UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark One)

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

 

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the transition period from                       to                     

 

Commission file number: 001-39416

 

E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware		85-1177400
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

 

533 Airport Blvd. Suite 400 Burlingame, CA		94010
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (619) 736-6855

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of Each Class:		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered:
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A Common Stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant		ETACU		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share		ETAC		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock for $11.50 per share		ETACW		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☒
Emerging growth company	☒

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐

 

The registrant’s shares were not listed on any exchange and had no value as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of 2020. The registrant’s units begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on July 31, 2020 and the registrant’s shares of Class A common stock and warrants began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market on September 18, 2020. The aggregate market value of the units outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the units on December 31, 2020, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market was $639,600,000.

 

As of March 31, 2021 there were 61,200,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 15,000,000 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding.

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

			PAGE
Item 1.	Business		1
Item 1A.	Risk Factors		20
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments		20
Item 2.	Properties		20
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings		21
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures		21
PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		22
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data		23
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		23
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk		26
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		26
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		26
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedure		26
Item 9B.	Other Information		26
PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance		27
Item 11.	Executive Compensation		33
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters		34
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence		35
Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services		38
PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules		39
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary		39

 

 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This Report (as defined below), including, without limitation, statements under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including, but not limited to:

 

●

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 and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

our pool of prospective 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; or

 

●

our financial performance.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Future developments affecting us may not 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. 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.

 

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

 

●

“amended and restated certificate of incorporation” are to our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on July 30, 2020;

 

●

“board of directors” or “board” are to the board of directors of the Company;

 

 

●

“common stock” are to our Class A common stock and our Class B common stock, collectively;

 

●

“Continental” are to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, trustee of our trust account (as defined below) and warrant agent of our public warrants (as defined below);

 

●

“DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law;

 

●

“DWAC System” are to the Depository Trust Company’s Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian System;

 

●

“Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;

 

●

“founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issued upon the conversion thereof;

 

●

“GAAP” are to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America;

 

●

“IFRS” are to the International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board;

 

●

“initial business combination” are to a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses;

 

●

“initial public offering” are to the initial public offering that was consummated by the Company on August 4, 2020;

 

●

“initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering (or their permitted transferees);

 

●

“Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;

 

●

“JOBS Act” are to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012;

 

●

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

 

●

“Nasdaq” are to the Nasdaq Stock Market;

 

●

“PCAOB” are to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States);

 

●

“private placement shares” are to the shares of our common stock included within the private placement units purchased by our sponsor in the private placement;

 

●

“private placement units” are to the units purchased by our sponsor in the private placement, each private placement unit consisting of one private placement share and one-third of one placement warrant;

 

●

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants included within the private placement units purchased by our sponsor in the private placement;

 

●

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

 

●

“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and members of our management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares; provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

  

 

●

“public units” are to the units sold in our initial public offering, which consist of one public share and one-third of one public warrant;

 

●

“public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market), to the private placement warrants if held by third parties other than our sponsor (or permitted transferees), and to any private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers of our private placement warrants or executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees);

 

●

“Registration Statement” are to the Form S-1 filed with the SEC on July 13, 2020, as amended;

 

●

“Report” are to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020;

 

●

“Sarbanes-Oxley Act” are to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002;

 

●

“SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;

 

●

“Securities Act” are to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended;

 

●

“sponsor” are to E.Merge Technology Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

 

●

“trust account” are to the trust account in the United States, with Continental acting as trustee into which an amount of $600,000,000 ($10.00 per unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the units and private placement units in the initial public offering was placed following the closing of the initial public offering;

 

●

“units” are to the public units and the private placement units;

 

●

“warrants” are to our redeemable warrants, which includes the public warrants as well as the placement warrants and any warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans to the extent they are no longer held by the initial holders or their permitted transferees;

 

●

“we,” “us,” “Company” or “our Company” are to E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp.;

 

●

“Withum” are to WithumSmith+Brown, PC, our independent registered public accounting firm.

 

 

PART I

 

Item 1.

Business.

 

Overview

 

We are and early stage blank check company formed as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting an initial business combination. Since our initial public offering (as described below), we have focused our search for an initial business combination on businesses that may provide significant opportunities for attractive investor returns. Our efforts to identify a prospective target business are not limited to a particular industry or geographic region, although we expect to focus on a target in an industry where we believe our management team’s and founders’ expertise provides us with a competitive advantage, including the software and internet technology industries.

 

Initial Public Offering

 

On August 4, 2020, we consummated our initial public offering of 52,200,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, and one-third redeemable warrant of the Company, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Common Stock for $11.50 per whole share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $522,000,000.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 1,200,000 units to our sponsor at a purchase price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating gross proceeds of $12,000,000.

 

On September 4, 2020, we consummated the sale of an additional 7,800,000 units that were subject to the underwriters’ over-allotment option at $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds of $78,000,000.

 

Following the closing of the initial public offering and the over-allotment option, a total of $600,000,000, comprised of $588,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering and $12,000,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units was placed in the trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.

 

It is the job of our sponsor and management team to complete our initial business combination. Our management team is led by our Chairman, S. Steven Singh, and our Co-Chief Executive Officers, Jeff Clarke and Guy Gecht, who have extensive experience in growing and operating companies, as well as a deep network of contacts in the technology sector. We must complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022, 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering. If our initial business combination is not consummated by August 4, 2022, then our existence will terminate, and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account.

 

Our Company

 

Our management team believes that recent years have brought a wide range of technical breakthroughs that have fundamentally shifted the frontiers of possibility in the ways we live and work. Innovations as diverse as cloud and mobile computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and cybersecurity, catalyzed by corresponding hardware innovations, have unlocked accelerated cycles of change, radically impacting industries and business models across the world. We believe that the transformative effects of these innovations have reshaped both large and small industries across the globe.

 

While this widespread change can be observed in multiple spheres of life, its effects are particularly strong in the business arena. Rapid disruption and the emergence of new operating models are particularly visible in the financial, media and retail sectors, as well as interpersonal communication, transport and travel. This tech-driven change is constant and accelerating. Technological changes in video-conferencing, ride-sharing, file-sharing, collaboration and other tools have become ubiquitous in the space of a few short years and have dramatically affected the way we do business, especially in the current global environment. Going forward, we believe similar trends will be observed in various fields including the Internet of Things (IoT), data storage/centers, robotics and augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR).

 

 

We believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the speed of this change, locked out obsolete economic sectors, and highlighted vulnerabilities in the legacy business models of incumbents, while providing fuel to transformative business models aligned with the new norm. We believe that post COVID-19, technology companies which both leverage and catalyze these changes will take the lead in further accelerating the digital trend. Technology will expand into new frontiers, render incumbents obsolete, and reward those who seek opportunities to be fully aligned with tomorrow’s technology landscape rather than continue investing in the status quo. An array of visionary private technology companies have remodeled industries and some have scaled rapidly to become household public names. Many of these companies, such as Zoom Video Communications and DocuSign, have rewarded their stockholders handsomely.

 

Investors continue to support this expanding opportunity. Global private equity and venture capital investment in the technology, media and telecommunication (TMT) industries expanded from $44 billion in 2016 to $68 billion in 2019. Over the same period, fundraising by TMT-dedicated private equity and venture capital funds grew nearly 48% from approximately $40 billion in 2016 to $59 billion in the 12 months ending March 2019. Those dollars are spread across a wide range of industries and companies, with more than 72,000 separate company financings in the aggregate during 2017, 2018 and 2019.

 

The convergence of technology disruption and abundant capital has led to what we believe are many opportunities for wealth creation. Nasdaq and NYSE host more than 183 publicly traded technology US companies with a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion as of June 10, 2020. However, a lot of the attention from business press and investors, has been on “mega-corns”—private companies valued at significantly more than $1 billion. This has made the IPO route less accessible causing the number of technology company IPOs to dwindle. An average of 159 technology companies went public each year during the 1990s. Since 2010, that annual average has plummeted; in 2019 and 2018, there were only 28 and 25 technology IPOs, respectively. We believe that the increase in private capital from venture capital and private equity firms has prolonged the time that companies stay private and delaying their entrance into the public markets.

 

As a result, the number of private companies globally valued at more than $1 billion has soared from 239 in June 2018 to 472 as of May 2020, according to PWC/CB Insights. However, exit paths for private companies remain limited as today’s diminished IPO market has predominantly backed large unicorns, with the median market capitalization of a venture-backed IPO tripling from $660 million in 2012 to over $1.9 billion in 2019. This IPO trough has only increased in 2020 with zero US technology company IPOs as of May 31, 2020. We believe this provides an opportunity to help private companies find alternative ways to access the public markets.

 

In spite of the focus on “mega-corns,” our management team believes a larger number of equally impressive companies with valuations between $1 billion and $3 billion provide excellent growth and wealth creation opportunities. These companies may not elicit the headline-grabbing attention of the “mega-corns”; nevertheless, we believe that they too boast remarkable economic performance, outstanding key metrics, deep management talent and carry potential for substantial financial upside for our investors.

 

We believe the current market dislocation is just starting, and will have profound effects on which technology companies will prevail on Wall Street and on Main Street. The narrow traditional IPO path for technology companies appears to be effectively closed until the market can digest the impact of a massive global economic shutdown. We believe that financial sponsors of high-growth technology companies will look for alternative options to access the public markets. We look to capture this opportunity and evaluate the best risk-reward opportunity to create sustainable long-term shareholder value.

