certain of our securities held by them for sale under the Securities Act and to have the securities covered thereby registered for resale pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders have the right to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the securities covered thereby are released from their lock-up restrictions, as described herein. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements. See “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

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

As of December 31, 2015, 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 not conducted any operations to date.

JOBS Act

On April 5, 2012, the JOBS Act was signed into law. The JOBS Act contains provisions that, among other things, relax certain reporting requirements for qualifying public companies. We will qualify as an “emerging growth company” and under the JOBS Act will be allowed to comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements based on the effective date for private (not publicly traded) companies. We are electing to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Additionally, we are in the process of evaluating the benefits of relying on the other reduced reporting requirements provided by the JOBS Act. Subject to certain conditions set forth in the JOBS Act, if, as an “emerging growth company”, we choose to rely on such exemptions we may not be required to, among other things: (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on our system of internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404; (ii) provide all of the compensation disclosure that may be required of non-emerging growth public companies under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; (iii) comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the PCAOB regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis); and (iv) disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the CEO’s compensation to median employee compensation. These exemptions will apply for a period of five years following the completion of our initial public offering or until we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” whichever is earlier.

 

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PROPOSED BUSINESS

Introduction

We are a newly organized blank check company incorporated on November 24, 2015 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this prospectus as our initial business combination. We have not identified any business combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any potential business combination target.

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business industry or sector, we intend to focus on identifying a business combination opportunity in industries or sectors that complement our management team’s background, and to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify, acquire and operate a business, including in the media and entertainment, consumer and retail and financial services sectors in the United States or globally, as well as the European mid-market private equity sectors. While our management team will seek to effect an initial business combination in order to pursue a strategy of acquiring and operating a business, following our initial business combination we will evaluate all opportunities to enhance stockholder value as they arise, including but not limited to a subsequent merger or acquisition, sale of the company, capital stock exchange or other form of reorganization. We believe our management team is well-positioned to handle complexity and benefit from the inefficiency and misevaluations of others to create value for our stockholders, and that our contacts and sources, ranging from owners of private and public companies, private equity funds, investment bankers, attorneys, accountants and business brokers in our targeted sectors, will allow us to generate attractive acquisition opportunities in other sectors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation prohibits us from effectuating a business combination with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations.

Colony is a leading global real estate and investment management firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California with 14 offices in 10 countries and more than 300 employees. Over the past 24 years, Colony has established 53 investment vehicles, including a publicly traded real estate investment trust, or REIT, global investment funds, dedicated regional investment funds, club transactions and investment-specific co-investment vehicles, raising an aggregate of over $25 billion of equity capital. Colony’s origins are rooted in distressed investing, and have spanned a broad spectrum of real estate, asset-intensive operating companies and other transactions in a myriad of sectors and geographies.

On April 2, 2015, Colony Capital acquired Colony Capital, LLC’s trademark name and substantially all of its real estate and investment management business and operations, which we refer to as the CLNY Combination. In connection with the CLNY Combination, Colony Capital changed its name from “Colony Financial, Inc.” to “Colony Capital, Inc.” Colony Capital reclassified its common stock as Class A common stock, which continues to be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “CLNY.”

Since inception, Colony has strived to adapt its investment strategy to capitalize on the different market opportunities that have arisen from time to time. Beginning in 1991, Colony became one of the pioneering purchasers of distressed assets from the Resolution Trust Corporation and the FDIC. In the mid-1990s, Colony identified comparable investment opportunities in Europe. As a result, Colony began to build a significant European presence with an initial investment focus on distressed real estate and asset-rich operating companies. As market opportunities again shifted in the mid- to late-1990s, Colony broadened its focus to include equity investments in real estate and real estate-related assets and businesses in the United States, Europe and Asia, and expanded its global presence by setting up operations in Asia to capitalize on opportunities arising from the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Since then, Colony has established several closed-end investment funds primarily focused on equity investments in real estate and operating businesses significantly dependent on real estate. As the global economy suffered a significant downturn beginning in late 2007 and commercial real estate

 

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fundamentals began to deteriorate, Colony leveraged its prior experiences to capitalize on distressed real estate debt opportunities and single-family homes for rent, while complementing this investment activity with an increasing slate of private equity-style investments in areas such as media and entertainment, consumer and retail and financial services.

At present, none of Colony’s existing sources of managed capital require priority access to any investment opportunities the objectives of which overlap with ours. We believe that we will be able to continue to draw upon Colony’s experience and expertise in identifying and capitalizing on further investment opportunities, including acquisitions well suited for our objectives.

Our Management Team

We believe that we will benefit from the extensive operating and deal-making experience of our management team. Our management team is led by Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., our Chairman of the Board, Justin Chang (Co-Chief Executive Officer), Philippe M. Costeletos (Co-Chief Executive Officer), Jonathan Grunzweig (Chief Investment Officer and Secretary) and Neale Redington (Chief Financial Officer). We expect to also draw from the additional support and expertise of the broader Colony organization and the rest of its senior leadership team, which includes Richard Saltzman, Mark Hedstrom, Darren Tangen and Kevin Traenkle.

Acquisition Philosophy

We believe there are abundant acquisition opportunities within our target acquisition theses that will present attractive risk-return profiles. These acquisition theses are expected to reflect to some degree the principal acquisition themes that tend to impact our assessment of these kinds of opportunities, reflecting our management team’s long-standing philosophy that has proven effective for Colony across geographic regions and throughout a variety of market conditions. Our investment strategy will be based on the following related tenets:

Exploitation of Inefficiencies—In efficient markets, many fully informed and qualified buyers achieve market returns. We believe that events in the financial markets continue to cause significant dislocation between price and intrinsic value in certain of our target opportunities. In addition, we believe exploiting circumstances that impede other investors creates opportunities to realize above-average, risk-adjusted returns that can result from situations that are less than fully competitive. These competitive impediments that inhibit many other investors include: (i) structural and situational complexity, including transaction size; (ii) information advantages, which optimize assessment of the risks and rewards inherent in a prospective investment; (iii) local market expertise; (iv) proprietary transaction sourcing, which can yield acquisition opportunities that are secured without enduring an auction process; and (v) financial sophistication, which can be an important skill in arbitraging financial market inefficiencies. We intend to leverage Colony’s network of in-country offices and strategic partners, which we believe will provide us a competitive advantage by contributing specialized expertise, expanding our local presence in important geographic markets and providing access to proprietary deal flow.

Value-Added Executions—Successful execution of a contrarian acquisition strategy that exploits inefficiencies requires a commitment to value-enhancing management in conjunction with a well-developed business plan. While financial arbitrage alone can produce compelling returns, mastering transactional complexities and enhancing an investment’s value through hands-on management can foster our position as an ideal acquirer of a target business, while also supporting the delivery of returns intended to exceed those afforded by the arbitrage opportunity.

Cautious Contrarianism—We intend to be guided by a contrarian, opportunistic acquisition philosophy that has allowed our management team to identify and capitalize on situations not yet fully understood or exploited by others. We view the market as a set of interdependent and independent cycles constantly redefining

 

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opportunities within distinct product types, geographic areas, industries and capital markets. Low points within these respective cycles often present highly attractive acquisition opportunities, as sellers outnumber buyers in relatively illiquid markets. As an example, we are focused on the current structural imbalance in the European private equity market where a large number of firms are looking for liquidity for investments closed over the past decade, in what has been a volatile and uncertain public market environment. We believe that the early recognition of capital misalignments, recapitalization and restructuring opportunities can produce profits as liquidity returns and valuation multiples expand during such times of cyclical recovery.

Capitalizing on the Impact of “Disruptive” Forces—We intend to seek opportunities that arise from the impact of “disruptive” forces on the operations of any number of business lines, as industries such as media and entertainment struggle to adapt to the impact of developments such as Internet marketing and distribution, “rentership society” trends and other such “new economy” trends while laden with legacy and outdated or soon-to-be outdated organizational and operational structures based on outdated outlooks.

Situational Opportunities—We believe, based on our management team’s track record at Colony and its acquisition philosophy, that among the acquisition opportunities that management may identify and secure for us will be one or more prospective deals designed to benefit from their ability to distinguish and create transactions with attractive terms due to the facts and circumstances attendant to the specific situation. An example of these kinds of transactions would be deals conceived and structured with a particular effort to satisfy a selling party’s circumstantial objectives. Whether the circumstances surrounding an acquisition opportunity involve a shifting focus to so-called “core businesses”, a seller under duress divesting a healthy business, a seller that has grown disenchanted with a business, or a complex growth opportunity, we believe that our management team has long evidenced the ability to identify and structure successful deals with these characteristics, and will seek to continue to source such opportunities for us.

Competitive Strengths

We intend to leverage the following sources of competitive strengths in seeking to achieve our acquisition objectives:

Experienced Management Team with Expertise in a Broad Array of Sectors and Geographies

Over Colony’s 24-year history, our management team has built a distinguished track record of investing more than $60 billion in assets across a broad array of sectors, including real estate, lodging, media and entertainment, consumer and retail and financial services. Our officers, Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Justin Chang, Philippe M. Costeletos, Jonathan H. Grunzweig and Neale Redington have an average of 29 years of experience in investing and financing, including in both private equity-style and public security investments. In addition, our deep bench of deal partners possesses a broad range of regional and sector specializations and is highly motivated to contribute to our success. We believe our management team’s diverse sector experience and broad geographic experience throughout the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia represent significant competitive strengths in achieving our acquisition objectives.

From Colony’s inception to its expansion of significant operations and world-wide presence in the mid- to late-1990’s, Colony’s global footprint is expected to be a source of attractive, actionable acquisition opportunities for us. Representative transactions completed by one or more investment vehicles managed by Colony include:

In 2014, formed CAF with an initial investment of approximately $250 million to create a leading financial services company in the single family residential lending industry; CAF has now closed in excess of $1 billion in loans since inception.

 

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In 2013, our management team completed the $428 million acquisition of LodgeNet (renamed Sonifi), a leading U.S. provider of hospitality-based guest entertainment, as part of a prepackaged bankruptcy.

In 2012, formed CAH, an institutional owner and manager of single family rental homes with total asset value of over $4 billion. In January 2016, CAH and Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust (NYSE: SWAY) consummated a stock-for-stock transaction resulting in a combined company, named Colony Starwood (NYSE: SFR), that owns and manages over 30,000 homes with an aggregate asset value in excess of $7 billion.

In 2011, our management team completed the $660 million acquisition of Miramax Films, the film library of an independent film production studio based in the U.S. with approximately 700 titles, including 68 Academy Award-winning films, from The Walt Disney Company.

In 2010, our management team completed the $1.9 billion acquisition of FRB from Bank of America; Colony exited the FRB investment in 2013.

In 2007, our management team completed the $4.0 billion acquisition of Kerzner, a developer and operator of destination resorts, One&Only resorts, and gaming properties worldwide.

In 2007, Colony invested $30 million for a controlling 55% stake in MARS, which included Mars Cinema, the largest movie theater chain in Turkey, and Mars Athletic Club, a chain of luxury fitness centers in Turkey. Over the course of Colony’s investment, our management team helped to grow aggregate group revenues and EBITDA for Mars by more than 200% and 300%, respectively; Colony exited the MARS investment in 2010.

In 2006, our management team completed the $1 billion acquisition of Raffles and subsequent merger of Raffles as part of Colony’s $4.0 billion acquisition of Fairmont, alongside Kingdom creating a global hospitality management company with over 100 flagged hotels totaling over 42,000 guest rooms in 23 countries; Colony exited the Raffles investment in 2013.

In 2005, our management team completed the take-private transaction of Buffalo Grill, a themed restaurant and steakhouse chain in France, in a transaction valued at approximately €340 million; Colony exited the Buffalo Grill investment in 2008.

Access to Proprietary Investment Opportunities

Our management team has extensive long-term relationships with owners, entrepreneurs and financial intermediaries. This network has provided our management team with a flow of referrals that has resulted in numerous Colony transactions which were proprietary or where only a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale process. We believe these relationships will provide access to an ongoing pipeline of attractive acquisition opportunities, both domestic and international. We further believe that these recent investments demonstrate our management team’s ability to identify and secure acquisition opportunities. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.

Despite the acquisition experience of our management team, none of our officers and directors has had direct experience with special purpose acquisition companies. Any past experience of Colony or our management team is not a guarantee either: (i) that we will be able to locate a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (ii) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of Colony’s or our management team’s performance as indicative of our future performance.

 

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Acquisition Criteria

We have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are consistent with our acquisition philosophy and important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

    Exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe are being underappreciated or misevaluated by the marketplace based on our company specific analysis and due diligence review. For a potential target business, this process will include, among other things, a review and analysis of the company’s capital structure, quality of earnings, potential for operational improvements, corporate governance, customers, material contracts, and industry background and trends. We intend to leverage the operational experience and disciplined investment approach of our management team and those of Colony to identify opportunities to unlock value that Colony’s 24-year experience in complex situations will allow us to pursue.

 

    Are underperforming in their potential in industries that are otherwise exhibiting stable or improving fundamentals. We intend to evaluate each industry and the target businesses within those industries based on several factors, including the potential for sustainable competitive advantage, growth in excess of gross domestic product, ability to generate attractive returns and the sustainability of profit margins.

 

    Are at an inflection point, such as those requiring additional management expertise or are able to innovate by developing new products or services, or where we believe we can drive improved financial performance and where an acquisition may help facilitate growth. We believe that we are well-positioned to evaluate and improve a company’s growth prospects and help it realize the opportunities to create stockholder value following the consummation of a business combination.

 

    Have significant embedded and/or underexploited expansion opportunities. One of the key elements of Colony’s typical value creation approach is to acquire target businesses to accelerate their growth by leveraging Colony’s global relationships, infrastructure and resources. This can be accomplished through a combination of accelerating organic growth and finding attractive add-on acquisition targets. Our management team has significant experience in identifying such targets and helping management of such target businesses assess the strategic and financial fit. Similarly, our management team has the expertise to assess the likely synergies and a process to help such a target business integrate acquisitions.

 

    Will offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our stockholders. We will seek to acquire a target on terms and in a manner that leverages our experience in transformational investing. Financial returns will be evaluated based on (i) the potential for organic growth in cash flows, (ii) the ability to achieve cost savings, (iii) the ability to accelerate growth, including through the opportunity for follow-on acquisitions and (iv) the prospects for creating value through other value creation initiatives. Potential upside from growth in the target business’ earnings and an improved capital structure will be weighed against any identified downside risks.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this prospectus, would be in the form of tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials that we would file with the SEC.