 

Our Mission

 

Our goal is to consummate an initial business combination with a high-performing technology company valued between $1 billion and $3 billion. By leveraging our management’s extensive industry experience and deep personal network, we believe we bring substantial and symbiotic benefits to any acquired company.

 

 

The benefits we believe we offer to a target company encompass but are not limited to the following:

 

●

Expertise in building successful companies: Our management team has a combined 56 years of Chief Executive Officer leadership experience across both public and private companies, and across both hardware and software firms. They have demonstrated strong track records of success in improving fundamental operational metrics, including revenue and EBITDA growth, and expansion of business lines into new markets and industry verticals. They have also demonstrated expertise in navigating the capital markets, delivering value to public investors as Chief Executive Officers of publicly traded companies, and executing various successful M&A strategies across acquisitions, integrations and spin-offs;

 

●

Ability to mentor and support exceptional executives: Our Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officers have served on over two dozen boards, including boards of 10 public companies and our advisors, Alex Vieux and Steve Fletcher, have also served on dozens of other boards. Our Chairman and co-Chief Executive Officers have taken four companies public during their tenure as board members and Chief Executive Officers, thrived amid complex governance dilemmas and enhanced their companies’ global growth. Our management team and advisors have developed a keen acumen for identifying, grooming and mentoring top talent, and will bring this experience to bear in positioning the acquired company’s leadership for long-term success;

 

●

Maximizing the value of becoming a publicly traded entity: We are committed to working with management and shareholders who aspire to have their company become a public entity and create substantial wealth. The benefits of transitioning from a private to a public entity may include a broader access to debt and equity providers, liquidity for employees and potential acquisitions, and expanded branding in the marketplace.

 

Acquisition Criteria

 

We seek potential target businesses globally. In doing so, we use a global network of professional contacts that has been developed by our management team and advisors over many years. This network encompasses private equity firms, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. Our sourcing methodology includes pre-screening steps that we believe lead to fruitful negotiating phases and ultimately, will lead to a final agreement.

 

The maturity and judgment skills accumulated by our management team and advisors guides our acquisition process. When candidate companies are being evaluated, we use the following, non-exclusive criteria for determining opportunities.

 

●

Size: We target entities whose enterprise value is between $1 billion and $3 billion. We seek companies which have the potential to develop a deep international following, and which we believe offer long-term risk-adjusted return potential;

 

●

Focus: We focus on the technology industry, where we have significant experience. We believe our management team’s experience across various technology sectors enables us to scout and evaluate a potential target quickly in order to secure favorable terms, and strategize appropriate post-transaction operational improvements;

 

●

Management’s maturity: We to seek companies with proven and accomplished management teams which are eager to partner with us and march forward together. We continue to spend significant time assessing a company’s leadership and human fabric to ensure that the factors for both a successful combination and post-combination outperformance are in place, and that a target’s management will be aligned with its stakeholders;

 

●

Operational maturity: We intend to select companies which have the requisite compliance, financial controls and reporting processes in place and are ready to effectively navigate the complex regulatory environment associated with being a public entity;

 

 

●

Growth: We intend to invest in companies that possess sustainable competitive advantages, and promising substantial room for growth; we look for the existence of strong unit economics and continued potential for additional revenue and cost leadership;

 

●

Benefit from being public: We are committed to working with management and shareholders who aspire to have their company become a public entity and generate substantial wealth creation. The potential benefits of transitioning from a private to a public entity include a broader access to debt and equity providers, liquidity for employees and potential acquisitions, and expanded branding in the marketplace;

 

●

Reputation and market acceptance: We seek companies with a sizable market share in their segment and the opportunity to achieve market leadership. They should also have defensible proprietary technology and intellectual property rights;

 

●

Appropriate valuations: We believe we are rigorous, disciplined, and valuation-centric investors, with a keen understanding of market value. We expect to enter a business combination only if it pairs significant upside potential with limited 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 team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that only meets some but not all of 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 Report, would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.

 

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. We intend to acquire a company with an enterprise value significantly above the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units. Depending on the size of the transaction or the number of public shares we become obligated to redeem, we may potentially utilize several additional financing sources, including but not limited to the issuance of additional securities to the sellers of a target business, debt issued by banks or other lenders or the owners of the target, a private placement to raise additional funds, or a combination of the foregoing. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In addition, following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient to meet our obligations or our working capital needs, we may need to obtain additional financing.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

 

 

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses, or (ii) in such a way so 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. However, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

 

Our Business Combination Process

 

In evaluating prospective business combinations, we conduct a thorough due diligence review process that encompasses, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate. We also seek to utilize the expertise of our management team in analyzing software and internet technology companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections and determining the appropriate return expectations given the risk profile of the target business.

 

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 directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

 

Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. 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 to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will not materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

 

Each of our officers has agreed not to become an officer of any other special purpose acquisition company that has publicly filed a registration statement for its initial public offering until we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination or we have liquidated the trust account.

 

 

Our Management Team

 

Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they devote as much of their time as they, in the exercise of their respective business judgement, deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time our officers devote in any time period varies based on the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not have an employment agreement with any member of our management team.

 

We believe our management team’s 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 in the software and internet technology industries. This network has grown through the activities of our management team sourcing, acquiring and financing businesses, 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.

 

Status as a Public Company

 

We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As a public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would have greater access to capital and additional means of creating management incentives that are better aligned with stockholders’ interests than it would as a private company. A target business can further benefit by augmenting its profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our shares of Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our shares of Class A common 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 expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting discounts and commissions, marketing and road show efforts that may not be present to the same extent in connection with an initial business combination with us.

 

Furthermore, once a proposed initial 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 delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Following an initial business combination, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital and an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

 

While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek stockholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.

 

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 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 (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following August 4, 2025, the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30^th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

 

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of the prior June 30^th, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30^th.

 

Financial Position

 

With funds available for an initial business combination in the amount of $600,119,309 as of December 31, 2020, 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 or leverage 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 other than the pursuit of our initial business combination, for an indefinite period of time. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of the private placement units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of our initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. 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 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 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 addition, we are targeting businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, and may as a result be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the 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.

 

 

Sources of Target Businesses

 

Target business candidates are brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and investment professionals. Target businesses are also brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us by calls or mailings. These sources introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read the prospectus of our initial public offering and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as our sponsor and their affiliates, also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors and our sponsor and their affiliates. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee, advisory fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers, directors or advisors be paid any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation by the company prior to, or in connection with any services rendered for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, executive officers, directors or advisors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated initial business combination except as set forth herein. We pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an initial business combination candidate.

 

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the initial business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions 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 in any other context.

 

If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an initial business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing 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.

 

 

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination

 

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of our initial business combination 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, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. 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 taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. There is no basis for our investors 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 business target, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that 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. 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. In addition, we are focusing our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. 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 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’ 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. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. 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 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 an 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 shares of Class A 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;

 

●

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 shares 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

 

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, initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. 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 nonpublic 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. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.

 

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the 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. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such purchases of our securities 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 shares of Class A common stock or warrants 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, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or 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 combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or 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. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates 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, officers, directors and/or their 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 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 purchases 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 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 as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. As of December 31, 2020, the amount in the trust account was 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, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and private placement shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

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 initial business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under Nasdaq rules, 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 require stockholder approval. If we structure an initial business combination with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed initial business combination. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.

  

If 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 initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count toward this quorum and pursuant to the letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and private placement shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

 

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 or 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 will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (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 the initial business combination.

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (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. For example, the proposed initial 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 initial 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 initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial 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 provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” Such restriction shall also be applicable to our affiliates. 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 initial business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant 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 our initial public offering without our prior consent, 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 an initial 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 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 up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The proxy materials 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 up to two days prior to the vote on the initial business combination 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. 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 initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the initial 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 initial 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 initial 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 initial business combination is approved.

 

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date of the stockholder meeting. 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 initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target by August 4, 2022.

 

 

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will have until August 4, 2022 to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above 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 by August 4, 2022.

 

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares and private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022.

 

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 (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022 or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemption) our net tangible assets will be at least $5,000,001 either immediately prior to or upon consummation of our initial business combination and after payment of underwriters’ fees and commissions (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement (described above), we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time.

 

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 approximately $949,852 held outside the trust account as of December 31, 2020, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.

 

We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to pay any tax obligations we may owe. 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 our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, 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. 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 have sought and will continue to seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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 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. Withum, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our initial public offering, have not executed agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.

 

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. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors 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 value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor 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 our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.00 per public share.

  

We seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers, 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. Our sponsor is also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to the amounts held outside the trust account ($949,852 as of December 31, 2020) 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 claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.

 

 

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 by August 4, 2022 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 by August 4, 2022, is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following August 24, 2022 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 10 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 have sought and will continue to seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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. 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 our initial public 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, our sponsor 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 of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

 

Our 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 any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by August 4, 2022 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination by August 4, 2022, subject to applicable law. 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 the 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 as described above. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.

 

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

 

Employees

 

We have two officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they devote as much of their time as they deem necessary, in the exercise of their respective business judgement, to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time our officers devote in any time period varies based on the stage of the initial business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. We do not have an employment agreement with any member of our management team.

 

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

 

We have registered 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 accountants.

 

 

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, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with 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 cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP 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 business combination 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, 2021 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.

 

We have filed 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 are 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 shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

 

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

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following August 4, 2025, the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our shares of Class A common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30^th, and (2) 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” will have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

 

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by nonaffiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.

 

 

Item 1A.

Risk Factors.

 

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, below is a partial list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors that could have a material effect on the Company and its operations:

 

●

we are a blank check company with no revenue or basis to evaluate our ability to select a suitable business target;

 

●

we may not be able to select an appropriate target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination in the prescribed time frame;

 

●

our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses may not be realized;

 

●

we may not be successful in retaining or recruiting required officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

 

●

our officers and directors may have difficulties allocating their time between our Company and other businesses and may potentially have conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

 

●

we may not be able to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or reduce the number of shareholders requesting redemption;

 

●

we may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time;

 

●

you may not be given the opportunity to choose the initial business target or to vote on the initial business combination;

 

●

trust account funds may not be protected against third party claims or bankruptcy;

 

●

an active market for our public securities’ may not develop and you will have limited liquidity and trading;

 

●

the availability to us of funds from interest income on the trust account balance may be insufficient to operate our business prior to the business combination; and

 

●

our financial performance following a business combination with an entity may be negatively affected by their lack an established record of revenue, cash flows and experienced management.

 

For the complete list of risks relating to our operations, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our Registration Statement.

 

Item 1B.

Unresolved Staff Comments.

 

Not applicable.

 

Item 2.

Properties.

 

Our executive offices are located at 533 Airport Blvd., Suite 400, Burlingame, CA, and our telephone number is (619) 736-6855. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $15,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

  

 

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings.

 

To the knowledge of our management team, there is no litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.

 

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures.

 

Not applicable.

 

 

PART II

 

Item 5.

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

 

(a)

Market Information

 

Our units, public shares and public warrants are each traded on Nasdaq under the symbols “ETACU,” “ETAC,” AND “ETACW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on July 31, 2020, and our public shares and public warrants commenced separate public trading on September 18, 2020.

 

(b)

Holders

 

On March 31, 2021, there were two holders of record of our units, one holder of record of our shares of Class A common stock and one holder of record of our warrants.

 

(c)

Dividends

 

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any 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. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

 

(d)

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans.

 

None.

 

(e)

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

 

None.

 

(f)

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

 

None.

 

(g)

Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering

 

In August 2020, the we consummated our initial public offering of 60,000,000 units, including 7,800,000 units issued pursuant to the partial exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option. Each unit consists of one public share and one-third of one public warrant, with each whole public warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one public share for $11.50 per share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to us of $600,000,000.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 1,200,000 units to our sponsor at a purchase price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating gross proceeds of $12,000,000.

 

A total of $600,000,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering (which amount includes $21,000,000 of the underwriters’ deferred discount) and the sale of the private placement units, was placed in a U.S.-based trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee. The proceeds held in the trust account may be invested by the trustee only in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act.

 

 

Item 6.

Reserved.

 

Item 7.

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

 

References to the “Company,” “us,” “our” or “we” refer to E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and related notes included herein.

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

 

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Report including, without limitation, statements under this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward- looking statements. When used in this Report, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or the Company’s management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company’s management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward- looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on the Company’s behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.

 

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Report. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company incorporated on May 22, 2020 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. While our efforts to identify a target business may span many industries and regions worldwide, we focus our search for prospects within the software and internet technology industries. We intend to effectuate our initial Business Combination using cash from the proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of the Private Units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial Business Combination, shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing.

 

We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our initial Business Combination. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete our initial Business Combination will be successful.

 

Results of Operations

 

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities from inception through December 31, 2020 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for our Initial Public Offering, described below, and, after our Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for an initial Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our initial Business Combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on marketable securities held in the Trust Accounts. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

 

For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, we had a net loss of $475,783, which consists of operating costs of $587,861 and a provision for income taxes of $7,231, offset by interest income on investments held in the Trust Accounts of $119,309.

 

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

On August 4, 2020, we consummated our Initial Public Offering of 52,200,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $522,000,000. Simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering, we consummated the sale of 1,200,000 Placement Units to the Sponsor at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $12,000,000.

 

On September 4, 2020, in connection with the underwriters’ election to partially exercise of their option to purchase additional Units, we consummated the sale of an additional 7,800,000 Units, generating total gross proceeds of $78,000,000.

 

Following our Initial Public Offering, the partial exercise of the over-allotment option and the sale of the Placement Units, a total of $600,000,000 was placed in the Trust Accounts. We incurred $33,039,544 in transaction costs, including $9,840,000 of underwriting fees, $22,560,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $639,544 of other offering costs.

 

For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, cash used in operating activities was $595,604. Net loss of $475,783 was impacted by interest earned on marketable securities held in the Trust Accounts of $119,309 and changes in operating assets and liabilities, which used $512 of cash from operating activities.

 

As of December 31, 2020, we had investments of $600,119,309 held in the Trust Accounts. We intend to use substantially all of the funds held in the Trust Accounts, including any amounts representing interest earned on the Trust Accounts (less taxes paid and deferred underwriting commissions) to complete our initial Business Combination. We may withdraw interest to pay taxes. During the period ended December 31, 2020, we did not withdraw any interest earned on the Trust Accounts. To the extent that our capital stock or debt is used, in whole or in part, as consideration to complete our initial Business Combination, the remaining proceeds held in the Trust Accounts will be used as working capital to finance the operations of the target business or businesses, make other acquisitions and pursue our growth strategies.

 

As of December 31, 2020, we had cash of $949,852 outside of the Trust Accounts. We intend to use the funds held outside the Trust Accounts primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices, plants or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, and structure, negotiate and complete our initial Business Combination.

 

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with our initial Business Combination, our Sponsor or an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. 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 Accounts to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our Trust Accounts would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units identical to the Placement Units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender.

 

We do not currently believe we will need to raise additional funds in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business. However, if our estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating our 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 consummation of our initial Business Combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of our initial Business Combination. If we are unable to complete our initial Business Combination because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Accounts. In addition, following our initial Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

 

 

Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements

 

We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2020. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.

 

Contractual Obligations

 

We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a monthly fee up to $15,000 for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support services. We began incurring these fees on July 30, 2020 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of the Business Combination and our liquidation.

 

The underwriters are entitled to a deferred fee of $22,560,000 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Accounts solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

The preparation of financial statements and related disclosures in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and income and expenses during the periods reported. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. We have identified the following critical accounting policies:

 

Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

 

We account for our Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Shares of Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that feature redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.

 

Net Loss per Common Share

 

We apply the two-class method in calculating earnings per share. Net income per common share, basic and diluted for Class A redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Accounts, net of applicable taxes, by the weighted average number of shares of Class A redeemable common stock outstanding for the periods. Net income per common share, basic and diluted for and Class B non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing net income less income attributable to Class A redeemable common stock, by the weighted average number of shares of Class B non-redeemable common stock outstanding for the periods presented.

 

Recent Accounting Standards

 

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

 

 

Item 7A.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

 

As of December 31, 2020, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. Following the consummation of our Initial Public Offering, the net proceeds received into the Trust Accounts, have been invested in U.S. government treasury bills, notes or bonds with a maturity of 185 days or less or in certain money market funds that invest solely in US treasuries. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

Item 8.

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

 

This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is included herein by reference.

 

Item 9.

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.

 

None.

 

Item 9A.

Controls and Procedures.

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our co-Chief Executive Officers and our Chief Financial Officer (together, the “Certifying Officers”), we carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on the foregoing, our Certifying Officers concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this Report.

 

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Certifying Officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

Management’s Report on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting

 

This Report does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by the rules of the SEC for newly public companies.

 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

Item 9B.

Other Information.

 

None.

 

 

PART III

 

Item 10.

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

 

Directors and Executive Officers

 

As of the date of this Report, our directors and officers are as follows:

 

Name		Age		Position
S. Steven Singh		59		Chairman
Jeff Clarke		59		Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director
Guy Gecht		55		Co-Chief Executive Officer
Shuo Zhang		56		Director
David ibnAle		49		Director
Curtis Feeny		63		Director

 

The experience of our directors and executive officers is as follows:

 

S. Steven Singh, our Chairman since July 30, 2020, previously served as Chief Executive Officer of Concur Technologies, or Concur, from 1998 until Concur was acquired by SAP in 2014. Concur became a disruptive force in travel management with TripLink, its open-booking solution. Post-acquisition by SAP, Mr. Singh stayed on as Chief Executive Officer of Concur until 2017; he was also named to the SAP Global Managing Board and also served as President of SAP’s Business Networks and Applications. Since January 2020, Mr. Singh has been a Managing Director with Madrona Venture Group, which he had worked alongside for years as a strategic director and angel investor. He focuses on next generation B2B and enterprise-related startups, particularly within Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence, intelligent applications and next-generation cloud infrastructure. Prior to this, from 2017 to 2019, Mr. Singh was a director of Docker, Inc., a developer of container-based software and PaaS services. In 2017, Mr. Singh was appointed Chief Executive Officer, a position he held until 2019. During Mr. Singh’s tenure, Docker transformed from a mostly free open-source offering into a revenue-generating company with 750 paying enterprise customers. He has served on the boards of several private and public companies, notably Clari, a venture-backed revenue operations platform designed to improve productivity, Talend Inc. (Nasdaq: TLND), an open source software solutions provider, DocuSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: DOCU), a cloud-based software suite that automates the agreement process and provides legally binding e-signatures, Cleartrip.com, a private online portal designed to offer travel booking services (until 2017), WafD Bank (Nasdaq: WAFD), a bank with operations in the western United States, Modumetal, Inc., a nanoscale metal manufacturer, W Fund, an early-stage investor in Washington state technology start-ups (until 2015), and Center ID, a financial services company. Mr. Singh is well-qualified to serve as a director due to his extensive operational and board experience in the technology industry.