 

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Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. We will also utilize our operational and capital planning experience.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

If members of our management team acquire public shares or warrants after this offering, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration, and our officers and directors have not had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriters or other advisors. Certain of the members of our management team are employed by Colony Capital or certain affiliates of Colony Capital. Colony Capital is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with us. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with whom we have had substantive discussions with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company with whom our sponsor has had substantive discussions on our behalf, as an acquisition candidate, prior to completion of this offering. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive 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 any such acquisition candidate.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement, not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any other special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our

 

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initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor).

Initial Business Combination

The NASDAQ rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders will not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the 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 would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

Sourcing of Potential Business Combination Targets

We believe our management team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring, financing and selling businesses and properties, our management team’s relationships with sellers, financing sources and target management teams and the experience of our management team in executing transactions under varying economic and financial market conditions.

 

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This network provides our management team with a robust and consistent flow of acquisition opportunities which were proprietary or where a limited group of investors were invited to participate in the sale process. In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity funds and large business enterprises seeking to divest non-core assets or divisions.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion as to whether an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view in any other context.

As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors 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. Our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations to various entities that may present a conflict of interest. As a result of these duties and obligations, situations may arise in which business opportunities may be given to one or more of these other entities prior to being presented to us.

Our executive offices are located at 515 South Flower Street, 44th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071 and our telephone number is (310) 282-8820.

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 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. Although there are various costs and obligations associated with being a public company, we believe target businesses will 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, road show and public reporting efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, 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, which 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. It can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th; and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

 

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Financial Position

With funds available for a business combination initially in the amount of $289,500,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of $10,500,000 of deferred underwriting fees (or $332,925,000 assuming no redemptions and after payment of up to $12,075,000 of deferred underwriting fees if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full), we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, 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 complete 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, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

Effecting our Initial Business Combination

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of this offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these as the consideration to be paid in our initial business combination. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of purchases of our Class A common stock, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

We currently do not have any specific business combination under consideration, and our officers and directors have not had any substantive discussions regarding possible target businesses among themselves or with our underwriters or other advisors. Certain of the members of our management team are employed by Colony Capital or certain affiliates of Colony Capital. Colony Capital is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue, for a business combination, but we have not (nor has anyone on our behalf) contacted any prospective target business or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with respect to a business combination transaction with us. We have not (nor have any of our agents or affiliates) been approached by any candidates (or representative of any candidates) with whom we have had substantive discussions with respect to a possible acquisition transaction with us and we will not consider a business combination with any company with whom our sponsor has had substantive discussions on our behalf, as an acquisition candidate, prior to completion of this offering. Additionally, we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, taken any substantive 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 any such acquisition candidate.

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account.

In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our tender offer documents or proxy materials disclosing the business combination would disclose the terms of the

 

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financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

Selection of a target business and structuring of our initial business combination

The NASDAQ rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our 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 discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. If our board is not able to determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Our stockholders will not be provided with a copy of such opinion nor will they be able to rely on such opinion. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we own or acquire less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses, the portion of such business or businesses that are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. There is no basis for investors in this offering to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination.

To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

Lack of business diversification

For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single business.

 

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Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

 

    subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and

 

    cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

Limited ability to evaluate the target’s management team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is highly unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

Following our initial 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 additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

Stockholders may not have the ability to approve our initial business combination

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.

 

Type of Transaction

   Whether
Stockholder
Approval is
Required
 

Purchase of assets

     No   

Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company

     No   

Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company

     No   

Merger of the company with a target

     Yes   

Under NASDAQ’s listing rules, stockholder approval would be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

 

    we issue common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding (other than in a public offering);

 

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    any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (as defined by NASDAQ rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding common stock or voting power of 5% or more; or

 

    the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.

Permitted purchases of our securities

In the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. Subsequent to the consummation of this offering, we will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to: (i) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material non-public information; and (ii) to clear all trades with our legal counsel prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will comply with such rules.

The purpose of such purchases would be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of our initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our common stock may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business

 

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combination. To the extent that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the stockholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which stockholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor or its affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or any of their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

Redemption rights for public stockholders upon completion of our initial business combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering.

Manner of conducting redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either: (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

 

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If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

    conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and

 

    file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public stockholders not tendering more than a specified number of public shares which are not purchased by our sponsor, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules) or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public stockholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

 

    conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and

 

    file proxy materials with the SEC.

In the event that we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public stockholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our sponsor will count towards this quorum and has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to any public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of a business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering.

 

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

Limitation on redemption upon completion of our initial business combination if we seek

stockholder approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public stockholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit and Withdrawal at Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC System. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder.

 

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However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies 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 or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or the date of the stockholder meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.

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

If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, a change of control of our sponsor).

Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that we will have only 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, a change of control of our sponsor) to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of 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 liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period.

 

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Under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, a change of control of our sponsor is defined as our sponsor ceasing to be wholly owned by Colony Capital Operating Partnership and its affiliates. Pursuant to a credit agreement (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time) among Colony Capital Operating Partnership, certain lenders party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent has been pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations under the credit agreement. The foreclosure on the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent would result in a change of control of our sponsor, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has waived its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). However, if our sponsor or any of our officers and directors acquires public shares after this offering, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules).

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $1,250,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of 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 per share redemption amount received by stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.00. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.00. See “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors described above. Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such

 

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agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including but not limited to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, Colony Capital Operating Partnership has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, then Colony Capital Operating Partnership will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We cannot assure you, however, that Colony Capital Operating Partnership would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and Colony Capital Operating Partnership asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against Colony Capital Operating Partnership to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against Colony Capital Operating Partnership to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in certain instances. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per share redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.00 per share. See “Risk Factors—If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors described above.

We will seek to reduce the possibility that Colony Capital Operating Partnership will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Colony Capital Operating Partnership will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $1,250,000 from the proceeds of this offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for

 

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claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. In the event that our offering expenses exceed our estimate of $750,000, we may fund such excess with funds from the funds not to be held in the trust account. In such case, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would decrease by a corresponding amount. Conversely, in the event that the offering expenses are less than our estimate of $750,000, the amount of funds we intend to be held outside the trust account would increase by a corresponding amount.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following our 24th month (or, if earlier, a change of control of our sponsor) 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, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 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. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent auditors), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account.

 

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As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes and will not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Colony Capital Operating Partnership will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.00 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. Furthermore, our board may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public 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. See “Risk Factors—If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover or “clawback” such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.”

Our public stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor) or if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with our initial business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above.

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. If we seek to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, we will provide dissenting public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. Our sponsor has agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have agreed to waive any redemption rights with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

 

   

prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall either: (i) seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination at a meeting called for such purpose at which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the proposed business

 

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combination, into their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable); or (ii) provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to tender their shares to us by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), in each case subject to the limitations described herein;

 

    we will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 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 at a duly held stockholders meeting;

 

    if our initial business combination is not consummated within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor, which is defined as our sponsor ceasing to be wholly owned by Colony Capital Operating Partnership and its affiliates), then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account; and

 

    prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination.

These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of 65% of our common stock. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide 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.

Comparison of redemption or purchase prices in connection with our initial business combination and if we fail to complete our initial business combination

The following table compares the redemptions and other permitted purchases of public shares that may take place in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor).

 

     

Redemptions in Connection

with our Initial Business

Combination

  

Other Permitted

Purchases of Public

Shares by our Affiliates

  

Redemptions if we fail

to Complete an Initial

Initial Business Combination

Calculation of redemption price

   Redemptions at the time of our initial business combination may be made pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. The redemption price will be the same whether we conduct redemptions pursuant to a tender offer or in connection with a stockholder vote. In either case, our public stockholders may redeem their public shares for cash equal to the aggregate    If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Such purchases will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in    If we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), we will redeem all public shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest (less up to $100,000

 

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Redemptions in Connection

with our Initial Business

Combination

  

Other Permitted

Purchases of Public

Shares by our Affiliates

  

Redemptions if we fail

to Complete an Initial

Initial Business Combination

   amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination (which is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per share), including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitation that no redemptions will take place if all of the redemptions would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 and any limitations (including but not limited to cash requirements) agreed to in connection with the negotiation of terms of a proposed business combination.    compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares in such transactions.    of interest to pay dissolution expenses, which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

Impact to remaining stockholders

   The redemptions in connection with our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for our remaining stockholders, who will bear the burden of the deferred underwriting commissions and interest withdrawn in order to pay taxes (to the extent not paid from amounts accrued as interest on the funds held in the trust account).    If the permitted purchases described above are made, there will be no impact to our remaining stockholders because the purchase price would not be paid by us.    The redemption of our public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination will reduce the book value per share for the shares held by our sponsor, who will be our only remaining stockholder after such redemptions

 

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Comparison of This Offering to Those of Blank Check Companies Subject to Rule 419

The following table compares the terms of this offering to the terms of an offering by a blank check company subject to the provisions of Rule 419. This comparison assumes that the gross proceeds, underwriting commissions and underwriting expenses of our offering would be identical to those of an offering undertaken by a company subject to Rule 419, and that the underwriters will not exercise their over-allotment option. None of the provisions of Rule 419 apply to our offering.

 

     

Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Escrow of offering proceeds

  

The rules of the NASDAQ Capital Market provide that at least 90% of the gross proceeds from this offering and the private placement be deposited in a trust account.

 

$300,000,000 of the net proceeds of this offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be deposited into a trust account located in the United States with AST acting as trustee.

  

$255,150,000 of the offering proceeds, representing the gross proceeds of this offering less allowable underwriting commissions, expenses and company deductions under Rule 419, 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

   $300,000,000 of the net offering proceeds and the sale of the private placement warrants held in trust will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.    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.

Receipt of interest on escrowed funds

   Interest on proceeds from the trust account to be paid to stockholders is reduced by: (i) any taxes paid or payable; and (ii) in the event of our liquidation for failure to complete our initial business combination within the allotted time, up to $50,000 of net interest that may be released to us should we have no or insufficient working capital to fund the costs and expenses of our dissolution and liquidation.    Interest on funds in escrow account would be held for the sole benefit of investors, unless and only after the funds held in escrow were released to us in connection with our completion of a business combination.

Limitation on fair value or net assets of target business

   The NASDAQ rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance in the trust account (less any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination.    The fair value or net assets of a target business must represent at least 80% of the maximum offering proceeds.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Trading of securities issued

   The units will begin trading on or promptly after the date of this prospectus. The Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the date of this prospectus unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC 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 announcing when such separate trading will begin. 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.    No trading of the units or the underlying 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 our initial business combination or 12 months from the closing of this offering.    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 provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest, which interest shall be net of taxes payable, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein. We may not be required by law to hold a stockholder vote. If we are not required by law and do not otherwise decide to hold a stockholder vote, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC and file tender offer documents with the SEC which will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If,    A prospectus containing information pertaining to the business combination 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 a post-effective amendment to the company’s registration statement, to decide if he, she or it elects to remain a stockholder of the company or require the return of his, her or its 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 are automatically returned to the stockholder. Unless a sufficient number of investors elect to remain investors, all funds on deposit in the escrow account must be returned to all of the investors and none of the securities are issued.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

  

however, we hold a stockholder vote, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting.

 

Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

  

Business combination deadline

   If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), 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 public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholder and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.    If an acquisition has not been completed within 18 months after the effective date of the company’s registration statement, funds held in the trust or escrow account are returned to investors.

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

Release of funds

   Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, the proceeds from this offering will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend and restate our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor); and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), subject to applicable law.    The proceeds held in the escrow account are not released until the earlier of the completion of a business combination or the failure to effect a business combination within the allotted time.

Limitation on redemption rights of stockholders holding more than 15% of the shares sold in this offering if we hold a stockholder vote

   If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect Excess Shares (more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in this offering). Our public stockholders’ inability to redeem Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and they could suffer a material loss on their investment in us if they sell Excess Shares in open market transactions.    Most blank check companies provide no restrictions on the ability of stockholders to redeem shares based on the number of shares held by such stockholders in connection with an initial business combination.

Tendering stock certificates in connection with a tender offer or redemption rights

   We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer    In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, holders could vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holders were seeking to exercise their

 

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Terms of Our Offering

  

Terms Under a Rule 419 Offering

   documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders or up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights.    redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholders to arrange for them to deliver their certificate to verify ownership.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

Conflicts of Interest

Our sponsor and its affiliates manage several investment vehicles. Entities managed by our sponsor or its affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities in the same industries and sectors as we may target for our initial business combination. In particular, Colony Capital or its affiliates manage and may in the future manage companies that are blind pools with investment objectives similar to ours. These managed companies also have greater financial resources than we do, with Colony having invested more than $60 billion in assets raised over its history. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities.

In addition, investment ideas generated within Colony Capital, including by Mr. Barrack, and other persons who may make decisions for the company, may be suitable for both us and for current or future Colony Capital

 

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entities and may be directed to such entities rather than to us. Neither Colony Capital nor members of our management team who are also employed by Colony Capital or certain affiliates of Colony Capital have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. Our management, in their capacities as officers of Colony Capital or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future Colony Capital investment vehicles or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us. See “Risk Factors—Certain of our officers and directors are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to another entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Colony Capital Operating Partnership has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a vendor for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case, net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, Colony Capital Operating Partnership will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third party claims. We have not independently verified whether Colony Capital Operating Partnership has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we have not asked Colony Capital Operating Partnership to reserve for such indemnification obligations. Therefore, we cannot assure you that Colony Capital Operating Partnership would be able to satisfy those obligations. We believe the likelihood of Colony Capital Operating Partnership having to indemnify the trust account is limited because we will endeavor to have all vendors and prospective target businesses as well as other entities execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account.

Facilities

We currently maintain our executive offices at 515 South Flower Street, 44th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee that we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

 

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Employees

We currently have five officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that Mr. Barrack or any other members of our management team will devote in any time period to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We will register our units, Class A 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 reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public auditors.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with GAAP or be reconciled to GAAP or IFRS depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements will need to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We will be required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business 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.

Prior to the date of this prospectus, we will file a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we will be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying

 

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with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th; and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

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.

 

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MANAGEMENT

Directors, Director Nominees and Executive Officers

 

Name

   Age     

Title

Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

     68       Chairman of the Board

Justin Chang

     48       Co-Chief Executive Officer

Philippe M. Costeletos

     50       Co-Chief Executive Officer

Jonathan H. Grunzweig

     52       Chief Investment Officer and Secretary

Neale Redington

     49       Chief Financial Officer
      Director Nominee
      Director Nominee
      Director Nominee

Our directors, director nominees and officers are as follows:

Thomas J. Barrack, Jr. has been our Chairman of the Board since inception. Mr. Barrack is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Colony Capital Inc. and was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Capital, LLC until June 2015. Prior to founding the Colony Capital business in 1991, Mr. Barrack was a Principal with the Robert M. Bass Group, the principal investment vehicle of the Fort Worth, Texas investor Robert M. Bass. Prior to joining the Robert M. Bass Group, Mr. Barrack also served in the Reagan administration as Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior. Additionally, in 2010 French president Nicolas Sarkozy awarded him France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. Since January 2016, Mr. Barrack has served as co-chairman of the board of trustees of Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR), a leading single-family rental real estate investment trust. Since January 2014, Mr. Barrack has served on the board of directors of Carrefour S.A., a French multinational retailer and the second largest retailer in the world. Since June 2010, Mr. Barrack has served on the board of directors of First Republic Bank, a full service bank and wealth management firm. From January 2006 to April 2013, Mr. Barrack served on the public board of directors of Accor, S.A., a major global hotel group listed on Euronext Paris and as a member of its Compensation, Appointments & Corporate Governance Committees since May 2009. Prior to Mr. Barrack’s service on Accor’s public board, he served as a member of Accor’s Supervisory Board from May 2005 to January 2006. Mr. Barrack has also served on the public board of Challenger Financial Services Group Limited, a diversified financial services organization listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from November 2007 to October 2010. From August 1994 to September 2007, Mr. Barrack served on the board of Continental Airlines, Inc., one of the largest passenger airlines in the United States, including as a member of its Corporate Governance Committee, Executive Committee and HR Committee. Mr. Barrack received a B.A. in 1969 from the University of Southern California. He attended law school at the University of San Diego and the University of Southern California, where he was an editor of the law review, and received a J.D. in 1972 from the University of San Diego. Mr. Barrack is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Jurisprudence degree from Pepperdine University and a Trustee at the University of Southern California. Mr. Barrack possesses significant vision and understanding of the Company’s strategies and future direction. Mr. Barrack has a long track record of and experience in managing and investing in numerous companies, primarily in the real estate industry and in real estate-related investments, through a variety of credit cycles and market conditions. Mr. Barrack’s extensive investment experience will be key to the Company’s board of directors’ oversight of the Company’s investment strategy. Mr. Barrack’s prior service as Deputy Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior also will provide a unique government perspective to the Company and its board of directors.

Justin Chang has been our Co-Chief Executive Officer since inception. Mr. Chang is Executive Director of Colony Capital with responsibility for the identification, evaluation, consummation, and management of private equity investments across industries and on a global basis. He served as Chief Executive Officer of CAH beginning in 2012 and continued to serve in such role until CAH merged with Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust in January 2016. The resulting combined company, Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR), is a leading institutional owner and manager of single family homes for rent across the United States with over 30,000 homes and combined asset value in excess of $7 billion. Since January 2016, Mr. Chang has served on the board of trustees of Colony Starwood Homes. Mr. Chang was also a Co-Founder of CAF, a leading financial

 

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services company which was formed in 2014 and has closed in excess of $1 billion in loans since its inception. Prior to joining the Colony Capital business as a Principal in 2010, Mr. Chang was a Partner with TPG Capital, an international private equity investment firm which he joined in 1993. At TPG, Mr. Chang led private equity investments across a broad range of industries including consumer products, financial services, healthcare, real estate, technology and telecommunications in multiple geographies in North America and Asia. He has served on the Board of Directors of Beringer Wine Estates, Crystal Decisions, Lenovo Group, On Semiconductor, Shenzhen Development Bank, Silverado Premium Properties, and UTAC Holdings. Mr. Chang received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1993 and his BA, cum laude, in Economics and Political Science from Yale University in 1989.

Philippe M. Costeletos has been our Co-Chief Executive Officer since inception. Mr. Costeletos is Executive Director and Chairman International of Colony Capital and is responsible for the identification, evaluation and consummation of new investments outside the United States, providing oversight for Colony Capital’s international operations, supporting fundraising and investor relations activities, and assisting with additional matters of strategy, activities and operations of Colony worldwide. Mr. Costeletos has more than 20 years of investment experience across different sectors and geographies, including Europe and emerging markets. Prior to joining the Colony Capital business in 2015, Mr. Costeletos was co-Founder and Managing Partner of DMC Partners, an emerging markets investment firm, beginning in 2012. Previously, Mr. Costeletos was Head of TPG Capital in Europe from 2003 to 2012. Prior to joining TPG, Mr. Costeletos was a member of the Management Committee at Investcorp where he led and was involved with a number of private equity investments across Europe. He joined Investcorp from JP Morgan Capital where he was involved in private equity investments across Europe and Latin America. Previously, Mr. Costeletos worked with Morgan Stanley in London and New York. Mr. Costeletos has served on several boards including as Chairman and Director of WIND Hellas Telecommunications SA, Debenhams plc and Myer Holdings Limited. Mr. Costeletos graduated, magna cum laude, with a BA with distinction in Mathematics from Yale University and received an MBA, Beta Gamma Sigma, from Columbia University.

Jonathan H. Grunzweig has been our Chief Investment Officer and Secretary since inception. Mr. Grunzweig is Executive Director and Global Head—Special Situations of Colony Capital and is charged with helping develop Colony’s global growth strategy across markets, platforms and asset classes. From 2006 until the CLNY Combination, Mr. Grunzweig served as global Chief Investment Officer of Colony Capital, LLC, overseeing the sourcing, structuring, execution and management of all investments and divestments on a global basis. Prior to joining the Colony Capital business in 1999, Mr. Grunzweig was a Partner with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he specialized in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Grunzweig received his B.A. from Cornell University in 1985, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1988.

Neale Redington has been our Chief Financial Officer since inception. Mr. Redington is Managing Director and Chief Accounting Officer of Colony Capital and is responsible for financial accounting and reporting for Colony-sponsored investments and related affiliates and subsidiaries. Prior to joining Colony Capital as Chief Accounting Officer in 2008, Mr. Redington was an audit partner in the real estate and hospitality practice of Deloitte & Touche LLP. During his twenty years with Deloitte, Mr. Redington worked in both London and Los Angeles. Mr. Redington, a Certified Public Accountant (license inactive) and a Chartered Accountant in England & Wales, received a B.Com.(Acc.)(Hons.) from the University of Birmingham in England.

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

We expect to have four directors upon completion of this offering. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws will provide that our directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at an annual meeting of stockholders and shall hold office until the annual meeting following his or her election and until his or her successor shall be elected and shall qualify, subject, however, to prior death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal from office. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after we consummate our initial business combination.

 

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Our officers are elected by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our bylaws as it deems appropriate. Our bylaws will provide that our officers may consist of a Chief Executive Officer (or one or more Co-Chief Executive Officers), a Chief Financial Officer, a President, Vice Presidents, Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer and other such offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

NASDAQ listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We intend to add three “independent directors” as defined in the NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules prior to completion of this offering. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present. Because our securities will be listed on NASDAQ in connection with our initial public offering, we have twelve months from the date our securities are first listed on NASDAQ to comply with the majority independence requirement of NASDAQ Rule 5605(b).

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Commencing on the date that our securities are first listed on the NASDAQ through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support. Our sponsor, officers, directors and any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our independent directors will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their affiliates.

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with a proposed business combination. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our executive officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after the initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

 

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Committees of the Board of Directors

Upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, our board of directors will have two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Our audit committee will be comprised of three independent directors, and our compensation committee will be comprised of two independent directors.

Audit Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish an audit committee of the board of directors. The members of our audit committee will be                     ,                     and                     .                 will serve as chairman of the audit committee. Under the NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have three members of the audit committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of NASDAQ and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.                     ,                      and                      qualify as independent directors under applicable rules. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that                      qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

We will adopt an audit committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

    the appointment, compensation, retention, replacement, and oversight of the work of the independent auditors and any other independent registered public accounting firm engaged by us;

 

    pre-approving all audit and non-audit services to be provided by the independent auditors or any other registered public accounting firm engaged by us, and establishing pre-approval policies and procedures;

 

    reviewing and discussing with the independent auditors all relationships the auditors have with us in order to evaluate their continued independence;

 

    setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors;

 

    setting clear policies for audit partner rotation in compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

 

    obtaining and reviewing a report, at least annually, from the independent auditors describing (i) the independent auditor’s internal quality-control procedures and (ii) any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality-control review, or peer review, of the audit firm, or by any inquiry or investigation by governmental or professional authorities, within, the preceding five years respecting one or more independent audits carried out by the firm and any steps taken to deal with such issues;

 

    reviewing and approving any related party transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC prior to us entering into such transaction; and

 

    reviewing with management, the independent auditors, and our legal advisors, as appropriate, any legal, regulatory or compliance matters, including any correspondence with regulators or government agencies and any employee complaints or published reports that raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies and any significant changes in accounting standards or rules promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Compensation Committee

Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will establish a compensation committee of the board of directors consisting of two members. The members of our Compensation Committee will be                      and                     .                      will serve as chairman of the compensation committee.

 

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We will adopt a compensation committee charter, which will detail the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

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

 

    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.

The charter will also provide that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by NASDAQ and the SEC.

Director Nominations

We do not have a standing nominating committee, though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or NASDAQ rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of the NASDAQ rules, a majority of the independent directors may recommend a director nominee for selection by the board of directors. The board of directors believes that the independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who shall participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are                     ,                      and                     . In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of the NASDAQ rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The board of directors will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by our stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to stand for election at the next annual meeting of stockholders (or, if applicable, a special meeting of stockholders). Our stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election to the Board should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom and the ability to represent the best interests of our stockholders.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of our executive officers currently serves and in the past year has not served as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.

 

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Code of Ethics

Prior to the effectiveness of this registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, we will have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We will file a copy of our form of Code of Ethics and our audit committee charter as exhibits to the registration statement. You will be able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find Additional Information.”

Conflicts of Interest

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to at least one other entity pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

Our sponsor, officers and directors may become involved with subsequent special purpose acquisition companies similar to our company, although they have agreed not to participate in the formation of, or become an officer or director of, any special purpose acquisition company with a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have failed to complete our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

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

 

    In the course of their other business activities, our officers and directors may become aware of investment and business opportunities which may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are affiliated. Our management may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. For a complete description of our management’s other affiliations, see “—Directors and Executive Officers.”

 

   

Our sponsor has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and any public shares in connection with the consummation of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have agreed to waive the redemption rights with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. Additionally, our sponsor agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares if we fail to consummate our initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). If we do not complete our initial business combination within such applicable time period, the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until the earlier of: (i) one year after the completion of our initial business combination; and (ii) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization, or other similar transaction after our initial business combination that

 

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results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up. With certain limited exceptions, the private placement warrants and the common stock underlying such warrants, will not be transferable, assignable or salable by our sponsor until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Due to the affiliation of our officers and certain of our directors with our sponsor and since our sponsor may directly or indirectly own common stock and warrants following this offering, our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.

 

    Our 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 our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether to proceed with a particular business combination.

 

    Our key personnel may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such key personnel was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

The conflicts described above may not be resolved in our favor.

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 have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Furthermore, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply with respect to any of our officers or directors in circumstances where the application of the doctrine would conflict with any fiduciary duties or contractual obligations they may have. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers, directors and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may present a conflict of interest:

 

Name of Individual

  

Entity Name

  

Entity’s Business

  

Affiliation

Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

   Colony Capital, Inc.(1)    Real Estate and Investment Management Firm    Director and Officer

Justin Chang

   Colony Capital, Inc.(1)    Real Estate and Investment Management Firm    Officer

Philippe M. Costeletos

   Colony Capital, Inc.(1)    Real Estate and Investment Management Firm    Officer

Jonathan H. Grunzweig

   Colony Capital, Inc.(1)    Real Estate and Investment Management Firm    Officer

Neale Redington

   Colony Capital, Inc.(1)    Real Estate and Investment Management Firm    Officer

 

(1) Includes all portfolio companies and certain other affiliates of Colony Capital.

 

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Accordingly, if any of the above officers or directors become aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the above entities to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor these obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We do not believe, however, that any of the foregoing fiduciary duties or contractual obligations will materially affect our ability to complete our business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with such a company, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm, that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

In addition, our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in the company in connection with the initial business combination, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or current intention to do so. If our sponsor or any of its affiliates elects to make additional investments, such proposed investments could influence our sponsor’s motivation to complete an initial business combination.

In the event that we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination, and our officers and directors have also agreed to vote public shares purchased by them (if any) during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our officers and directors 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 will provide that our directors will not be personally liable for monetary damages to us for breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such exemption from liability or limitation thereof is not permitted by the DGCL.

We will enter into agreements with our officers and directors to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our bylaws also permit us to maintain 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 such indemnification. We will obtain a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.

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 officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. Furthermore, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

 

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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of the date of this prospectus, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock included in the units offered by this prospectus, and assuming no purchase of 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 executive officers, directors and director nominees that beneficially owns shares of our common stock; and

 

    all our executive officers, directors and director nominees 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 or beneficial ownership of the private placement warrants as these warrants are not exercisable within 60 days of the date of this prospectus.

The post-offering ownership percentage column below assumes that the underwriters do not exercise their over-allotment option, that our sponsor forfeits 1,125,000 founder shares and that there are 37,500,000 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding after this offering.