 

Jeff Clarke, our Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Secretary and Director since our inception on May 22, 2020, has been the non-executive Chairman of FTD, LLC, a private floral wire service, retailer and wholesaler controlled by Nexus Capital since 2019. He also serves as an independent director at Generate Life Sciences, a private healthcare company controlled by GI Partners and at Columbia Care, Inc. (OTC:CCHWF), a multi-state cannabis dispensary chain. Prior to this, from 2014 to 2019, Mr. Clarke was Chief Executive Officer of Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:KODK), a technology company producing camera-related products with a historic basis in photography. During his tenure, Mr. Clarke led one of the most complex turnarounds in corporate history. Mr. Clarke implemented strategic actions to generate annual saving and improve liquidity while turning around multiple divisions within Kodak to become profitable, such as its film business. Prior to joining Kodak, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Travelport Worldwide Ltd, a provider of distribution, technology and payment solutions for the travel and tourism industry, from 2006 to 2014, ultimately leading the sale of Travelport (including its Orbitz and Galileo subsidiaries) to the Blackstone Group for $4.3 billion. As Travelport’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Clarke reorganized the company around three brands: Orbitz, CheapTickets and ebookers, engineered the acquisitions of Worldspan and Sprice.com, and coordinated the subsidiary IPO of Orbitz Worldwide, where he served as Chairman. Previously, Mr. Clarke also worked as Chief Operating Officer of Computer Associates International, Inc., a technology company, and Chief Financial Officer of Compaq, a manufacturer of personal computers and related products and services. He has served on the boards of directors of Docker, Inc., a developer of software code collaboration platforms, Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), an application software company, Red Hat, Inc., a private company providing services for various computer operating systems, and Compuware Corporation, a private firm developing software testing tools. Mr. Clarke holds an M.B.A. from Northeastern University and a B.A. in Economics from State University of New York College at Geneseo. He is well-qualified to serve as a director due to his extensive public and private company operational and board experience.

 

 

Guy Gecht, our Co-Chief Executive Officer since our inception on May 22, 2020, most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Electronics For Imaging, Inc., a private digital printing technology provider. He led the company from 2000 to 2018, helping to redefine the ways printing companies pursue new markets and retool their operations in a world moving away from print on paper. During his tenure, EFI increased market penetration, diversified product offerings and introduced new services driving demand for digital printing worldwide. Besides guiding EFI through successful transformation to become a global technology leader in new industries, Mr. Gecht also shepherded EFI through many acquisitions, including the acquisition of VUTEk, a superwide digital inkjet printing company. Mr. Gecht is credited with transforming EFI into a leader in enabling digital transformation for industries such as packaging, textile and building materials, growing the company from a single product line and OEM business model into a diverse, worldwide company driving the transition from analog to on-demand digital imaging. During his tenure, Mr. Gecht led the expansion into productivity software and industrial inkjet. Mr. Gecht subsequently initiated the sale of EFI to Siris Capital Group in 2019 in a take-private transaction worth approximately $1.7 billion. Prior to joining EFI, Mr. Gecht was Director of Engineering at Interro Systems, Inc., a technology company, from 1993 to 1995 and a Software Manager of ASP Computer Products, a networking company, from 1991 to 1993. He also served as Manager of Networking Systems for Apple Israel, a technology company, and as an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, where he managed an engineering development team and later was an acting manager of an IDF high-tech department. Mr. Gecht currently serves as Lead Director of Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), a global information technology security company and as a Director of Logitech International S.A. (Nasdaq: LOGI), a manufacturer of computer peripherals and software. During his 19 years tenure as the Chief Executive Officer and director of EFI, Mr. Gecht was named as a defendant in several stockholder actions in his capacity as an officer and director of EFI. In June 2019, two stockholder actions were filed against EFI and each director of EFI, alleging that they violated Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act by issuing a materially deficient proxy statement for the acquisition of EFI by affiliates of Siris Capital Group, LLC. In August 2017, a stockholder action was filed against EFI, Mr. Gecht and EFI’s then Chief Financial Officer, alleging that, in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act (and Rule 10b-5), EFI issued false and misleading disclosure in annual and quarterly reports misstating the timing of “recognition of revenue” for large-format printer sales. From November 2006 to February 2007, three stockholder actions were filed against EFI and its officers and directors. Each alleged commission of fraud in violation of Section 14(a) of the Exchange Act in connection with the timing and pricing of stock options, as well as filing false reports with the SEC. Each action described above has been dismissed or settled. Mr. Gecht holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from Ben Gurion University in Israel.

 

Shuo Zhang, one of our directors since July 30, 2020, has served as a non-employee director of Grid Dynamics International, Inc. since 2017. Grid Dynamics is an engineering IT services company with which Chaserg Technology Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: CTAC), a blank-check company, consummated its initial business combination in March 2020. She is also managing partner and Chief Executive Officer of Renascia Partners, a boutique advisory firm. Ms. Zhang currently serves on the boards of directors of several other public and private companies, including S.O.I.Tec Silicon on Insulator Technologies SA, a manufacturer of high performance semiconductor materials, Telink Semiconductor Co., Ltd. a fabless integrated circuit design company, and PDF Solutions (Nasdaq:PDFS), a multinational software and engineering services company. She is also actively involved with private venture capital firms in the Silicon Valley and since 2016 has served as China Advisory Partner for Benhamou Global Ventures (BGV). From 2007 to 2015, Ms. Zhang served in various senior management capacities at Cypress Semiconductor, including roles in corporate development, general management and worldwide mobile sales. Ms. Zhang served in different product, marketing and sales management roles in Silicon Light Machines, a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor which produces optical components, Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A), a chemical and life sciences diagnostic company, Altera Corporation, a manufacturer of programmable logic devices which was acquired by Intel Corporation in 2015, and LSI Corporation, a designer of software and semiconductors for storage and networking which was acquired by Avago Technologies in 2014. Ms. Zhang holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Zhejiang University and a M.S. in Material Science and Mechanics from Penn State University. She is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to her extensive operational and board experience in the technology, software and internet sectors.

 

 

David ibnAle, one of our directors since July 30, 2020, is a founding and managing partner of Advance Venture Partners, or AVP, a venture capital investment firm focused on the commerce, enterprise technology and media sectors since 2014. Prior to co-founding AVP, Mr. ibnAle was a managing director of TPG Growth, the growth equity and middle market investment platform of TPG, where he led the firm’s global technology investing effort from 2008 to 2012. Prior to joining TPG Growth in 2008, he was a partner at Francisco Partners and began his investing career at Summit Partners in 1996. Mr. ibnAle currently serves on the boards of Morning Consult, a global technology and media company, Affinity, Inc., a relationship management platform, PebblePost, Inc., a marketing technology platform, Above Average, a multi-channel producer of digital comedic content, HyTrust, Inc., a provider of security, compliance and control software for virtualization of information technology infrastructure, Nativo, Inc., an advertising and technology company, Unified Enterprises, Corp., a provider of social advertising services, UrbanSitter, an online service and app for the provision of childcare services, and Ultra Clean Technology Holdings (Nasdaq: UCTT), a semiconductor manufacturer. Mr. ibnAle received an A.B. in Public Policy and an A.M. in International Development Policy from Stanford University, and received an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive investment experience in the technology, software and internet sectors.

 

Curtis Feeny, one of our directors since July 30, 2020, has been a Senior Advisor at Peterson Partners, a private equity firm focused on the business services, consumer products, software and internet, healthcare, retail, and financial services sectors since 2020. Since 2017, he has served as Venture Advisor at Voyager Capital, a venture capital investment firm focused on the software, cloud and Big Data Applications sectors where he previously served as a Managing Director, from 2000 to 2017. Prior to his work at Voyager Capital and Peterson Partners, Mr. Feeny served as a Managing Director at Silicon Valley Data Capital, a venture capital firm focused on enterprise data management and synthetic intelligence software, and at Trammell Crow Company, a venture capital firm focused on the commerce, enterprise technology and media sectors, from 2000 to 2006. Mr. Feeny currently serves on the board of CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), a commercial real estate services company, Ayla Networks Inc., an Internet-of-Things solutions provider and Stanford Federal Credit Union, a credit union. Mr. Feeny has been a member of a number of boards, including Staples Inc. (Nasdaq: SPLS), an office retail company, Wise.io, a machine learning services company acquired by GE, AutoGrid Systems, Inc, a predictive energy control company, ClearCare Online, a provider of services to the home healthcare industry, and Sensys Networks, Inc., an urban traffic management company. Mr. Feeny has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University. He is well-qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive investment and venture experience in the technology, software and internet sectors.

 

Advisors

 

Alex Vieux is the chief executive officer of Herring International, a Belgian corporation. Over the last 35 years, he has worked with and engaged C-suite executives from five continents, scouting disruptive companies later embraced by the markets. Red Herring has ranked the most prominent startups in the global technology industry and featured them in its publication since 1993. Many of the Red Herring “Top 100” end up being acquired or going public. Mr. Vieux started his career at Arthur Andersen/Accenture. Then he co-founded two technology companies, C●ATS Software and Renaissance Software, both fintech startups that either went public or were sold in the 1990’s. He also founded ETRE, The European Technology Roundtable Exhibition, a yearly forum assembling 800 technology world leaders. He was elected on the board of directors of Tandem Computers and Computer Associates (listed on NYSE) Checkpoint Software, Commerce One, and Qualys (listed on Nasdaq) as well as dozens of private companies. He served as an advisor to Chaserg Technology Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: CTAC), a blank-check company which consummated its initial business combination in March 2020, and serves as an advisor to Apex Technology Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: APXT), a blank-check company in the process of consummating an initial business combination with AvePoint, Inc., Carney Technology Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: CTAQ), a blank-check company searching for a target business in the technology industry and Epiphany Technology Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: EPHY), a blank-check company searching for a target business in the technology industry. A graduate of the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and the French business school HEC, Mr. Vieux also holds a law degree from the Universite de Paris and an M.B.A. from Stanford University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

 

 

Steven Fletcher advised numerous technology companies on mergers, acquisitions and other strategic transactions in his 24 year career as an investment banker. Mr. Fletcher worked in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs for more than eight years, where he held a number of leadership roles including head of Information Technology Services banking, head of Systems and Storage banking and head of the Private Placement Group. In 2003, he helped to start a new investment bank, GCA (formerly known as Savvian LLC), which has grown to over 400 professionals. Mr. Fletcher was a member of GCA’s U.S. management committee and head of the software group and co-head of the digital media group. Mr. Fletcher has worked on transactions with companies including some of the biggest names in the technology industry as well as hundreds of growth and middle-market technology companies. He served as an advisor to Chaserg Technology Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: CTAC), a blank-check company which consummated its initial business combination in March 2020, serves as an advisor to Apex Technology Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: APXT), a blank-check company in the process of consummating an initial business combination with AvePoint, Inc., Carney Technology Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: CTAQ), a blank-check company searching for a target business in the technology industry and Epiphany Technology Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: EPHY), a blank-check company searching for a target business in the technology industry and serves on the Board of Directors of Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE), a US media company. He holds a B.A. in Economics from UCLA and an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Our advisors (i) assist us in sourcing and negotiating with potential business combination targets, (ii) provide their business insights when we assess potential business combination targets and (iii) upon our request, provide their business insights as we work to create additional value in the businesses that we acquire. In this regard, they fulfill some of the same functions as our board members. However, they have no written advisory agreement with us. Additionally, except as disclosed under “Principal Stockholders” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence” our advisors have no other employment or compensation arrangements with us. Moreover, our advisors are not under any fiduciary obligations to us nor do they perform board or committee functions, nor do they have any voting or decision making capacity on our behalf. They are also not required to devote any specific amount of time to our efforts or be subject to the fiduciary requirements to which our board members are subject. Accordingly, if any of our advisors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for any of the entities to which he has fiduciary or contractual obligations (including other blank check companies), he will honor his fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, and only present it to us if such entity rejects the opportunity. We may modify or expand our roster of advisors as we source potential business combination targets or create value in businesses that we may acquire.

 

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

 

We have five directors. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of stockholders) serving a three-year term. In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Mr. ibnAle and Ms. Zhang will expire at our first annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Mr. Feeny, will expire at the second annual meeting of stockholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Singh and Clarke, will expire at the third annual meeting of stockholders.

 

Our officers are appointed 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 provide that our officers may consist of a Chairman of the Board, Co-Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officer, President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretaries and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

 

Committees of the Board of Directors

 

Our board of directors has two standing committees: an audit committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, Nasdaq rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors, and Nasdaq rules require that the compensation committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Each committee operates under a charter that has been approved by our board of directors and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website at https://emergetechacquisition.com/.

 

 

Audit Committee

 

We have established an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Feeny and ibnAle and Ms. Zhang serve as members of our audit committee, and Mr. Feeny chairs the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least three members of the audit committee, all of whom must be independent. Each of Messrs. Feeny and ibnAle and Ms. Zhang meet the independent director standard under Nasdaq listing standards and under Rule 10-A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act.

 

Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Feeny qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

 

We have adopted an audit committee charter, which details the principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent registered public accounting firm, including but not limited to, as required by applicable laws and regulations;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

Compensation Committee

 

We have established a compensation committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Feeny and ibnAle serve as members of our compensation committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, we are required to have at least two members of the compensation committee, all of whom must be independent. Messrs. Feeny and ibnAle are independent and Mr. ibnAle chairs the compensation committee.

 

We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

●

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our Co-Chief Executive Officers’ compensation, if any is paid by us, 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 on an annual basis the compensation, if any is paid by us, of all of our other officers;

 

 

●

reviewing on an annual basis our executive compensation policies and plans;

 

●

implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

 

●

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

 

●

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

 

●

if required, producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

 

●

reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, as indicated above, other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support and reimbursement of expenses, no compensation of any kind, including finders, consulting or other similar fees, will be paid to any of our existing stockholders, officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates, prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate the consummation of an initial business combination. Accordingly, it is likely that prior to the consummation of an initial business combination, the compensation committee will only be responsible for the review and recommendation of any compensation arrangements to be entered into in connection with such initial business combination.

 

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

 

Director Nominations

 

We do not have a standing nominating committee though we intend to form a corporate governance and nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605 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 will participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Messrs. Feeny and ibnAle and Ms. Zhang. In accordance with Rule 5605 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 also considers 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 our board of directors 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.

 

Code of Ethics

 

We have adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our Code of Ethics and our audit and compensation committee charters with the SEC and copies are available on our website. You are 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.

 

 

Item 11.

Executive Compensation

 

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

 

None of our officers has received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Other than the payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month described elsewhere in this Report, no compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors, prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers or directors, advisors or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such payments, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination.

 

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management 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 initial business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed initial business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of 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 officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our 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 officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment. The compensation committee has reviewed and discussed this Compensation Discussion and Analysis with management and, based upon its review and discussions, the compensation committee recommended to the board of directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Report.

 

 

Item 12.

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

 

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of March 31, 2021 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of common stock, by:

 

●

each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock;

 

●

each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our common stock; and

 

●

all our executive officers and directors as a group.

 

In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 76,200,000 shares of our common stock, consisting of (i) 61,200,000 shares of our Class A common stock, and (ii) 15,000,000 shares of our Class B common stock, issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021. On all matters to be voted upon, holders of the shares of Class A common stock and shares of Class B common stock vote together as a single class. Currently, all of the shares of Class B common stock are convertible into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis.

 

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 Report.

 

		Class A Common Stock								Class B Common Stock								Approximate
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner (1)		Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				Approximate Percentage of Class				Number of Shares Beneficially Owned(2)				Approximate Percentage of Class				Percentage of Outstanding Ordinary Shares
E.Merge Technology Sponsor LLC (2)			1,200,000				2.0	%			15,000,000				100.0	%			21.3	%
S. Steven Singh (2)			--								--				--				--
Jeff Clarke (2)			--								--				--				--
Guy Gecht (2)			--								--				--				--
Shuo Zhang (2)			--								--				--				--
David ibnAle (2)			--								--				--				--
Curtis Feeney (2)			--								--				--				--
All executive officers and directors as a group (six individuals)			1,200,000				2.0	%			15,000,000				100.0	%			21.3	%
Linden Capital L.P. (3)			3,354,402				5.5	%			--				--				4.4	%
Periscope Capital Inc. (4)			3,076,800				5.0	%			--				--				4.0	%

 

*

less than 1%

 

	(1)	Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following entities or individuals is c/o E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp., 533 Airport Blvd., Suite 400, Burlingame, CA 94010.
	(2)	E.Merge Technology Sponsor LLC, our sponsor, is the record holder of the securities reported herein. Each of our officers, directors and advisors is or will be, directly or indirectly, a member of our sponsor. Two of our sponsor’s three managing members, Alex Vieux and Steven Fletcher, are indirectly principals of Explorer Parent LLC. By virtue of these relationships, each of the entities and individuals named in this footnote may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the securities held of record by our sponsor. Each of them disclaims any such beneficial ownership except to the extent of their pecuniary interest. The business address of each of these entities and individuals is 533 Airport Blvd., Suite 400, Burlingame, CA 94010.

  

  

(3)

Theses shares are held for the account of Linden Capital L.P. and one or more separately managed accounts (the “Managed Accounts”). Linden GP LLC is the general partner of Linden Capital L.P. and, in such capacity, may be deemed to beneficially own the shares held by Linden Capital L.P. Linden Advisors LP is the investment manager of Linden Capital L.P. and trading advisor or investment advisor for the managed accounts. Siu Min (Joe) Wong is the principal owner and controlling person of Linden Advisors LP and Linden GP LLC. In such capacities, Linden Advisors LP and Mr. Wong each may be deemed to beneficially own the shares held by each of Linden Capital L.P. and the Managed Accounts. Linden Capital L.P. and Linden GP LLC share voting and dispositive power over 3,058,457 shares. Linden Advisors LP and Mr. Wong share voting and dispositive power over 3,354,402 shares.

(4)

Periscope Capital L.P. is the beneficial owner of 2,269,600 shares of common stock. In addition, Periscope Capital L.P. acts as investment manager of, and exercises investment discretion with respect to, certain private investment funds that collectively directly own 807,200 shares of common stock. The business address of Periscope Capital L.P. is 333 Bay Street, Suite 1240, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5H 2R2.