 

     Number of Shares
Beneficially Owned(2)
     Approximate Percentage of
Outstanding Common Stock
 

Name and Address of Beneficial Owner(1)

      Before Offering     After Offering(2)  

Colony Global Acquisition, LLC (our sponsor)(3)

     7,500,000         100.0     20.0

Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

     —           *        *   

Justin Chang

     —           *        *   

Philippe M. Costeletos

     —           *        *   

Jonathan H. Grunzweig

     —           *        *   

Neale Redington

     —           *        *   
     —           *        *   
     —           *        *   
     —           *        *   

All directors and executive officers as a group (8 individuals)

     —           *        *   

 

* Less than one percent.
(1) Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is 515 South Flower Street, 44th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90071.
(2) Interests shown consist solely of shares of Class F common stock which are referred to herein as founder shares. Such shares will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, as described in the section entitled “Description of Securities.”
(3) Our sponsor is wholly owned by Colony Capital Operating Partnership. Pursuant to a credit agreement (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time) among Colony Capital Operating Partnership, certain lenders party thereto and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent has been pledged as collateral to secure certain obligations under the credit agreement. The foreclosure on the equity interest of our sponsor’s direct parent would result in a change of control of our sponsor, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate. See “Proposed Business—Redemption of public shares and liquidation if no initial business combination.”

Immediately after this offering, our sponsor will beneficially own 20.0% of the then issued and outstanding shares of our common stock. Because of this ownership block, our sponsor may be able to effectively influence

 

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the outcome of all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and approval of significant corporate transactions.

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants at a price of $0.50 per warrant ($8,000,000 in the aggregate or $8,900,000 in the aggregate if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at $5.75 per half share. The purchase price of the private placement warrants will be added to the proceeds from this offering to be held in the trust account pending our completion of our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), the proceeds of the sale of the private placement warrants will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, and the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are subject to the transfer restrictions described below. The private placement warrants will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering.

Our sponsor is deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.

Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants

The founder shares, private placement warrants and any shares of Class A common stock issued upon exercise of the private placement warrants are each subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in the letter agreements with us to be entered into by our sponsor. Those lock-up provisions provide that such securities are not transferable or salable: (i) in the case of the founder shares, until the earlier of (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (c) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property; and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case: (a) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor; (b) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of one of the members of the individual’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of one of the individual’s immediate family, an affiliate of such person or to a charitable organization; (c) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (d) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (e) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the shares were originally purchased; (f) in the event of our liquidation prior to our completion of our initial business combination; (g) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (h) in the event of our completion of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (a) through (e) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

 

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Registration Rights

Our sponsor and holders of warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any, will have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock) pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering. These holders will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that we register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include such securities in other registration statements filed by us and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs: (i) in the case of the founder shares, upon the earlier of (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (c) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property; and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing any such registration statements.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

In December 2015, our sponsor purchased 8,625,000 founder shares for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.003 per share. If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class F common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase an aggregate of 16,000,000 (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants for a purchase price of $0.50 per warrant in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the closing of this offering. Our sponsor will purchase these warrants. As such, our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at between $8,000,000 and $8,900,000, depending on the number of private placement warrants purchased. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at $5.75 per share. The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by it until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination.

As more fully discussed in “Management—Conflicts of Interest,” if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

We will enter into an Administrative Services Agreement with an affiliate of our sponsor, pursuant to which we will pay a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial support to such affiliate. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Accordingly, in the event the consummation of our initial business combination takes the maximum 24 months, an affiliate of our sponsor will be paid a total of $240,000 ($10,000 per month) for office space, utilities and secretarial support.

Our sponsor, officers and directors or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or any of their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

Prior to the closing of this offering, our sponsor has loaned us up to $200,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of this offering. These loans are non-interest bearing, unsecured and are due at the earlier of June 30, 2016 or the closing of this offering. These loans will be repaid upon the closing of this offering out of the estimated $750,000 of offering proceeds that has been allocated to the payment of offering expenses. The value of our sponsor’s interest in this transaction corresponds to the principal amount outstanding under any such loan.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that our initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would

 

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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 $0.50 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants issued to our sponsor. The terms of such loans by our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors, if any, as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our stockholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our stockholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a stockholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive officer and director compensation.

We have entered into a registration rights agreement with respect to the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans (if any), which is described under the heading “Principal Stockholders—Registration Rights.”

 

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock will consist of 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 25,000,000 shares of Class F common stock, $0.0001 par value and 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

Units

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one share of Class A common stock and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $5.75 per half share, subject to adjustment as described in this prospectus. For example, if a warrant holder holds two warrants, such warrants will be exercisable for one share of the company’s Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. Warrants must be exercised for one whole share of Class A common stock. The common stock and warrants comprising the units will begin separate trading on the 52nd day following the closing of this offering unless Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC 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 announcing when such separate trading will begin. Once the shares of Class A common stock and warrants commence separate trading, holders will have the option to continue to hold units or separate their units into the component securities. Holders will need to have their brokers contact our transfer agent in order to separate the units into shares of Class A common stock and warrants.

In no event will the Class A 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 at the closing of this offering. We will file the Current Report on Form 8-K which will include this audited balance sheet, promptly after the closing of this offering, which is anticipated to take place three business days after 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.

Common Stock

Upon the closing of this offering, 37,500,000 shares of our common stock will be outstanding (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and the corresponding forfeiture of 1,125,000 founder shares by our sponsor), including:

 

    30,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock underlying the units being offered in this offering; and

 

    7,500,000 shares of Class F common stock held by our sponsor.

If we increase or decrease the size of this offering, we will effect a stock dividend or share contribution back to capital or other appropriate mechanism, as applicable, with respect to our Class F common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor prior to this offering at 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of our common stock upon the consummation of this offering.

Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of the Class F common stock and holders of the Class A common stock will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders except as required by law. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our common stock that are voted

 

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is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.

Because our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of shares of common stock which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our stockholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.

In accordance with NASDAQ corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until not later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on NASDAQ. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be approximately $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers have entered into letter agreements similar to the one signed by our sponsor with respect to public shares acquired by them (if any) following this offering. Permitted transferees of our sponsor, officers or directors will be subject to the same obligations. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, if a stockholder vote is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, a stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions (as described in this prospectus), if any, could result in the approval of our initial business combination even if a

 

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majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Our officers and directors have also agreed to vote public shares purchased by them (if any) during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

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 (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholder and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor). However, if our sponsor or any of our officers or directors acquires public shares after this offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time period.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our stockholders with the opportunity to redeem

 

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their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

Founder Shares

The founder shares are identical to the shares of common stock included in the units being sold in this offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that: (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below; (ii) our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to its founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (b) to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), although it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares it holds if we fail to complete our initial business combination within such time period; and (iii) the founder shares are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein. If we submit our initial business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor has agreed to vote its founder shares and any public shares it may acquire during or after this offering in favor of our initial business combination. Permitted transferees of our sponsor will be subject to the same obligations of our sponsor.

The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts offered in this prospectus and related to the closing of our initial business combination, the ratio at which shares of Class F common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class F common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of this offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with our initial business combination, excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in our initial business combination or pursuant to warrants issued to our sponsor.

With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (x) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, (y) the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (z) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Preferred Stock

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock and will provide that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors will be authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors will be able to, without stockholder approval, issue

 

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preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in this offering.

Warrants

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

Each warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one-half of one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $5.75 per half share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing on the later of 12 months from the closing of this offering or 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. For example, if a warrant holder holds two warrants, such warrants will be exercisable for one share of the company’s Class A common stock. Warrants must be exercised for a whole share. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the issuance of the shares of Class A common issuable upon exercise of the warrants is then effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption is available. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.

We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC and have a registration statement registering the issuance, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but will use our best efforts to qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

Once the warrants become exercisable, we may call the warrants for redemption:

 

    in whole and not in part;

 

    at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

    upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption, or the 30-day redemption period, to each warrant holder; and

 

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    if, and only if, the reported last sale price of our Class A common stock equals or exceeds $24.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrant holder will be entitled to exercise his, her or its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $24.00 redemption trigger price as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price (for whole shares) after the redemption notice is issued.

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 determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our stockholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A 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 Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of shares of Class A common stock to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case. Requiring a cashless exercise in this manner will reduce the number of shares to be issued and thereby lessen the dilutive effect of a warrant redemption. We believe this feature is an attractive option to us if we do not need the cash from the exercise of the warrants after our initial business combination. If we call our warrants for redemption and our management does not take advantage of this option, our sponsor and its permitted transferees would still be entitled to exercise their private placement warrants for cash or on a cashless basis using the same formula described above that other warrant holders would have been required to use had all warrant holders been required to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, as described in more detail below.

A holder of a warrant may notify us in writing in the event it elects to be subject to a requirement that such holder will not have the right to exercise such warrant, to the extent that after giving effect to such exercise, such person (together with such person’s affiliates), to the warrant agent’s actual knowledge, would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% (or such other amount as a holder may specify) of the shares of Class A common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise.

If the number of outstanding shares of Class A common stock is increased by a stock dividend payable in shares of Class A common stock, or by a split-up of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such stock dividend, split-up or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be increased in proportion to such increase in the outstanding shares of Class A common stock. A rights offering to holders of Class A common stock entitling holders to purchase shares of Class A common stock at a price less than the fair market value will be deemed a stock dividend of a number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the product of (i) the number of shares of Class A common stock actually sold in such rights offering (or issuable under any other equity securities sold in such rights offering that are convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock) multiplied by (ii) one

 

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(1) minus the quotient of (x) the price per share of Class A common stock paid in such rights offering divided by (y) the fair market value. For these purposes (i) if the rights offering is for securities convertible into or exercisable for Class A common stock, in determining the price payable for Class A common stock, there will be taken into account any consideration received for such rights, as well as any additional amount payable upon exercise or conversion and (ii) fair market value means the volume weighted average price of Class A common stock as reported during the ten trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the first date on which the shares of Class A common stock trade on the applicable exchange or in the applicable market, regular way, without the right to receive such rights.

In addition, if we, at any time while the warrants are outstanding and unexpired, pay a dividend or make a distribution in cash, securities or other assets to the holders of Class A common stock on account of such shares of Class A common stock (or other shares of our capital stock into which the warrants are convertible), other than: (i) as described above, (ii) certain ordinary cash dividends, (iii) to satisfy the redemption rights of the holders of Class A common stock in connection with a proposed initial business combination, (iv) as a result of the repurchase of shares of Class A common stock by the company if the proposed initial business combination is presented to the stockholders of the company for approval, or (v) in connection with the redemption of our public shares upon our failure to complete our initial business combination, then the warrant exercise price will be decreased, effective immediately after the effective date of such event, by the amount of cash and/or the fair market value of any securities or other assets paid on each share of Class A common stock in respect of such event.

If the number of outstanding shares of our Class A common stock is decreased by a consolidation, combination, reverse stock split or reclassification of shares of Class A common stock or other similar event, then, on the effective date of such consolidation, combination, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar event, the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable on exercise of each warrant will be decreased in proportion to such decrease in outstanding shares of Class A common stock.

Whenever the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants is adjusted, as described above, the warrant exercise price will be adjusted by multiplying the warrant exercise price immediately prior to such adjustment by a fraction (x) the numerator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock purchasable upon the exercise of the warrants immediately prior to such adjustment, and (y) the denominator of which will be the number of shares of Class A common stock so purchasable immediately thereafter.

In case of any reclassification or reorganization of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock (other than those described above or that solely affects the par value of such shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any merger or consolidation of us with or into another corporation (other than a consolidation or merger in which we are the continuing corporation and that does not result in any reclassification or reorganization of our outstanding shares of Class A common stock), or in the case of any sale or conveyance to another corporation or entity of the assets or other property of us as an entirety or substantially as an entirety in connection with which we are dissolved, the holders of the warrants will thereafter have the right to purchase and receive, upon the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified in the warrants and in lieu of the shares of our Class A common stock immediately theretofore purchasable and receivable upon the exercise of the rights represented thereby, the kind and amount of shares of stock or other securities or property (including cash) receivable upon such reclassification, reorganization, merger or consolidation, or upon a dissolution following any such sale or transfer, that the holder of the warrants would have received if such holder had exercised their warrants immediately prior to such event. However, if such holders were entitled to exercise a right of election as to the kind or amount of securities, cash or other assets receivable upon such consolidation or merger, then the kind and amount of securities, cash or other assets for which each warrant will become exercisable will be deemed to be the weighted average of the kind and amount received per share by such holders in such consolidation or merger that affirmatively make such election, and if a tender, exchange or redemption offer has been made to and accepted by such holders (other than a tender, exchange or redemption offer made by the company in connection

 

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with redemption rights held by stockholders of the company as provided for in the company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation or as a result of the repurchase of shares of Class A common stock by the company if a proposed initial business combination is presented to the stockholders of the company for approval) under circumstances in which, upon completion of such tender or exchange offer, the maker thereof, together with members of any group (within the meaning of Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Exchange Act) of which such maker is a part, and together with any affiliate or associate of such maker (within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) and any members of any such group of which any such affiliate or associate is a part, own beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Class A common stock, the holder of a warrant will be entitled to receive the highest amount of cash, securities or other property to which such holder would actually have been entitled as a stockholder if such warrant holder had exercised the warrant prior to the expiration of such tender or exchange offer, accepted such offer and all of the Class A common stock held by such holder had been purchased pursuant to such tender or exchange offer, subject to adjustments (from and after the consummation of such tender or exchange offer) as nearly equivalent as possible to the adjustments provided for in the warrant agreement. Additionally, if less than 70% of the consideration receivable by the holders of Class A common stock in such a transaction is payable in the form of Class A common stock in the successor entity that is listed for trading on a national securities exchange or is quoted in an established over-the-counter market, or is to be so listed for trading or quoted immediately following such event, and if the registered holder of the warrant properly exercises the warrant within thirty days following public disclosure of such transaction, the warrant exercise price will be reduced as specified in the warrant agreement based on the per share consideration minus Black-Scholes Warrant Value (as defined in the warrant agreement) of the warrant.

The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between AST, as warrant agent, and us. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants.

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

Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrant holder. As a result, warrant holders not purchasing an even number of warrants must sell any odd number of warrants in order to obtain any value from the fractional interest that will not be issued.

Private Placement Warrants

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except, among other limited exceptions as described under “Principal Stockholders—

 

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Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants,” to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor) and they will not be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees. Otherwise, the private placement warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in this offering. If the private placement warrants are held by holders other than our sponsor or its permitted transferees, the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in this offering.