  

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Table

 

None.

 

Changes in Control

 

None.

 

Item 13.

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

 

In June 2020, we issued an aggregate of 10,062,500 founder shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 in cash, or approximately $0.002 per share. In July 2020, we effected a 0.428571 for 1 stock dividend for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, and in July 2020, we further effected a 0.044 for 1 stock dividend for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in our sponsor holding an aggregate of 15,007,500 founder shares (up to 1,957,500 shares of which were subject to forfeiture depending on the extent to which the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised).On September 4, 2020, as a result of the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their option to purchase additional units, 7,500 founder shares were forfeited and 1,950,000 founder shares are no longer subject to forfeiture, resulting in an aggregate of 15,000,000 founder shares issues and outstanding. The founder shares (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering on August 4, 2020, our sponsor purchased an aggregate of 1,200,000 private placement units at a price of $10.00 per private placement unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $12,000,000. Each private placement unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable private placement warrant. Each whole private placement warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the private placement units were added to the proceeds from our initial public offering held in the trust account. If we do not complete an initial business combination by August 4, 2022, the proceeds from the sale of the private placement units will be used to fund the redemption of the public shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the private placement units and all underlying securities will expire worthless.

 

Commencing on July 30, 2020, we pay First In Line Enterprises, Inc., an affiliate of members of our sponsor, a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

 

Other than the foregoing, no compensation of any kind, including any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee or monies in respect of any payment of a loan, will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of an initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates and determines 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.

 

 

On June 8, 2020, our sponsor agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering and we issued an unsecured promissory note to our sponsor. Pursuant to the terms of our promissory note, we may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The promissory note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2020 and (ii) the completion of our initial public offering. The outstanding balance under the promissory notes of $270,000 was repaid upon the consummation of our initial public offering on August 4, 2020.

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds on a non-interest bearing basis as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the private placement units. Other than as described above, the terms of such loans by 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 or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. As of December 31, 2020, there were no amounts outstanding under the any such loans.

 

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 and director compensation.

 

The holders of the founder shares, private placement units, and units that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and in each case holders of their component securities, as applicable) have registration rights to require us to register a sale of any of our securities held by them pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with our initial public offering. These holders are 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 have “piggy-back” registration rights to include their securities in other registration statements filed by us.

 

We have entered 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 secure insurance on behalf of any officer, director or employee for any liability arising out of his or her actions, regardless of whether Delaware law would permit such indemnification. We have purchased 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.

 

Related Party Policy

 

We have adopted a code of ethics requiring us to avoid, wherever possible, all conflicts of interests, except under guidelines or resolutions approved by our board of directors (or the appropriate committee of our board) or as disclosed in our public filings with the SEC. Under our code of ethics, conflict of interest situations will include any financial transaction, arrangement or relationship (including any indebtedness or guarantee of indebtedness) involving the company. We have filed a copy of our code of ethics with the SEC and a copy is available on our website. You are able to review our code of ethics 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

 

 

In addition, our audit committee, pursuant to a written charter that we have adopted, is responsible for reviewing and approving related party transactions to the extent that we enter into such transactions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the audit committee present at a meeting at which a quorum is present will be required in order to approve a related party transaction. A majority of the members of the entire audit committee will constitute a quorum. Without a meeting, the unanimous written consent of all of the members of the audit committee will be required to approve a related party transaction. We have filed a copy of our audit committee charter with the SEC and a copy is available on our website. We also require each of our directors and executive officers to complete a directors’ and officers’ questionnaire that elicits information about related party transactions.

 

These procedures are intended to determine whether any such related party transaction impairs the independence of a director or presents a conflict of interest on the part of a director, employee or officer.

 

To further minimize conflicts of interest, we have agreed not to consummate an initial business combination with an entity that is affiliated with any of our sponsor, officers or directors unless we, or a committee of independent directors, have obtained an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, no finder’s fees, reimbursements, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation will be paid by us to our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors or any affiliate of our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors prior to, for services rendered to us prior to, or in connection with any services rendered in order to effectuate, the consummation of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). However, the following payments will be made to our sponsor, officers, directors or advisors, or our or their affiliates, 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 $300,000 in loans made to us by our sponsor to cover offering-related and organizational expenses;

 

●

Payment to an affiliate of our sponsor of $15,000 per month, for up to 24 months, for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support;

 

●

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

 

●

Repayment of non-interest bearing loans which may be made by our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, the terms of which (other than as described above) 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 units, at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender, upon consummation of our initial business combination. The units would be identical to the private placement units.

 

Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or our or their affiliates.

 

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. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Feeny and ibnAle and Ms. Zhang are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules.

 

 

Item 14.

Principal Accountant Fees and Services.

 

The following is a summary of fees paid or to be paid to Withum, for services rendered.

 

Audit Fees. For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, fees for our independent registered public accounting firm were approximately $82,915, for the services Withum performed in connection with our Initial Public Offering, review of the financial information included in our Forms 10-Q for the respective periods and the audit of our December 31, 2020 financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

Audit-Related Fees. For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render assurance and related services related to the performance of the audit or review of financial statements.

 

Tax Fees. For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, our independent registered public accounting firm did not render services to us for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.

 

All Other Fees. For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, there were no fees billed for products and services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm other than those set forth above.

 

Pre-Approval Policy

 

Our audit committee was formed upon the consummation of our initial public offering. As a result, the audit committee did not pre-approve all of the foregoing services, although any services rendered prior to the formation of our audit committee were approved by our board of directors. Since the formation of our audit committee, and on a going-forward basis, the audit committee has and will pre-approve all auditing services and permitted non-audit services to be performed for us by our auditors, including the fees and terms thereof (subject to the de minimis exceptions for non-audit services described in the Exchange Act which are approved by the audit committee prior to the completion of the audit).

 

 

PART IV

 

Item 15.

Exhibits, Financial Statements and Financial Statement Schedules

 

(a)	The following documents are filed as part of this Report:

 

(1)

Financial Statements

 

		Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm		F-2
Balance Sheet		F-3
Statement of Operations		F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity		F-5
Statement of Cash Flows		F-6
Notes to Financial Statements		F-7

 

(2)

Financial Statements Schedule

 

All financial statement schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the amounts are immaterial and not required, or the required information is presented in the financial statements and notes beginning on F-1 on this Report.

 

(3)

Exhibits

 

We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Exhibits which are incorporated herein by reference can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such material can also be obtained from the Public Reference Section of the SEC, 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, at prescribed rates or on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

 

Item 16.

Form 10-K Summary

 

Not applicable.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

 

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm		F-2
Financial Statements:
Balance Sheet		F-3
Statement of Operations		F-4
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity		F-5
Statement of Cash Flows		F-6
Notes to Financial Statements		F-7 to F-18

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of

E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”), as of December 31, 2020, the related statement of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Basis for Opinion

 

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB. 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ WithumSmith+Brown, PC

 

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2020.

 

New York, New York

March 30, 2021

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

BALANCE SHEET

DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

ASSETS
Current assets
Cash		$	949,852
Prepaid expenses			243,120
Total Current Assets			1,192,972
Cash and investments held in Trust Account			600,119,309
Total Assets		$	601,312,281
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable		$	150,500
Franchise tax payable			84,877
Income taxes payable			7,231
Total Current Liabilities			242,608
Deferred underwriting fee payable			22,560,000
Total Liabilities			22,802,608
Commitments and contingencies
Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, 57,350,967 shares at $10.00 per share redemption value			573,509,670
Stockholders’ Equity
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding			—
Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized; 3,849,033 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 57,350,967 shares subject to possible redemption)			385
Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 15,000,000 shares issued and outstanding			1,500
Additional paid-in capital			5,473,901
Accumulated deficit			(475,783	)
Total Stockholders’ Equity			5,000,003
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity		$	601,312,281

 

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

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM MAY 22, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

Formation and general and administrative expenses		$	502,984
Franchise tax			84,877
Loss from operations			(587,861	)
Other income:
Interest earned on investments held in Trust Account			119,309
Other income			119,309
Loss before provision for income taxes			(468,552	)
Provision for income taxes			7,231
Net loss		$	(475,783	)
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A redeemable common stock			58,388,000
Basic and diluted income per share, Class A redeemable common stock		$	0.00
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A and B non-redeemable common stock			15,179,830
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class A and B non-redeemable common stock		$	(0.03	)

 

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

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

		Class A Common Stock								Class B Common Stock								Additional Paid-in				Accumulated				Total Stockholders’
		Shares				Amount				Shares				Amount				Capital				Deficit				Equity
Balance – May 22, 2020 (Inception)			—			$	—				—			$	—			$	—			$	—			$	—
Issuance of Class B common stock to Sponsors			—				—				15,007,500				1,501				23,499				—				25,000
Sale of 60,000,000 Units, net of underwriting discounts			60,000,000				6,000				—				—				566,954,456				—				566,960,456
Sale of 1,200,000 Placement Units			1,200,000				120				—				—				11,999,880				—				12,000,000
Forfeiture of Founder Shares			—				—				(7,500	)			(1	)			1				—				—
Common stock subject to possible redemption			(57,350,967	)			(5,735	)			—				—				(573,503,935	)			—				(573,509,670	)
Net loss			—				—				—				—				—				(475,783	)			(475,783	)
Balance – December 31, 2020			3,849,033			$	385				15,000,000			$	1,500			$	5,473,901			$	(475,783	)		$	5,000,003

 

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

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE PERIOD FROM MAY 22, 2020 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net loss		$	(475,783	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Interest earned on investments held in Trust Account			(119,309	)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses			(243,120	)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses			235,377
Income taxes payable			7,231
Net cash used in operating activities			(595,604	)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Investment of cash into Trust Account			(600,000,000	)
Net cash used in investing activities			(600,000,000	)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from sale of Units, net of underwriting discounts paid			590,160,000
Proceeds from sale of Private Placement Units			12,000,000
Proceeds from promissory note – related party			270,000
Repayment of promissory note – related party			(270,000	)
Payment of offering costs			(614,544	)
Net cash provided by financing activities			601,545,456
Net Change in Cash			949,852
Cash – Beginning of period			—
Cash – End of period		$	949,852
Non-Cash financing activities:
Initial classification of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption		$	573,976,330
Change in value of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption		$	(466,660	)
Offering costs paid directly by Sponsor in consideration for the issuance of Class B common stock		$	25,000
Deferred underwriting fee payable			22,560,000

 

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

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

 

E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on May 22, 2020. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”).