If holders of the private placement warrants elect to exercise them on a cashless basis, they would pay the exercise price by surrendering his, her or its warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants, multiplied by the 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 Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrant agent. The reason that we have agreed that these warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor and permitted transferees is because it is not known at this time whether they will be affiliated with us following a business combination. If they remain affiliated with us, their ability to sell our securities in the open market will be significantly limited. We expect to have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could exercise their warrants and sell the shares of Class A common stock received upon such exercise freely in the open market in order to recoup the cost of such exercise, the insiders could be significantly restricted from selling such securities. As a result, we believe that allowing the holders to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis is appropriate.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of 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 cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. 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 this offering, in which case we will effect a stock dividend with respect to our Class F common stock immediately prior to the consummation of this offering in such amount as to maintain the ownership of founder shares by our sponsor prior to this offering at 20% 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.

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is AST. We have agreed to indemnify AST in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all liabilities, including judgments, costs and reasonable counsel fees that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

 

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Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will contain certain requirements and restrictions relating to this offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of at least 65% of our common stock. Our sponsor, who will beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of this offering, may participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner it chooses. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide, among other things, that:

 

    if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor, which is defined as our sponsor ceasing to be wholly owned by Colony Capital Operating Partnership and its affiliates), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

 

    prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to: (i) receive funds from the trust account; or (ii) vote on any initial business combination;

 

    although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or our officers, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;

 

    if a stockholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act;

 

    our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our 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;

 

    if our stockholders approve an 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 our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor, which is defined as our sponsor ceasing to be wholly owned by Colony Capital Operating Partnership and its affiliates), we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

 

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    we will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.

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

We will be subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers upon completion of this offering. This statute prevents certain Delaware corporations, under certain circumstances, from engaging in a “business combination” with:

 

    a stockholder who owns 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock (otherwise known as an “interested stockholder”);

 

    an affiliate of an interested stockholder; or

 

    an associate of an interested stockholder, for three years following the date that the stockholder became an interested stockholder.

A “business combination” includes a merger or sale of more than 10% of our assets. However, the above provisions of Section 203 do not apply if:

 

    our board of directors approves the transaction that made the stockholder an “interested stockholder,” prior to the date of the transaction;

 

    after the completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, that stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, other than statutorily excluded shares of common stock; or

 

    on or subsequent to the date of the transaction, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and authorized at a meeting of our stockholders, and not by written consent, by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.

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.

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 chief executive officer or by our chairman, if any.

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 received by the secretary to our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the opening of business on the 120th day prior to the scheduled date of the annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 of the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the

 

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notice periods contained therein. 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.

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after this offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we will have 30,000,000 (or 34,500,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) shares of Class A common stock outstanding. Of these shares, the 30,000,000 shares (or 34,500,000 shares if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) sold in this offering 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 7,500,000 (or 8,625,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) founder shares and all 16,000,000 (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and are subject to transfer restrictions as set forth elsewhere in this prospectus.

Rule 144

Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our 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 and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:

 

    1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 375,000 shares immediately after this offering (or 431,250 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full); or

 

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

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

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

Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than a business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:

 

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

 

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

 

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    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, our sponsor will be able to sell its founder shares and our sponsor will be able to sell its private placement warrants, as applicable, pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants issued upon conversion of the working capital loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed prior to or on the effective date of this offering requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination and rights to require us to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. However, the registration rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs: (i) in the case of the founder shares, on the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, (B) the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (C) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property; and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A common stock underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Listing of Securities

We intend to apply to list our units, Class A common stock and warrants on NASDAQ under the symbols “CCACU,” “CCAC” and “CCACW,” respectively. We expect 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 Class A 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. We cannot guarantee that our securities will be approved for listing on NASDAQ.

 

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UNITED STATES FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

The following discussion is a summary of the U.S. federal income tax considerations generally applicable to the ownership and disposition of our units, Class A common stock and warrants, which we refer to collectively as our securities. This summary is based upon U.S. federal income tax law as of the date of this prospectus, which is subject to change or differing interpretations, possibly with retroactive effect. This summary does not discuss all aspects of U.S. federal income taxation that may be important to particular investors in light of their individual circumstances, including investors subject to special tax rules (e.g., financial institutions, insurance companies, broker-dealers, partnerships and their partners, tax-exempt organizations (including private foundations), taxpayers that have elected mark-to-market accounting, S corporations, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, investors that will hold Class A common stock or warrants as part of a straddle, hedge, conversion, or other integrated transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or investors that have a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar), all of whom may be subject to tax rules that differ materially from those summarized below. In addition, this summary does not discuss other U.S. federal tax consequences (e.g., estate or gift tax), any state, local, or non-U.S. tax considerations or the Medicare tax or alternative minimum tax. In addition, this summary is limited to investors that will hold our securities as “capital assets” (generally, property held for investment) under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, (the “Code”), and that acquired the securities pursuant to this offering (or, in the case of Class A common stock, upon exercise of warrants so acquired). No ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, (the “IRS”) has been or will be sought regarding any matter discussed herein. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert, or that a court would not sustain a position contrary to any of the tax aspects set forth below.

For purposes of this summary, a “U.S. Holder” is a beneficial holder of securities who or that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes is:

 

    an individual who is a United States citizen or resident of the United States;

 

    a corporation or other entity treated as a corporation for United States federal income tax purposes created in, or organized under the law of, the United States or any state or political subdivision thereof;

 

    an estate the income of which is includible in gross income for United States federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or

 

    a trust (A) the administration of which is subject to the primary supervision of a United States court and which has one or more United States persons (within the meaning of the Code) who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (B) that has in effect a valid election under applicable Treasury regulations to be treated as a United States person.

A “non-U.S. Holder” is a beneficial holder of shares who or that is neither a U.S. Holder nor a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

If a partnership (including an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) holds our securities, the tax treatment of a partner in such partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner, the activities of the partnership and certain determinations made at the partner level. If you are a partner of a partnership holding our securities, you are urged to consult your tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our securities.

THIS DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TAX ADVICE. WE URGE PROSPECTIVE HOLDERS TO CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS CONCERNING THE U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF OWNING AND DISPOSING OF OUR SECURITIES, AS WELL AS THE APPLICATION OF ANY, STATE, LOCAL AND NON-U.S. INCOME, ESTATE AND OTHER TAX CONSIDERATIONS.

 

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Personal Holding Company Status

We would be subject to a second level of U.S. federal income tax on a portion of our income if we are determined to be a personal holding company, or PHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A U.S. corporation will generally be classified as a PHC for U.S. 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 U.S. 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).

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 sponsor 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 PHC income, which generally includes our taxable income, subject to certain adjustments.

General Treatment of Units

There is no authority directly addressing the treatment, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, of instruments with terms substantially the same as the units and, therefore, their treatment is not entirely clear. The acquisition of a unit should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the acquisition of one share of our Class A common stock and one-half of one warrant to acquire one share of our Class A common stock. We intend to treat the acquisition of a unit in this manner and, by purchasing a unit, you agree to adopt such treatment for tax purposes. Each holder of a unit must allocate the purchase price paid by such holder for such unit between the share of Class A common stock and the warrant based on their respective relative fair market values. A holder’s initial tax basis in the Class A common stock and the warrant included in each unit should equal the portion of the purchase price of the unit allocated thereto. The separation of the Class A common stock and warrant comprising a unit should not be a taxable event for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

The foregoing treatment of the units and a holder’s purchase price allocation are not binding on the IRS or the courts. Because there is no authority that directly addresses instruments that are similar to the units, no assurance can be given that the IRS or the courts will agree with the characterization described above or the discussion below. Each prospective investor is urged to consult its tax advisors regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and any foreign tax consequences of an investment in a unit (including alternative characterizations of a unit and its components). The following discussion is based on the assumption that the characterization of the Class A common stock and warrants and the allocation described above are accepted for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

U.S. Holders

Taxation of Distributions

If we pay cash distributions to U.S. Holders of shares of our Class A common stock, such distributions will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Distributions in excess of current

 

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and accumulated earnings and profits will constitute a return of capital that will be applied against and reduce (but not below zero) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in our Class A common stock. Any remaining excess will be treated as gain realized on the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock and will be treated as described under “U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock” below.

Dividends we pay to a U.S. Holder that is a taxable corporation generally will qualify for the dividends received deduction if the requisite holding period is satisfied. With certain exceptions (including dividends treated as investment income for purposes of investment interest deduction limitations), and provided certain holding period requirements are met, dividends we pay to a non-corporate U.S. Holder will generally constitute “qualified dividends” that will be subject to tax at the maximum tax rate accorded to long-term capital gains. It is unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may prevent a U.S. Holder from satisfying the applicable holding period requirements with respect to the dividends received deduction or the preferential tax rate on qualified dividend income, as the case may be.

Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock

A U.S. Holder will recognize gain or loss on the sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition (which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor)) of our Class A common stock. Any such gain or loss will be capital gain or loss, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock so disposed of exceeds one year. It is unclear, however, whether the redemption rights with respect to the Class A common stock described in this prospectus may suspend the running of the applicable holding period for this purpose. The amount of gain or loss recognized will generally be equal to the difference between (i) the sum of the amount of cash and the fair market value of any property received in such disposition (or, if the Class A common stock is held as part of a unit at the time of the disposition, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the Class A common stock based upon the then fair market values of the Class A common stock and the warrant included in the unit) and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock so disposed of. A U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its Class A common stock will generally equal the U.S. Holder’s acquisition cost (that is, as discussed above, the portion of the purchase price of a unit allocated to a share of Class A common stock or, as discussed below, the U.S. Holder’s initial basis for Class A common stock received upon exercise of a warrant) less any prior distributions treated as a return of capital. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to limitations.

Redemption of Class A Common Stock

In the event that a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock is redeemed pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities—Common Stock”, the treatment of the transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes will depend on whether the redemption qualifies as sale of the Class A common stock under Section 302 of the Code. If the redemption qualifies as a sale of Class A common stock under the tests described below, the tax consequences to the U.S. Holder will be the same as described under “U.S. Holders—Gain or Loss on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock” above. If the redemption does not qualify as a sale of Class A common stock, the U.S. Holder will be treated as receiving a corporate distribution, the tax consequences of which are described above under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions”. Whether the redemption qualifies for sale treatment will depend primarily on the total number of shares of our stock treated as held by the U.S. Holder (including any stock constructively owned by the U.S. Holder as a result of owning warrants) both before and after the redemption. The redemption of Class A common stock will generally be treated as a sale of the Class A common stock (rather than as a corporate distribution) if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the U.S. Holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the U.S. Holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the U.S. Holder. These tests are explained more fully below.

 

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In determining whether any of the foregoing tests are satisfied, a U.S. Holder takes into account not only stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder, but also shares of our stock that are constructively owned by it. A U.S. Holder may constructively own, in addition to stock owned directly, stock owned by certain related individuals and entities in which the U.S. Holder has an interest or that have an interest in such U.S. Holder, as well as any stock the U.S. Holder has a right to acquire by exercise of an option, which would generally include common stock which could be acquired pursuant to the exercise of the warrants. A redemption of a U.S. Holder’s stock will be substantially disproportionate with respect to the U.S. Holder if the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately following the redemption of common stock is, among other requirements, less than 80% of the percentage of our outstanding voting stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder immediately before the redemption. There will be a complete termination of a U.S. Holder’s interest if either (i) all of the shares of our stock actually and constructively owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed or (ii) all of the shares of our stock actually owned by the U.S. Holder are redeemed and the U.S. Holder is eligible to waive, and effectively waives in accordance with specific rules, the attribution of stock owned by certain family members and the U.S. Holder does not constructively own any other stock. The redemption of the Class A common stock will not be essentially equivalent to a dividend if the redemption results in a “meaningful reduction” of the U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us. Whether the redemption will result in a meaningful reduction in a U.S. Holder’s proportionate interest in us will depend on the particular facts and circumstances. The IRS has indicated in a published ruling that even a small reduction in the proportionate interest of a small minority stockholder in a publicly held corporation who exercises no control over corporate affairs may constitute such a “meaningful reduction.” A U.S. Holder is urged to consult its tax advisors as to the tax consequences of a redemption, including the application of the constructive ownership rules described above.

If none of the foregoing tests is satisfied, the redemption will be treated as a corporate distribution, the tax consequences of which are described under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions,” above. After the application of those rules, any remaining tax basis of the U.S. Holder in the redeemed Class A common stock should be added to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its remaining stock, or, if it has none, to the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its warrants or possibly in other stock constructively owned by it.

Exercise of a Warrant

Except as discussed below with respect to the cashless exercise of a warrant, a U.S. Holder will not recognize gain or loss upon the exercise of a warrant. The U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the share of our Class A common stock received upon exercise of the warrant will generally be an amount equal to the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrant (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—General Treatment of Units”) and the exercise price. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant; however, in either case the holding period will not include the period during which the U.S. Holder held the warrants.

The tax consequences of a cashless exercise of a warrant are not clear under current tax law. A cashless exercise may be nontaxable, either because the exercise is not a realization event or because the exercise is treated as a recapitalization for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In either situation, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the Class A common stock received would generally equal the holder’s tax basis in the warrant. If the cashless exercise were treated as not being a realization event, it is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant. If, however, the cashless exercise were treated as a recapitalization, the holding period of the Class A common stock would include the holding period of the warrant.

It is also possible that a cashless exercise could be treated as a taxable exchange in which gain or loss is recognized. In such event, a U.S. Holder would be deemed to have surrendered warrants with an aggregate fair market value equal to the exercise price for the total number of warrants to be exercised. The U.S. Holder would

 

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recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the fair market value of the Class A common stock represented by the warrants deemed surrendered and (ii) the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in such warrants and the exercise price. In this case, a U.S. Holder’s tax basis in such Class A common stock received would equal the sum of the U.S. Holder’s initial investment in the warrants exercised (i.e., the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—General Treatment of Units”) and the exercise price of such warrants. It is unclear whether a U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Class A common stock would commence on the date of exercise of the warrant or the day following the date of exercise of the warrant.

Due to the absence of authority on the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a cashless exercise, including when a U.S. Holder’s holding period would commence with respect to the Class A common stock received, there can be no assurance which, if any, of the alternative tax consequences and holding periods described above would be adopted by the IRS or a court of law. Accordingly, U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of a cashless exercise.

Sale, Exchange, Redemption or Expiration of a Warrant

Upon a sale, exchange (other than by exercise), redemption, or expiration of a warrant, a U.S. Holder will recognize taxable gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the amount realized upon such disposition or expiration (or, if the warrant is held as part of a unit at the time of the disposition of the unit, the portion of the amount realized on such disposition that is allocated to the warrant based on the then fair market values of the warrant and the Class A common stock comprising such unit) and (ii) the U.S. Holder’s tax basis in the warrant (that is, the portion of the U.S. Holder’s purchase price for a unit that is allocated to the warrant, as described above under “—General Treatment of Units”). Such gain or loss will generally be treated as long-term capital gain or loss if the warrant is held by the U.S. Holder for more than one year at the time of such disposition or expiration. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to certain limitations.

Possible Constructive Distributions

The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a U.S. Holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock which is taxable to such U.S. Holders as described under “U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” above. Such constructive distribution would be subject to tax as described under that section in the same manner as if such U.S. Holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest.

Non-U.S. Holders

Taxation of Distributions

In general, any distributions we make to a non-U.S. Holder of shares of our Class A common stock, to the extent paid out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles), will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, provided such dividends are not effectively connected with the non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States, we will be required to withhold tax from the gross amount of the dividend at a rate of 30%, unless such non-U.S. Holder is eligible for a reduced rate of withholding tax under an applicable income tax treaty and provides proper certification of its eligibility for such reduced rate (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable). Any distribution not constituting a dividend will be treated first as reducing (but not below zero) the

 

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non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in its shares of our Class A common stock and, to the extent such distribution exceeds the non-U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis, as gain realized from the sale or other disposition of the Class A common stock, which will be treated as described under “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below. In addition, if we determine that we are classified as a “United States real property holding corporation” (see “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Taxable Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants” below), we may withhold 15% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits.

Dividends we pay to a non-U.S. Holder that are effectively connected with such non-U.S. Holder’s conduct of a trade or business within the United States (or if a tax treaty applies are attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. Holder) will generally not be subject to U.S. withholding tax, provided such non-U.S. Holder complies with certain certification and disclosure requirements (usually by providing an IRS Form W-8ECI). Instead, such dividends will generally be subject to U.S. federal income tax, net of certain deductions, at the same graduated individual or corporate rates applicable to U.S. Holders. If the non-U.S. Holder is a corporation, dividends that are 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 a Warrant

The U.S. federal income tax treatment of a non-U.S. Holder’s exercise of a warrant generally will correspond to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the exercise of a warrant by a U.S. Holder, as described under “U.S. Holders—Exercise of a Warrant” above, although to the extent a cashless exercise results in a taxable exchange, the tax consequences to the non-U.S. Holder would be the same as those described below in “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants.”

Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants

A non-U.S. Holder will generally not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax in respect of gain recognized on a sale, taxable exchange or other taxable disposition of our Class A common stock, which would include a dissolution and liquidation in the event we do not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), or warrants (including an expiration or redemption of our warrants), in each case without regard to whether those securities were held as part of a unit, unless:

 

    the gain is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business by the non-U.S. Holder within the United States (and, under certain income tax treaties, is attributable to a U.S. permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by the non-U.S. Holder);

 

    the non-U.S. Holder is an individual who is present in the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of disposition and certain other conditions are met; or

 

    we are or have been a “United States real property holding corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time during the shorter of the five-year period ending on the date of disposition or the period that the non-U.S. Holder held our Class A common stock, and, in the case where shares of our Class A common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, the non-U.S. Holder has owned, directly or constructively, more than 5% of our Class A common stock at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or such non-U.S. Holder’s holding period for the shares of our Class A common stock. There can be no assurance that our Class A common stock will be treated as regularly traded on an established securities market for this purpose.

Gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. Any gains described in the first bullet point above of a non-U.S. Holder that is a foreign

 

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corporation may also be subject to an additional “branch profits tax” at a 30% rate (or lower applicable treaty rate). Gain described in the second bullet point above will be subject to a flat 30% U.S. federal income tax. Non-U.S. Holders are urged to consult their tax advisors regarding possible eligibility for benefits under income tax treaties.

If the third bullet point above applies to a non-U.S. Holder, gain recognized by such holder on the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants will be subject to tax at generally applicable U.S. federal income tax rates. In addition, a buyer of our Class A common stock or warrants from a non-U.S. Holder may be required to withhold U.S. income tax at a rate of 15% of the amount realized upon such disposition. We cannot determine whether we will be a United States real property holding corporation in the future until we complete an initial business combination. 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 the fair market value of our worldwide real property interests plus our other assets used or held for use in a trade or business, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Possible Constructive Distributions

The terms of each warrant provide for an adjustment to the number of shares of Class A common stock for which the warrant may be exercised or to the exercise price of the warrant in certain events, as discussed in the section of this prospectus captioned “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Stockholders’ Warrants.” An adjustment which has the effect of preventing dilution is generally not a taxable event. Nevertheless, a non-U.S. Holder of warrants would be treated as receiving a constructive distribution from us if, for example, the adjustment increases the holder’s proportionate interest in our assets or earnings and profits (e.g., through an increase in the number of shares of Class A common stock that would be obtained upon exercise) as a result of a distribution of cash to the holders of shares of our Class A common stock which is taxable to such non-U.S. Holders as described under “Non-U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” above. A non-U.S. Holder would be subject to U.S. federal income tax withholding under that section in the same manner as if such non-U.S. Holder received a cash distribution from us equal to the fair market value of such increased interest without any corresponding receipt of cash.

Redemption of Class A Common Stock

The characterization for U.S. federal income tax purposes of the redemption of a non-U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock pursuant to the redemption provisions described in this prospectus under “Description of Securities—Common Stock” will generally correspond to the U.S. federal income tax characterization of such a redemption of a U.S. Holder’s Class A common stock, as described under “U.S. Holders—Redemption of Class A Common Stock” above, and the consequences of the redemption to the non-U.S. Holder will be as described above under “Non-U.S. Holders—Taxation of Distributions” and “Non-U.S. Holders—Gain on Sale, Exchange or Other Taxable Disposition of Class A Common Stock and Warrants,” as applicable.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act

Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code and the Treasury Regulations and administrative guidance promulgated thereunder (commonly referred as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” or “FATCA”) generally impose withholding at a rate of 30% in certain circumstances on dividends in respect of, and, after December 31, 2018, gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of, our securities which are held by or through certain foreign financial institutions (including investment funds), unless any such institution (i) enters into, and complies with, an agreement with the IRS to report, on an annual basis, information with respect to interests in, and accounts maintained by, the institution that are owned by certain U.S. persons and by certain non-U.S. entities that are wholly or partially owned by U.S. persons and to withhold on certain payments, or (ii) if required under an intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign

 

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country, reports such information to its local tax authority, which will exchange such information with the U.S. authorities. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country may modify these requirements. Accordingly, the entity through which our securities are held will affect the determination of whether such withholding is required. Similarly, dividends in respect of, and, after December 31, 2018, gross proceeds from the sale or other disposition of, our securities held by an investor that is a non-financial non-U.S. entity that does not qualify under certain exceptions will generally be subject to withholding at a rate of 30%, unless such entity either (i) certifies to us or the applicable withholding agent that such entity does not have any “substantial United States owners” or (ii) provides certain information regarding the entity’s “substantial United States owners,” which will in turn be provided to the U.S. Department of Treasury. Prospective investors should consult their tax advisors regarding the possible implications of FATCA on their investment in our securities.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

In general, information reporting requirements will apply to payments of dividends and proceeds from the sale of our securities to non-U.S. Holders that are not exempt recipients (such as corporations). We must report annually to the IRS and to each such holder the amount of dividends or other distributions we pay to such non-U.S. Holder on our shares of Class A common stock and the amount of tax withheld with respect to those 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 the non-U.S. Holder resides pursuant to the provisions of an applicable income tax treaty or exchange of information treaty.

The gross amount of dividends and proceeds from the disposition of our Class A common stock or warrants paid to a holder that fails to provide the appropriate certification in accordance with applicable U.S. Treasury regulations generally will be subject to backup withholding at the applicable rate.

Information reporting and backup withholding are generally not required with respect to the amount of any proceeds from the sale by a non-U.S. Holder of Class A 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 a non-U.S. Holder sells Class A common stock or warrants through a U.S. broker or the U.S. office of a foreign broker, the broker will be required to report to the IRS the amount of proceeds paid to such holder, unless the non-U.S. Holder provides appropriate certification (usually on an IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E, as applicable) to the broker of its status as a non-U.S. Holder or such non-U.S. Holder is an exempt recipient. In addition, for information reporting purposes, certain non-U.S. brokers with certain type of relationships with the United States will be treated in a manner similar to U.S. brokers.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amounts we withhold under the backup withholding rules may be refunded or credited against the non-U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability, if any, by the IRS if the required information is furnished in a timely manner to the IRS.

 

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UNDERWRITING

Under the terms and subject to the conditions contained in an underwriting agreement dated                      , 2016 we have agreed to sell to the underwriters named below, for whom Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is acting as representative the following respective numbers of units:

 

Underwriter

   Number
of Units
 

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

  
  
  

 

 

 

Total

     30,000,000   
  

 

 

 

The underwriting agreement provides that the underwriters are obligated to purchase all the units in the offering if any are purchased, other than those units covered by the over-allotment option described below.

We have granted to the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase on a pro rata basis up to 4,500,000 additional units at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The option may be exercised only to cover any over-allotments of units.

The underwriters propose to offer the units initially at the public offering price on the cover page of this prospectus and to selling group members at that price less a selling concession of $             per unit. The underwriters and the selling group members may allow a discount of $             per unit on sales to other broker/dealers. After the initial public offering the underwriters may change the public offering price and concession and discount to broker/dealers.

The following table summarizes the compensation and estimated expenses we will pay:

 

     Per Unit(1)      Total(1)  
     Without
Over-allotment
     With
Over-allotment
     Without
Over-allotment
     With
Over-allotment
 

Underwriting Discounts and Commissions paid by us

   $ 0.55       $ 0.55       $ 16,500,000       $ 18,975,000   

 

(1) Includes $0.35 per unit, or $10,500,000 (or $12,075,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) in the aggregate payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions to be placed in a trust account located in the United States as described herein. The deferred commissions will be released to the underwriters only on completion of an initial business combination, in an amount equal to $0.35 multiplied by the number of shares of common stock sold as part of the units in this offering, as described in this prospectus.

We estimate that our out-of-pocket expenses for this offering will be approximately $750,000. We have agreed to pay for the FINRA-related fees and expenses of the underwriters’ legal counsel, not to exceed $25,000.

The representative has informed us that the underwriters do not intend to make sales to discretionary accounts.

We, our sponsor and our officers and directors have agreed that we will not offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, without the prior written consent of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, any units, warrants, shares of common stock or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, shares of common stock; provided, however, that we may (1) issue and sell the private placement warrants, (2) issue and sell the additional units to cover our underwriters’ over-allotment option (if any), (3) register with the SEC pursuant to an agreement to be entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in this offering, the resale of

 

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the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and the founder shares, and (4) issue securities in connection with our initial business combination. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC in its sole discretion may release any of the securities subject to these lock-up agreements at any time without notice.

Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of its founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, (B) the last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (C) the date following the completion of our initial business combination on which we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Class A common stock for cash, securities or other property (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”). Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor with respect to any founder shares.

The private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except with respect to permitted transferees as described herein under “Principal Stockholders—Transfers of Founder Shares and Private Placement Warrants”).

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against certain liabilities under the Securities Act, or contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make in that respect.

We expect our units to be listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market, under the symbol “CCACU” and, once the Class A common stock and warrants begin separate trading, to have our Class A common stock and warrants listed on NASDAQ under the symbols “CCAC” and “CCACW,” respectively.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the units was determined by negotiations between us and the representative.

The determination of our per unit offering price was more arbitrary than would typically be the case if we were an operating company. Among the factors considered in determining initial public offering price were the history and prospects of companies whose principal business is the acquisition of other companies, prior offerings of those companies, our management, our capital structure, and currently prevailing general conditions in 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, Class A common stock or warrants 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, Class A common stock or warrants will develop and continue after this offering.

If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of this offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of our sponsor), the trustee and 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) that the deferred underwriters’ discounts and commissions will be distributed on a pro rata basis, together with any accrued interest thereon (which interest shall be net of taxes payable) to the public stockholders.

In connection with the offering the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

    Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase the underlying security so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum.

 

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    Over-allotment involves sales by the underwriters of units in excess of the number of units the underwriters are obligated to purchase, which creates a syndicate short position. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of units over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of units that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of units involved is greater than the number of units in the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any covered short position by either exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing units in the open market.

 

    Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the units in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of units to close out the 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. If the underwriters sell more units than could be covered by the over-allotment option, a naked short position, the position can only be closed out by buying units in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there could 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.

 

    Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the units originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a stabilizing or syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions.

These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our units or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the units. As a result the price of our units may be higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the open market. These transactions may be effected on The NASDAQ National Market or otherwise and, if commenced, may be discontinued at any time.

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 completion of a business combination.

Some of the underwriters and their affiliates have engaged in, and may in the future engage in, investment banking and other commercial dealings in the ordinary course of business with us or our affiliates. They have received, or may in the future receive, customary fees and commissions for these transactions.

In addition, in the ordinary course of their business activities, the underwriters and their affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers. Such investments and securities activities may involve securities and/or instruments of ours or our affiliates. The underwriters and their affiliates may also make investment recommendations and/or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or financial instruments and may hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long and/or short positions in such securities and instruments.

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on the web sites maintained by one or more of the underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and one or more of the underwriters

 

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participating in this offering may distribute prospectuses electronically. The representative may agree to allocate a number of units to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.

The units are offered for sale in those jurisdictions in the United States, Europe, Asia and elsewhere where it is lawful to make such offers.

Each of the underwriters has represented and agreed that it has not offered, sold or delivered and will not offer, sell or deliver any of the units directly or indirectly, or distribute this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, in or from any jurisdiction except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations thereof and that will not impose any obligations on us except as set forth in the underwriting agreement.