 

Although the Company is not limited to a particular industry or sector for purposes of consummating a Business Combination, the Company intends to focus its search on companies in the software and internet technology industries. The Company is an early stage and emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with early stage and emerging growth companies.

 

As of December 31, 2020, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 relates to the Company’s formation, the initial public offering (“Initial Public Offering”), which is described below, and, subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering.

 

The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on July 30, 2020. On August 4, 2020, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 52,200,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the shares of Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”), at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $522,000,000, which is described in Note 3.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 1,200,000 units (each, a “Placement Unit” and collectively, the “Placement Units”) at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit in a private placement to E.Merge Technology Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), generating gross proceeds of $12,000,000, which is described in Note 4.

 

On September 4, 2020, in connection with the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their option to purchase additional Units, the Company sold an additional 7,800,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $78,000,000.

 

Transaction costs amounted to $33,039,544, consisting of $9,840,000 of underwriting fees, $22,560,000 of deferred underwriting fees and $639,544 of other offering costs.

 

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering on August 4, 2020 and the underwriters partial exercise of its over-allotment option on September 4, 2020, an aggregate amount of $600,000,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units in the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Placement Units was placed in a trust account (the “Trust Account”) located in the United States and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting the conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the Trust Account, as described below.

 

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Placement Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a Business Combination. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully. The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the Trust Account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on interest earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. The Company will only complete a 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.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

The Company will provide its holders of the outstanding Public Shares (the “public stockholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of a 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 the Company will seek stockholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public stockholders will be entitled to redeem their Public Shares for a pro rata portion of the amount then in the Trust Account (initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share, plus any pro rata interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations). The per-share amount to be distributed to public stockholders who redeem their Public Shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions the Company will pay to the underwriters (as discussed in Note 6). There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of a Business Combination with respect to the Company’s warrants.

 

The Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a stockholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation”), conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain stockholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If the Company seeks stockholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the Company’s Sponsor has agreed to vote its Founder Shares (as defined in Note 5), Placement Shares (as defined in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of approving a Business Combination. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction.

 

If the Company seeks stockholder approval of a Business Combination and it does not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% or more of the Public Shares, without the prior consent of the Company.

 

The Sponsor has agreed (a) to waive its redemption rights with respect to its Founder Shares, Placement Shares and Public Shares, if any, held by it in connection with the completion of a Business Combination and (b) not to propose an amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (i) that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with a Business Combination or to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-business combination activity, unless the Company provides the public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their Public Shares in conjunction with any such amendment.

 

If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination by August 4, 2022 (the “Combination Period”), the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the Public Shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its tax obligations (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Company’s warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

The Sponsor has agreed to waive its liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares and Placement Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the Sponsor acquires Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, such Public Shares will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters have agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 6) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within in the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the other funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the assets remaining available for distribution will be less than the Initial Public Offering price per Unit ($10.00).

 

In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor has agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets. This liability will not apply with respect to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account or to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. The Company will seek to reduce the possibility that the Sponsor will have to indemnify the Trust Account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (except the Company’s independent registered accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which the Company does business, execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the Trust Account.

 

NOTE 2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

 

Basis of Presentation

 

The accompanying financial statements are presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC.

 

Emerging Growth Company

 

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

 

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

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

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 and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period.

 

Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

 

Cash and Cash Equivalents

 

The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020.

 

Cash and Investments Held in Trust Account

 

The Company classifies its U.S. Treasury and equivalent securities as held-to-maturity in accordance with ASC Topic 320 “Investments - Debt and Equity Securities.” Held-to-maturity securities are those securities which the Company has the ability and intent to hold until maturity. Held-to-maturity treasury securities are recorded at amortized cost on the accompanying balance sheet and adjusted for the amortization or accretion of premiums or discounts.

 

Class A Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption

 

The Company accounts for its Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A common stock subject to mandatory redemption is classified as a liability instrument and is measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that features redemption rights that is either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) is classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. The Company’s common stock features certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2020, the 57,350,967 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption are presented as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.

 

Offering Costs

 

Offering costs consist of underwriting, legal, accounting and other expenses incurred through the Initial Public Offering that are directly related to the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs amounting to $33,039,544 were charged to stockholders’ equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under ASC 740, “Income Taxes.” Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that included the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

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. The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts accrued for interest and penalties as of December 31, 2020. 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.

 

Net Income (Loss) Per Common Share

 

Net loss per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. The Company has not considered the effect of warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and private placement to purchase 20,400,000 shares of Class A common stock in the calculation of diluted income (loss) per share, since the exercise of the warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive.

 

The Company’s statements of operations includes a presentation of income (loss) per share for common shares subject to possible redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income (loss) per share. Net income per common share, basic and diluted, for Class A redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Account, by the weighted average number of Class A redeemable common stock outstanding since original issuance. Net loss per share, basic and diluted, for Class B non-redeemable common stock is calculated by dividing the net loss, adjusted for income attributable to Class A redeemable common stock, net of applicable franchise and income taxes, by the weighted average number of Class B non-redeemable common stock outstanding for the period. Class B non-redeemable common stock includes the Founder Shares as these shares do not have any redemption features and do not participate in the income earned on the Trust Account.

  

The following table reflects the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per common share (in dollars, except per share amounts):

 

		For the Period From May 22, 2020 (inception) Through December 31, 2020
Redeemable Class A Common Stock
Numerator: Earnings allocable to Redeemable Class A Common Stock
Interest Income		$	119,309
Income and Franchise Tax			(92,108	)
Net Earnings		$	27,201
Denominator: Weighted Average Redeemable Class A Common Stock
Redeemable Class A Common Stock, Basic and Diluted			58,388,000
Earnings/Basic and Diluted Redeemable Class A Common Stock		$	0.00
Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock
Numerator: Net Loss minus Redeemable Net Earnings
Net Loss Non-Redeemable Class A and Class B Common Stock		$	(475,783	)
Redeemable Net Earnings			(27,201	)
Non-Redeemable Net Loss		$	(502,984	)
Denominator: Weighted Average Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock
Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock, Basic and Diluted			15,179,830
Loss/Basic and Diluted Non-Redeemable Class A and B Common Stock		$	(0.03	)

  

Note: As of December 31, 2020, basic and diluted shares are the same as there are no non-redeemable securities that are dilutive to the stockholders.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

Concentration of Credit Risk

 

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of a cash account in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. The Company has not experienced losses on this account and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such account.

 

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily due to their short-term nature.

 

Recent Accounting Standards

 

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

 

NOTE 3. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

 

Pursuant to the Initial Public Offering, the Company sold 60,000,000 Units, inclusive of 7,800,000 Units sold to the underwriters on September 4, 2020 upon the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their option to purchase additional Units, at a purchase price of $10.00 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 7).

 

NOTE 4. PRIVATE PLACEMENT

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 1,200,000 Placement Units at a price of $10.00 per Placement Unit, for an aggregate purchase price of $12,000,000. Each Placement Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock (“Placement Share”) and one-third of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Placement Warrant”). Each whole Placement Warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share. The proceeds from the Placement Units were added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. If the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period, the proceeds from the sale of the Placement Units will be used to fund the redemption of the Public Shares (subject to the requirements of applicable law), and the Placement Units and all underlying securities will expire worthless.

 

NOTE 5. RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

Founder Shares

 

On June 8, 2020, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of $25,000 to cover certain offering costs of the Company in consideration for 10,062,500 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock (the “Founder Shares”). In July 2020, the Company effected a 0.428571 for 1 stock dividend for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, and in July 2020, it further effected a 0.044 for 1 stock dividend for each share of Class B common stock outstanding, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 15,007,500 Founder Shares. The Founder Shares include an aggregate of up to 1,957,500 Class B shares subject to forfeiture to the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is not exercised in full or in part, so that the Sponsor will own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering (assuming the Sponsor does not purchase any Public Shares in the Initial Public Offering and excluding the Placement Units). On September 4, 2020, as a result of the underwriters’ election to partially exercise their option to purchase additional Units, 7,500 Founder Shares were forfeited and 1,950,000 Founder Shares are no longer subject to forfeiture, resulting in an aggregate of 15,000,000 Founder Shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

The Sponsor has agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of its Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of a Business Combination or (B) subsequent to a Business Combination, (x) if 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 a Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

The Company entered into an agreement, commencing on July 30, 2020 through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a total of $15,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. For period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the Company incurred and paid $75,000 fees for these services.