European Economic Area

In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive (each, a “Relevant Member State”), each Underwriter represents and agrees that with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State (the “Relevant Implementation Date”) it has not made and will not make an offer of units to the public in that Relevant Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the units which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that it may, with effect from and including the Relevant Implementation Date, make an offer of units to the public in that Relevant Member State at any time,

 

  (a) to legal entities which are authorized or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorized or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities;

 

  (b) to any legal entity which has two or more of (1) an average of at least 250 employees during the last financial year; (2) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000 and (3) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000, as shown in its last annual or consolidated accounts;

 

  (c) to fewer than 100 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive) subject to obtaining the prior consent of the manager for any such offer; or

 

  (d) in any other circumstances which do not require the publication by the Issuer of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of units to the public” in relation to any units 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 units to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe the units, as the same 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 includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State;

Notice to Investors in the United Kingdom

Each of the underwriters severally represents, warrants and agrees as follows:

 

  (a)

it has only communicated or caused to be communicated and will only communicate or cause to be communicated an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) to persons who have professional experience in matters relating to investments

 

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falling with Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 or in circumstances in which section 21 of FSMA does not apply to the company; and

 

  (b) it has complied with, and will comply with all applicable provisions of FSMA with respect to anything done by it in relation to the units in, from or otherwise involving the United Kingdom;

Notice to Residents of Japan

The underwriters will not offer or sell any of our units directly or indirectly in Japan or to, or for the benefit of any Japanese person or to others, for re-offering or re-sale directly or indirectly in Japan or to any Japanese person, except in each case pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Securities and Exchange Law of Japan and any other applicable laws and regulations of Japan. For purposes of this paragraph, “Japanese person” means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan;

Notice to Residents of Hong Kong

The underwriters and each of their affiliates have not (i) offered or sold, and will not offer or sell, in Hong Kong, by means of any document, our units other than (a) to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571) of Hong Kong and any rules made under that Ordinance or (b) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32 of Hong Kong) or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance or (ii) issued or had in its possession for the purposes of issue, and will not issue or have in its possession for the purposes of issue, whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere any advertisement, invitation or document relating to our units 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 the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to our securities which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and any rules made under that Ordinance. The contents of this document have not been reviewed by any regulatory authority in Hong Kong. You are advised to exercise caution in relation to the offer. If you are in any doubt about any of the contents of this document, you should obtain independent professional advice;

Notice to Residents of Singapore

This prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units has not been and will not be registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the units will be offered in Singapore pursuant to exemptions under Section 274 and Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore (the “Securities and Futures Act”). Accordingly our units may not be offered or sold, or be the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, nor may this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units be circulated or distributed, whether directly or indirectly, to the public or any member of the public in Singapore other than (a) to an institutional investor or other person specified in Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, (b) to a sophisticated investor, and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the Securities and Futures Act or (c) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the Securities and Futures Act;

Notice to Residents of Germany

Each person who is in possession of this prospectus is aware of the fact that no German sales prospectus (Verkaufsprospekt) within the meaning of the Securities Sales Prospectus Act (Wertpapier-Verkaufsprospektgesetz, the “Act”) of the Federal Republic of Germany has been or will be published with

 

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respect to our units. In particular, each underwriter has represented that it has not engaged and has agreed that it will not engage in a public offering in (offentliches Angebot) within the meaning of the Act with respect to any of our units otherwise than in accordance with the Act and all other applicable legal and regulatory requirements;

Notice to Residents of France

The units are being issued and sold outside the Republic of France and that, in connection with their initial distribution, it has not offered or sold and will not offer or sell, directly or indirectly, any units to the public in the Republic of France, and that it has not distributed and will not distribute or cause to be distributed to the public in the Republic of France this prospectus or any other offering material relating to the units, and that such offers, sales and distributions have been and will be made in the Republic of France only to qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) in accordance with Article L.411-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code and decrét no. 98-880 dated 1st October, 1998; and

Notice to Residents of the Netherlands

Our units may not be offered, sold, transferred or delivered in or from the Netherlands as part of their initial distribution or at any time thereafter, directly or indirectly, other than to, individuals or legal entities situated in The Netherlands who or which trade or invest in securities in the conduct of a business or profession (which includes banks, securities intermediaries (including dealers and brokers), insurance companies, pension funds, collective investment institution, central governments, large international and supranational organizations, other institutional investors and other parties, including treasury departments of commercial enterprises, which as an ancillary activity regularly invest in securities; hereinafter, “Professional Investors”), provided that in the offer, prospectus and in any other documents or advertisements in which a forthcoming offering of our units is publicly announced (whether electronically or otherwise) in The Netherlands it is stated that such offer is and will be exclusively made to such Professional Investors. Individual or legal entities who are not Professional Investors may not participate in the offering of our units, and this prospectus or any other offering material relating to our units may not be considered an offer or the prospect of an offer to sell or exchange our units.

Notice to Residents of Canada

Resale Restrictions

The distribution of units in Canada is being made only in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia on a private placement basis exempt from the requirement that we prepare and file a prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each province where trades of these securities are made. Any resale of the units in Canada must be made under applicable securities laws which may vary depending on the relevant jurisdiction, and which may require resales to be made under available statutory exemptions or under a discretionary exemption granted by the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authority. Purchasers are advised to seek legal advice prior to any resale of the securities.

Representations of Canadian Purchasers

By purchasing units in Canada and accepting delivery of a purchase confirmation, a purchaser is representing to us and the dealer from whom the purchase confirmation is received that:

 

    the purchaser is entitled under applicable provincial securities laws to purchase the units without the benefit of a prospectus qualified under those securities laws as it is an “accredited investor” as defined under National Instrument 45-106 – Prospectus Exemptions,

 

    the purchaser is a “permitted client” as defined in National Instrument 31-103 - Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations,

 

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    where required by law, the purchaser is purchasing as principal and not as agent, and

 

    the purchaser has reviewed the text above under Resale Restrictions.

Conflicts of Interest

Canadian purchasers are hereby notified that Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC is relying on the exemption set out in section 3A.3 or 3A.4, if applicable, of National Instrument 33-105 – Underwriting Conflicts from having to provide certain conflict of interest disclosure in this document.

Statutory Rights of Action

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if the prospectus (including any amendment thereto) such as this document contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser of these securities in Canada should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

Enforcement of Legal Rights

All of our directors and officers as well as the experts named herein may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible for Canadian purchasers to effect service of process within Canada upon us or those persons. All or a substantial portion of our assets and the assets of those persons may be located outside of Canada and, as a result, it may not be possible to satisfy a judgment against us or those persons in Canada or to enforce a judgment obtained in Canadian courts against us or those persons outside of Canada.

Taxation and Eligibility for Investment

Canadian purchasers of units should consult their own legal and tax advisors with respect to the tax consequences of an investment in the units in their particular circumstances and about the eligibility of the units for investment by the purchaser under relevant Canadian legislation.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Los Angeles, California, is acting as 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 prospectus. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, New York, New York, advised the underwriters in connection with the offering of the securities.

EXPERTS

The financial statements of Colony Global Acquisition Corp. as of December 31, 2015 and for the period from November 24, 2015 (inception) through December 31, 2015, appearing in this Prospectus and Registration Statement have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, as set forth in their report thereon appearing elsewhere herein, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

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.

 

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COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

     Page  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     F-2   

Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2015

     F-3   

Statement of Operations for the Period from November 24, 2015 (Inception) through December 31, 2015

     F-4   

Statement of Stockholder’s Equity for the Period from November  24, 2015 (Inception) through December 31, 2015

     F-5   

Statement of Cash Flows for the Period from November 24, 2015 (Inception) through December 31, 2015

     F-6   

Notes to Financial Statements

     F-7   

 

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and Stockholder of

Colony Global Acquisition Corp.

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Colony Global Acquisition Corp. (the Company) as of December 31, 2015, and the related statements of operations, stockholder’s equity, and cash flows for the period from November 24, 2015 (inception) through December 31, 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. We were not engaged to perform an audit of the Company’s 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, and 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 Colony Global Acquisition Corp. at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from November 24, 2015 (inception) through December 31, 2015, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Los Angeles, California

January 28, 2016

 

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COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

BALANCE SHEET

December 31, 2015

 

ASSETS

  

Current assets:

  

Cash

   $ 72,750   

Deferred offering costs

     187,250   
  

 

 

 

Total assets

   $ 260,000   
  

 

 

 

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

  

Liabilities:

  

Accrued expenses

   $ 5,000   

Note payable

     100,000   

Accrued offering costs

     135,000   
  

 

 

 

Total liabilities

   $ 240,000   
  

 

 

 

Stockholder’s Equity:

  

Preferred stock, $.0001 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding

     —     

Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value, 125,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued or outstanding

     —     

Class F common stock, $0.0001 par value, 20,000,000 shares authorized; 8,625,000 shares issued and outstanding

     863   

Additional paid-in capital

     24,137   

Accumulated deficit

     (5,000
  

 

 

 

Total stockholder’s equity

     20,000   
  

 

 

 

Total liabilities and stockholder’s equity

   $ 260,000   
  

 

 

 

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

 

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COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

For the Period from November 24, 2015 (inception) through December 31, 2015

 

REVENUE

  

Total revenue

   $ —     

EXPENSES

  

General and administrative

     5,000   
  

 

 

 

Total expenses

     5,000   
  

 

 

 

Net loss

     (5,000

Net loss attributable to common stockholder

   $ (5,000
  

 

 

 

Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholder

   $ (0.00
  

 

 

 

Weighted average number of common shares outstanding

     8,625,000   

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

 

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COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDER’S EQUITY

 

    

 

 

Common Stock

     Additional
Paid-in
Capital
     Deficit
Accumulated
During the
Development
Stage
    Total
Stockholder’s
Equity
 
     Shares      Amount          

Balances at November 24, 2015

     —         $ —         $ —         $ —        $ —     

Sale of Class F common stock to initial stockholder on December 4, 2015 at $.003 per share

     8,625,000         863         24,137         —          25,000   

Net loss

     —           —           —           (5,000     (5,000
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances at December 31, 2015

     8,625,000       $ 863       $ 24,137       $ (5,000   $ 20,000   
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

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

 

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COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

For the Period from November 24, 2015 (inception) through December 31, 2015

 

Cash Flows From Operating Activities

  

Net loss

   $ (5,000

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:

  

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

  

Increase in accrued expenses

     5,000   
  

 

 

 

Net cash provided by operating activities

     —     
  

 

 

 

Cash Flows From Financing Activities

  

Proceeds from sale of Class F common stock to initial stockholder

     25,000   

Note payable borrowings

     100,000   

Payment of offering costs

     (52,250
  

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

     72,750   
  

 

 

 

Net increase in cash

     72,750   

Cash, beginning of period

     —     
  

 

 

 

Cash, end of period

   $ 72,750   
  

 

 

 

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF NONCASH FINANCING ACTIVITY:

  

Accrued deferred financing costs

   $ 135,000   
  

 

 

 

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

 

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COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. Organization

Incorporation

Colony Global Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”), was incorporated in Delaware on November 24, 2015.

Sponsor

The Company’s sponsor is Colony Global Acquisition, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). The Sponsor is ultimately owned by Colony Capital, Inc., a NYSE-listed company.

Fiscal Year End

The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

Business Purpose

The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more operating businesses that it has not yet identified (the “Initial Business Combination”). The Company has neither engaged in any operations nor generated significant revenue to date. The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of its proposed initial public offering of Units (as defined below) (see Note 3), although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be generally applied toward completing the Initial Business Combination. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully affect the Initial Business Combination.

Financing

The Company intends to finance the Initial Business Combination in part with proceeds from a $300,000,000 public offering (or $345,000,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full; see Note 3) (the “Proposed Offering”) and a concurrent $8,000,000 private placement (or $8,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full; see Note 4).

Upon the closing of the Proposed Offering and the private placement, the net proceeds will be held in a trust account (the “Trust Account”).

Trust Account

The Trust Account will be invested in permitted United States “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.

Other than releases of interest necessary to pay income taxes and Delaware franchise taxes on a timely basis and up to $100,000 to pay the expenses of dissolving the Company, if necessary, none of the funds held in trust will be released until the earlier of: (i) the completion of the Initial Business Combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its public shares if the Company does not complete the Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of the Sponsor); and (iii) the redemption of all of the Company’s public shares if it is unable to complete the Initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (or, if earlier, prior to a change of control of the Sponsor), subject to applicable law.

 

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The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for the Initial Business Combination, will either (i) seek stockholder approval of the Initial Business Combination at a meeting called for such purpose in connection with which stockholders may seek to redeem their shares, regardless of whether they vote for or against the Initial Business Combination, 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 but less Delaware franchise and income taxes payable, or (ii) provide stockholders with the opportunity to sell their shares to the Company by means of a tender offer (and thereby avoid the need for a stockholder vote) for an amount in 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 but less Delaware franchise and income taxes payable. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of the Initial Business Combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares in a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require the Company to seek stockholder approval. If the Company seeks stockholder approval, it will complete the Initial Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the Initial Business Combination. However, in no event will the Company redeem its public shares in an amount that would cause its net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001. In such case, the Company would not proceed with the redemption of its public shares and the related Initial Business Combination, and instead may search for an alternate Initial Business Combination.

As a result of the foregoing redemption rights, the shares of the Class A common stock (as defined below) will be recorded at redemption amount and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Proposed Offering, in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity. The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public common share ($300,000,000 held in the Trust Account divided by 30,000,000 public common shares or $345,000,000 divided by 34,500,000 public common shares if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full).

The Company will only have 24 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering (or, if earlier, a change of control of the Sponsor) to complete the Initial Business Combination. If the Company does not complete the Initial Business Combination within this period of time, it shall (i) cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible, but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the shares of Class A common stock for a per share pro rata portion of the Trust Account, including interest, but less franchise and income taxes payable (and up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses) and (iii) as promptly as possible following such redemption, dissolve and liquidate the balance of the Company’s net assets to its remaining stockholders, as part of its plan of dissolution and liquidation. The Sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with the Company pursuant to which it has waived its rights to participate in any redemption with respect to its Founder Shares (as defined below); however, if the Sponsor or any of the Company’s officers, directors or any of their affiliates acquire shares of Class A common stock in or after the Proposed Offering, they will be entitled to a pro rata share of the Trust Account upon the Company’s redemption or liquidation in the event the Company does not complete the Initial Business Combination within the required time period. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be less than the initial public offering price per Unit in the Proposed Offering.

Emerging Growth Company

Section 102(b)(1) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition

 

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period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

2. Significant Accounting Policies

The significant accounting policies of the Company are described below.

Basis of Presentation

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

At December 31, 2015, the Company has not commenced any principal operations nor generated revenue to date. All activity through December 31, 2015 relates to the Company’s formation and the Proposed Offering. Following such offering, the Company will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of the Initial Business Combination, at the earliest. Accordingly, the Company’s activities are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including failing to consummate the Proposed Offering and concurrent private placement or the Initial Business Combination. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on the Trust Account after the Proposed Offering. Organizational costs and administrative expenses that are not related to the Proposed Offering and concurrent private placement are expensed as incurred.

Net Loss Per Common Share

Net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period, plus to the extent dilutive the incremental number of shares of common stock to settle warrants, as calculated using the treasury stock method. At December 31, 2015, the Company did not have any dilutive securities and other contracts that could, potentially, be exercised or converted into common stock and then share in the earnings of the Company under the treasury stock method. As a result, diluted loss per common share is equal to basic loss per common share for the period.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

For purposes of reporting cash flows, the Company considers short-term, highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents.

 

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Fair Value Measurement

The Company has not elected the fair value option for any financial instruments. The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities which qualify as financial instruments under FASB ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, approximate the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet.

Deferred Offering Costs

The Company complies with the requirements of the ASC 340, Other Assets and Deferred Costs. Deferred offering costs of $187,250 consist principally of legal, accounting, and filing fees incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to the Proposed Offering and that will be charged to capital upon the receipt of the capital raised or charged to expense if the Proposed Offering is not completed.

Income Taxes

The Company complies with the accounting and reporting requirements of FASB ASC 740, Income Taxes, which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

FASB ASC 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2015. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. No amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties at December 31, 2015. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company is subject to income tax examinations by major taxing authorities since inception.

Concentration of Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution which, at times, may exceed the Federal depository insurance coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

3. Proposed Offering

Pursuant to the Proposed Offering, the Company will offer for sale 30,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one share of the Company’s Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value (the “Class A common stock”), and one redeemable purchase warrant to purchase one-half of one share of Class A common stock (the “Warrants”). Under the terms of the warrant agreement, the Company has agreed to use its best efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), following the completion of the Initial Business Combination. Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one half of one share of Class A common stock at a price of $5.75 per half share. Each Warrant will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the Initial Business Combination or 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering. However, if the Company does not complete the Initial Business Combination on or prior to the time period allotted to complete the Initial Business Combination, the Warrants will expire at the end of such period. If the Company is unable to deliver shares of Class A common stock in a transaction registered under the Securities Act to the holder upon exercise of Warrants issued in connection with the 30,000,000 Units during the exercise period, the Company may require that such Warrants be exercised on a cashless basis as provided for in the warrant agreement.

 

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The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 4,500,000 additional Units to cover any over-allotment, at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The warrants that would be issued in connection with 4,500,000 over-allotment Units are identical to the Warrants described above.

The Company is committed to pay an underwriting discount of 2.0% of the gross offering price to the underwriters at the closing of the Proposed Offering and over-allotment option, as applicable, with an additional fee (the “Deferred Discount”) of 3.5% of the gross offering proceeds payable upon the Company’s completion of the Initial Business Combination. The Deferred Discount will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event the Company completes the Initial Business Combination.

4. Related Party Transactions

Founder Shares

On December 4, 2015, the Sponsor purchased 8,625,000 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class F common stock, $0.0001 par value (the “Class F common stock”), for $25,000, or $0.003 per share. The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the Initial Business Combination.

The Founder Shares are identical to the Class A common stock included in the Units being sold in the proposed offering except that the Founder Shares are convertible as described herein and are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below. The Sponsor will own 20.0% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Proposed Offering. In addition, 1,125,000 Founder Shares are subject to forfeiture by the Sponsor to the extent the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full.

The Sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier of (i) one year after the completion of the Initial Business Combination; and (ii) the date on which the Company consummates a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization, or other similar transaction after the Initial Business Combination that results in all of the Company’ public stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property (the “Lock Up Period”).

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Initial Business Combination, the Founder Shares will be released from the Lock-Up Period.

Private Placement Warrants

The Sponsor has agreed to purchase from the Company an aggregate of 16,000,000 warrants (or 17,800,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at a price of $0.50 per warrant (a purchase price of $8.0 million (or $8.9 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full)), in a private placement that will occur simultaneously with the completion of the Proposed Offering (the “Private Placement Warrants”). Each Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one half of one share of Class A common stock at a price of $5.75 per half share. The purchase price of the Private Placement Warrants will be added to the proceeds from the Proposed Offering to be held in the Trust Account pending completion of the Initial Business Combination. The Private Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of the Initial Business Combination and the Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees. The Private Placement Warrants may also be exercised by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees for cash or on a cashless basis. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as

 

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the Warrants included in the Units being sold in the Proposed Offering. Otherwise, the Private Placement Warrants have terms and provisions that are substantially similar to those of the Warrants being sold as part of the Units in the Proposed Offering.

If the Company does not complete the Initial Business Combination, then the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will be part of the liquidating distribution to the public stockholders and the Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor will expire worthless.

Registration Rights

The Sponsor and holders of the Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement to be signed on or before the date of the prospectus for the Proposed Offering. The Sponsor and holders of the Private Placement Warrants will be entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form registration demands, that the Company register such securities for sale under the Securities Act. In addition, these holders will have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by the Company. However, the registration rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable Lock Up Period. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Sponsor Loans

The Sponsor has also agreed to loan the Company up to an aggregate of $200,000 by the issuance of a non-interest-bearing unsecured promissory note (the “Note”) to cover expenses related to the Proposed Offering. The Note will be repaid, to the extent borrowed under, upon the closing of the Proposed Offering out of the net proceeds of the Proposed Offering not held in the Trust. As of December 31, 2015, the outstanding balance under the Note was $100,000.

5. Equity

The authorized Class A common stock and Class F common stock of the Company includes up to 125,000,000 and 20,000,000 shares, respectively. Holders of the Company’s common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock. At December 31, 2015, there were 8,625,000 shares of Class F common stock issued and outstanding and there were no shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding. The shares of Class F common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of the Initial Business Combination.

The authorized preferred stock of the Company includes up to 1,000,000 shares. At December 31, 2015, there were no shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding.

The Units also contain one redeemable common stock purchase Warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one-half of one share of the Class A common stock at a price of $5.75 per half share. The Warrants may be exercised only for a whole number of shares of the Class A common stock. The warrants will become exercisable on the later of 30 days after the completion of the Initial Business Combination and 12 months from the closing of the Proposed Offering and will expire five years after the completion of the Initial Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. In total, 46,000,000 Warrants and Private Placement Warrants (or 52,300,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be outstanding after the Proposed Offering and the private placement.

6. Subsequent Events

The Company has evaluated subsequent events for presentation or disclosure through January 28, 2016, the date these financial statements were available to be issued.

 

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LOGO

 

 

 

 

 


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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:

 

SEC expenses

   $ 34,742   

FINRA expenses

     52,250   

Accounting fees and expenses

     40,000   

Printing and engraving expenses

     40,000   

Travel and road show expenses

     90,000   

Directors & officers liability insurance premiums(1)

     95,000   

Legal fees and expenses

     300,000   

NASDAQ listing and filing fees

     75,000   

Miscellaneous

     23,008   
  

 

 

 

Total

   $ 750,000   

 

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

 

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and officers.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that all of our directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to be indemnified by us to the fullest extent permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”). 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.

(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

 

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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 officers and directors 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. A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to such provision after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

(g) A corporation shall have power to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who 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 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 consolidation

 

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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 by law, 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.

In accordance with Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, will provide that no director shall be personally liable to us or any of our stockholders for monetary damages resulting from breaches of their fiduciary duty as directors, except to the extent such limitation on or exemption from liability is not permitted under the DGCL. The effect of this provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is to eliminate our rights and those of our stockholders (through stockholders’ derivative suits on our behalf) to recover monetary damages against a director for breach of the fiduciary duty of care as a director, including breaches resulting from negligent or grossly negligent behavior, except, as restricted by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL. However, this provision does not limit or eliminate our rights or the rights of any stockholder to seek non-monetary relief, such as an injunction or rescission, in the event of a breach of a director’s duty of care.

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the liability of directors, then, in accordance with our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, the liability of our directors to us or our stockholders will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as so amended. Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation

 

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limiting or eliminating the liability of directors, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to further limit or eliminate the liability of directors on a retroactive basis.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also provide that we will, to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by applicable law, indemnify our current and former officers and directors, as well as those persons who, while directors or officers of our corporation, are or were serving as directors, officers, employees or agents of another entity, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, against all expense, liability and loss (including, without limitation, attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by any such person in connection with any such proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person eligible for indemnification pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will be indemnified by us in connection with a proceeding initiated by such person only if such proceeding was authorized by our board of directors, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification.

The right to indemnification which will be conferred by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation is a contract right that includes the right to be paid by us the expenses incurred in defending or otherwise participating in any proceeding referenced above in advance of its final disposition, provided, however, that if the DGCL requires, an advancement of expenses incurred by our officer or director (solely in the capacity as an officer or director of our corporation) will be made only upon delivery to us of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such officer or director, to repay all amounts so advanced if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or otherwise.

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses will not be deemed exclusive of any other rights which any person covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may have or hereafter acquire under law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our bylaws, an agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation affecting indemnification rights, whether by our stockholders or by changes in law, or the adoption of any other provisions inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will also permit us, to the extent and in the manner authorized or permitted by law, to indemnify and to advance expenses to persons other that those specifically covered by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

Our bylaws, which we intend to adopt immediately prior to the closing of this offering, include the provisions relating to advancement of expenses and indemnification rights consistent with those which will be set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In addition, our bylaws provide for a right of indemnity to bring a suit in the event a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses is not paid in full by us within a specified period of time. Our bylaws also permit us to purchase and maintain insurance, at our expense, to protect us and/or any director, officer, employee or agent of our corporation or another entity, trust or other enterprise against any expense, liability or loss, whether or not we would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the DGCL.

Any repeal or amendment of provisions of our bylaws affecting indemnification rights, whether by our board of directors, stockholders or by changes in applicable law, or the adoption of any other provisions

 

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inconsistent therewith, will (unless otherwise required by law) be prospective only, except to the extent such amendment or change in law permits us to provide broader indemnification rights on a retroactive basis, and will not in any way diminish or adversely affect any right or protection existing thereunder with respect to any act or omission occurring prior to such repeal or amendment or adoption of such inconsistent provision.

We will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our officers and directors a form of which is to be filed as Exhibit 10.7 to this Registration Statement. These agreements will require us to indemnify these individuals to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law against liabilities that may arise by reason of their service to us, and to advance expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified.

Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement to be 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.

 

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

In December 2015, Colony Global Acquisition, LLC, our sponsor, purchased an aggregate of 8,625,000 founder shares, for an aggregate offering price of $25,000 at an average purchase price of approximately $0.003 per share. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares of common stock upon completion of this offering. Such securities were issued in connection with our organization pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Our sponsor is an accredited investor for purposes of Rule 501 of Regulation D.

In addition, our sponsor has committed, pursuant to a written agreement, to purchase from us an aggregate of 16,000,000 private placement warrants (or 17,800,000 warrants if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full) at $0.50 per warrant (for an aggregate purchase price of $8,000,000 or $8,900,000 if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full). This purchase will take place on a private placement basis simultaneously with the completion 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) Exhibits. The list of exhibits following the signature page of this registration statement is incorporated herein by reference.

(b) Financial Statements. See page F-1 for an index to the financial statements and schedules included in the registration statement.

 

Item 17. Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned registrant 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.

(b) 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, 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

 

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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.

(c) 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.

(3) For the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser, if the registrant is subject to Rule 430C, each prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) as part of a registration statement relating to an offering, other than registration statements relying on Rule 430B or other than prospectuses filed in reliance on Rule 430A, shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the date it is first used after effectiveness. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such first use, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such date of first use.

(4) For the purpose of determining liability of a registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of an 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 an 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.

 

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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 the City of Los Angeles, State of California on February 5, 2016.

 

COLONY GLOBAL ACQUISITION CORP.

By:

 

/s/ Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

Name:

  Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

Title:

  Chairman of the Board

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Each person whose individual signature appears below hereby authorizes and appoints Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Justin Chang, Philippe M. Costeletos and Neale Redington, and each of them, with full power of substitution and resubstitution and full power to act without the other, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent to act in his name, place and stead and to execute in the name and on behalf of each person, individually and in each capacity stated below, and to file any and all amendments to this registration statement, including post-effective amendments, and any registration statement relating to the same offering as this Registration Statement that is to be effective upon filing pursuant to Rule 462 under the Securities Act of 1933, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in order to effectuate the same as fully, to all intents and purposes, as they, he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them or their or his substitute or substitutes 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.

 

Signature

  

Title

 

Date

/s/ Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

Thomas J. Barrack, Jr.

  

Chairman of the Board

  February 5, 2016

/s/ Justin Chang

Justin Chang

  

Co-Chief Executive officer

(Principal Executive officer)

  February 5, 2016

/s/ Philippe M. Costeletos

Philippe M. Costeletos

  

Co-Chief Executive officer

(Principal Executive officer)

  February 5, 2016

/s/ Neale Redington

Neale Redington

  

Chief Financial Officer

(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

  February 5, 2016

 

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EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit

    

Description

    1.1   

Form of Underwriting Agreement

    3.1      

Certificate of Incorporation

    3.2      

Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

    3.3      

Bylaws

    4.1      

Specimen Unit Certificate

    4.2      

Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate

    4.3      

Specimen Warrant Certificate

    4.4       Form of Warrant Agreement between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant
    5.1      

Form of Opinion of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

  10.1      

Promissory Note, dated December 7, 2015 issued to Colony Global Acquisition, LLC

  10.2       Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant and our officers, directors and Colony Global Acquisition, LLC
  10.3       Form of Investment Management Trust Agreement between American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC and the Registrant
  10.4      

Form of Registration Rights Agreement between the Registrant and certain security holders

  10.5       Securities Subscription Agreement, dated December 3, 2015, between the Registrant and Colony Global Acquisition, LLC
  10.6       Sponsor Warrants Purchase Agreement, dated January 28, 2016, between the Registrant and Colony Global Acquisition, LLC
  10.7      

Form of Indemnity Agreement

  10.8       Form of Administrative Services Agreement by and between the Registrant and Colony Capital Investment Advisors, LLC
  14         

Form of Code of Ethics

  23.1      

Consent of Ernst & Young LLP

  23.2   

Consent of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)

  24         

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

  99.1      

Form of Audit Committee Charter

  99.2      

Form of Compensation Committee Charter

 

* To be filed by amendment

 

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