 

Promissory Note — Related Party

 

On June 8, 2020, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Promissory Note”) to the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Company may borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000. The Promissory Note is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of (i) December 31, 2020 and (ii) the completion of the Initial Public Offering. The outstanding balance under the Promissory Note of $270,000 was repaid upon the consummation of the Initial Public Offering on August 4, 2020.

 

Related Party Loans

 

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes a Business Combination, the Company would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Except for the foregoing, the terms of such Working Capital Loans, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. The Working Capital Loans would either be repaid upon consummation of a Business Combination, without interest, or, at the lender’s discretion, up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into units upon consummation of the Business Combination at a price of $10.00 per unit. The units would be identical to the Placement Units. As of December 31, 2020, there were no amounts outstanding under the Working Capital Loans.

 

NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Risks and Uncertainties

 

Management continues to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has concluded that while it is reasonably possible that the virus could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position, results of its operations and/or search for a target company, the specific impact is not readily determinable as of the date of the financial statements. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

Registration Rights

 

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on August 4, 2020, the holders of the Founder Shares, Placement Units (including securities contained therein) and units (including securities contained therein) that may be issued upon conversion of any Working Capital Loans, and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants and any shares of Class A common stock and warrants (and underlying Class A common stock) that may be issued upon conversion of units issued as part of the Working Capital Loans and Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the Founder Shares, will be entitled to registration rights requiring the Company to register such securities for resale (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion to Class A common stock). The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of a Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The registration rights agreement does not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

The underwriters are entitled a deferred fee of $22,560,000 in the aggregate. The deferred fee will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the Trust Account solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

 

The underwriters made a payment to the Company in the amount of $600,000 to reimburse the Company for expenses incurred in connection with the Initial Public Offering.

 

NOTE 7. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

 

Preferred Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. At December 31, 2020, there were no shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding.

 

Class A Common Stock — The Company is authorized to issue 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2020, there were 3,849,033 shares of Class A common stock issued or outstanding, excluding 57,350,967 shares of Class A common stock subject to possible redemption.

 

Class B Common Stock — In June 2020, the Company amended its Certificate of Incorporation such that the Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class B common stock are entitled to one vote for each share. At December 31, 2020, there were 15,000,000 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding.

 

Holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock will vote together as a single class on all other matters submitted to a vote of stockholders except as required by law.

 

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of a Business Combination on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment. 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 the Initial Public Offering and related to the closing of a Business Combination, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance) so that the number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering (not including the shares of Class A common stock underlying the Placement Units) plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with a Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement-equivalent units and their underlying securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in a Business Combination, any private placement equivalent securities issued to the Sponsor or its affiliates upon conversion of loans made to the Company).

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

Warrants — Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole warrants will trade. The Public Warrants will become exercisable on the later of (a) 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination or (b) 12 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

The Company will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to the Company satisfying its obligations with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants.

 

The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, to cause such registration statement to become effective and to maintain a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60^th business day after the closing of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of a Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis.

 

Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem the Public Warrants:

 

●

in whole and not in part;

 

●

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

●

upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption given after the warrants become exercisable; and

 

●

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Company’s Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise its redemption right if the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants is not exempt from registration or qualification under applicable state blue sky laws or the Company is unable to effect such registration or qualification.

 

If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and the Company liquidates the funds held in the Trust Account, holders of warrants will not receive any of such funds with respect to their warrants, nor will they receive any distribution from the Company’s assets held outside of the Trust Account with the respect to such warrants. Accordingly, the warrants may expire worthless.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of a Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of Class A common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of a Business Combination on the date of the consummation of a Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the shares of Class A common stock during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates a Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

 

The Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Placement Warrants and the Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Placement Warrants will not be transferable, assignable or saleable until 30 days after the completion of a Business Combination, subject to certain limited exceptions. Additionally, the Placement Warrants will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

 

NOTE 8. INCOME TAXES

 

The Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows:

 

		December 31, 2020
Deferred tax assets
Organizational costs/Startup expenses		$	105,627
Total deferred tax assets			105,627
Valuation allowance			(105,627	)
Deferred tax assets, net of allowance		$	—

 

The income tax provision consists of the following:

 

		December 31, 2020
Federal
Current		$	7,231
Deferred			(105,627	)
State
Current		$	—
Deferred			—
Change in valuation allowance			105,627
Income tax provision		$	7,231

 

As of December 31, 2020, the Company did not have any U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryovers available to offset future taxable income.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

In assessing the realization of the deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion of all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all of the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the change in the valuation allowance was $105,627.

 

A reconciliation of the federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective tax rate is as follows:

 

		December 31, 2020
Statutory federal income tax rate			21.0	%
State taxes, net of federal tax benefit			0.0	%
Change in valuation allowance			(22.5	)%
Income tax provision			(1.5	)%

 

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction in various state and local jurisdictions and is subject to examination by the various taxing authorities.

 

NOTE 9. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

 

The fair value of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities reflects management’s estimate of amounts that the Company would have received in connection with the sale of the assets or paid in connection with the transfer of the liabilities in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In connection with measuring the fair value of its assets and liabilities, the Company seeks to maximize the use of observable inputs (market data obtained from independent sources) and to minimize the use of unobservable inputs (internal assumptions about how market participants would price assets and liabilities). The following fair value hierarchy is used to classify assets and liabilities based on the observable inputs and unobservable inputs used in order to value the assets and liabilities:

 

Level 1:

Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. An active market for an asset or liability is a market in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.

 

Level 2:

Observable inputs other than Level 1 inputs. Examples of Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities and quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.

 

Level 3:

Unobservable inputs based on our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

 

At December 31, 2020, assets held in the Trust Account were comprised of $399 in cash, $300,107,026 amortized cost in U.S. Treasury Bills and $300,011,884 in U.S. Treasury securities at fair market value. During the period from May 22, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, the Company did not withdraw any interest income from the Trust Account.

 

 

E.MERGE TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2020

 

The following tables present information about the Company’s assets that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at December 31, 2020 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation inputs the Company utilized to determine such fair value. The gross holding gains and fair value of held-to-maturity securities at December 31, 2020 are as follows:

 

		Held-To-Maturity		Level			Amortized Cost				Gross Holding Gain				Fair Value
December 31, 2020		U.S. Treasury Securities (Mature on 2/4/2021)		1			$	300,107,026			$	10,967			$	300,117,993

 

Description		Level				Fair Value
Assets:
Investments held in Trust Account – U.S. Treasury Securities Money Market Fund			1			$	300,011,884

  

Transfers to/from Levels 1, 2 and 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period. There were no transfers between levels for the period from July 21, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020.

 

NOTE 10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

 

The Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements were issued. Based upon this review, the Company did not identify any subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.

 

 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit No.		Description
1.1		Underwriting Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, by and among the Company and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Mizuho Securities USA LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters. (5)
3.1		Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation. (6)
3.2		By Laws. (1)
4.1		Specimen Unit Certificate. (3)
4.2		Specimen Class A Common Stock Certificate. (2)
4.3		Specimen Warrant Certificate. (2)
4.4		Warrant Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent. (5)
4.5		Description of Registered Securities.*
10.1		Letter Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, by and among the Company, its officers and directors and the Sponsor. (5)
10.2		Promissory Note, dated June 8, 2020, issued to E.Merge Technology Sponsor LLC. (1)
10.3		Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as trustee. (5)
10.4		Registration Rights Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, by and among the Company, the Sponsor and Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (5)
10.5		Administrative Services Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, between the Company and First In Line Enterprises, Inc. (5)
10.6		Unit Subscription Agreement, dated July 30, 2020, by and between the Company and the Sponsor. (5)
10.7		Form of Indemnity Agreement. (2)
10.8		Securities Subscription Agreement, dated June 8, 2020, between the Registrant and E.Merge Technology Sponsor LLC. (1)
31.1		Certification of the Principal Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
31.2		Certification of the Principal Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
32.1		Certification of the Principal Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350.**
32.2		Certification of the Principal Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350.**
101.INS		XBRL Instance Document*
101.SCH		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema*
101.CAL		XBRL Taxonomy Calculation Linkbase*
101.LAB		XBRL Taxonomy Label Linkbase*
101.PRE		XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*
101.DEF		XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*

 

*

Filed herewith.

**

Furnished herewith.

 

	(1)	Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1, filed with the SEC on July 13, 2020.
	(2)	Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1/A, filed with the SEC on July 22, 2020.

(3)

Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1/A, filed with the SEC on July 24, 2020.

(4)

Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form S-1/A, filed with the SEC on July 29, 2020.

(5)

Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on August 5, 2020.

(6)

Incorporated by reference to the Company’s Form 8-K/A, filed with the SEC on August 7, 2020.

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

March 31, 2021	E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp.
	By:	/s/ Jeff Clarke
	Name:	Jeff Clarke
	Title:	Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Name		Position		Date
/s/ Jeff Clarke		Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director		March 31, 2021
Jeff Clarke		(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Guy Gecht		Co-Chief Executive Officer		March 31, 2021
Guy Gecht		(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ S. Steven Singh		Director		March 31, 2021
S. Steven Singh
/s/ Shuo Zhang		Director		March 31, 2021
Shuo Zhang
/s/ David ibnAle		Director		March 31, 2021
David ibnAle
/s/ Curtis Feeny		Director		March 31, 2021
Curtis Feeny