Annual Report (10-k)

 

 

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, 2018

 

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

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Cayman Islands		001-746037		98-1436307
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(Commission File Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

 

51 Astor Place, 10th Floor New York, NY		10003
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: [phone]

 

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

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

 

Title of Each Class:		Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered:
Class A ordinary shares included as part of the units		The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
Warrants included as part of the units, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50		The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001 par value, and one-half of one redeemable warrant		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 if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☒

 

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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

 

As of March 25, 2019, there were 14,375,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 3,593,750 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding.

 

As of December 31, 2018, the aggregate market value of the Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $140,875,000 (based on the closing sales price of the ordinary shares on December 31, 2018 of $9.80).

 

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

		PAGE
PART I
Item 1.	Business	1
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	16
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	46
Item 2.	Properties	46
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	46
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	46
PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	47
Item 6.	Selected Financial Data	49
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	49
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	53
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	53
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	54
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	54
Item 9B.	Other Information	54
PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	55
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	62
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	62
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	64
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	66
PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules	67
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	67

 

i

 

 

CERTAIN TERMS

 

Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K or the context otherwise requires, references to:

 

●

“we,” “us,” “company” or “our company” are to ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company;

 

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“Perceptive Advisors” are to Perceptive Advisors, LLC, an affiliate of our sponsor;

 

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“Companies Law” are to the Companies Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time;

 

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“founders” are to Joseph Edelman, Adam Stone and Michael Altman, senior executives of Perceptive Advisors;

 

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“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our sponsor in a private placement prior to our Initial Public Offering and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”);

 

●

“Initial Public Offering” are to the company’s offering on October 10, 2018 of 14,375,000 units (which includes units issued pursuant to the exercise in full of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional units to cover overallotments) at a price of $10.00 per unit, each unit consisting of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant;

 

●

“initial shareholders” are to our sponsor and each other holder of founder shares upon the consummation of our Initial Public Offering;

 

●

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

 

●

“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares;

 

●

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants that were issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering and to be issued upon conversion of working capital loans, if any;

 

●

“public shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our Initial Public Offering (whether they were purchased in our Initial Public Offering or thereafter in the open market);

 

●

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

 

●

“sponsor” are to ARYA Sciences Holdings, a Cayman Islands exempted limited company.

 

ii

 

 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may include, for example, statements about:

 

●

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

 

●

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

 

●

our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

 

●

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

 

●

our pool of prospective target businesses;

 

●

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

 

●

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

 

●

the lack of a market for our securities;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

our financial performance following our Initial Public Offering.

 

The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

 

iii

 

 

PART I

Item 1. Business

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company incorporated in June 2018 as a Cayman Islands exempted company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K as our initial business combination. To date, our efforts have been limited to our organizational activities and activities relating to the Initial Public Offering and the identification and evaluation of prospective acquisition targets for our initial business combination. We have generated no operating revenues to date and we do not expect that we will generate operating revenues until we consummate our initial business combination.

 

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and in our search for targets for our initial business combination seek to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the healthcare or healthcare related industries. In particular, we are targeting North American or European companies in the life sciences and medical technology sectors where our management has extensive investment experience. We may pursue a transaction in which our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination would collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company.

 

Our Founders

 

Our sponsor is an affiliate of Perceptive Advisors, a leading life sciences focused investment firm with over $5 billion of regulatory assets under management as of December 31, 2018. Since its launch in 1999, Perceptive Advisors has focused exclusively on the healthcare industry. Our founders are also the founder and management of Perceptive Advisors. Joseph Edelman, our Chairman, founded Perceptive Advisors in 1999. Adam Stone, our Chief Executive Officer, is the Chief Investment Officer of Perceptive Advisors, and Michael Altman, our Chief Financial Officer, is a senior analyst at Perceptive Advisors. Perceptive Advisors’ investment activity is focused on identifying both private and public companies in the life sciences and medical technology sectors and currently has investments in over 150 companies. The team at Perceptive Advisors consists of trained scientists, physicians and financial analysts who are passionately committed to identifying innovation that can drive critical change to current treatment paradigms. Perceptive Advisors invests across the capital structure and throughout a company’s growth cycle which provides access to a broad universe of management teams and companies seeking flexible capital solutions. Perceptive Advisors is also an active investor in pre-IPO financing rounds known as “crossovers.” Perceptive Advisors has invested in over 40 private companies since 2013 and in 2017 met with over 200 private companies in evaluation of private growth financing rounds, crossovers, and pre-IPO analysis.

 

Industry Opportunity

 

While we may acquire a business in any industry, our focus is on the healthcare industry in the United States and other developed countries. We believe the healthcare industry, particularly the life sciences and medical technology sectors, represents an enormous and growing target market with a large number of potential target acquisition opportunities. Overall, total U.S. national health expenditures currently exceeds $3 trillion, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has estimated that total healthcare spending will approach 20% of total U.S. Gross Domestic Product over the coming years. According to IBISWorld, in 2017, the global biotechnology market represented approximately $328 billion in revenue and grew 5.3% per annum from 2012 to 2017.

 

The Current Life Sciences IPO Market

 

We believe that current dynamics in the life sciences and medical technology IPO market may enhance our ability to locate an attractive target. Over 100 life sciences and medical technology companies have gone public since 2016 in the United States. Despite the current level of IPO activity, according to IBISWorld, in 2017 there were estimated to be over 9,600 biotechnology companies globally, only a fraction of which are publicly traded.

 

1

 

 

We also believe that the process for life sciences and medical technology IPO demand generation often produces offerings that are significantly oversubscribed but where a majority of the offering is allocated to the top ten investors, some of whom may be existing investors in these companies or are industry specialists. As a result, we believe that there may be numerous investors who have not been able to receive meaningful, or any, allocations in recent life sciences and medical technology IPOs who may be interested in a potential target opportunity that we identify.

 

We believe that life sciences and medical technology companies, at a certain stage in their development, will see material benefits from being publicly-traded, including greater access to capital, more liquid securities and increased customer awareness. An acquisition by a special purpose acquisition company with a management team that is well-known to, and respected by, life sciences founders, their current third-party investors and their management teams, we believe, can provide a more transparent and efficient mechanism to bring a private healthcare company to the public markets.

 

Acquisition Strategy

 

We believe our management team is well positioned to identify unique opportunities in our target sectors. Our selection process leverages our relationships with leading venture capitalists and growth equity funds, executives of private and public companies, as well as leading investment banking firms, which we believe should provide us with a key competitive advantage in sourcing potential business combination targets. Given our profile and dedicated industry approach, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, and in particular investors in other private and public companies in our networks. We also believe that Perceptive Advisors’ reputation, experience and track record of making investments in the healthcare space will make us a preferred partner for these potential targets.

 

Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following criteria to evaluate prospective target businesses. We may however, decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria. We intend to seek to acquire companies that we believe:

 

●

have a scientific or other competitive advantage in the markets in which they operate and which can benefit from access to additional capital as well as our industry relationships and expertise;

 

●

are ready to be public, with strong management, corporate governance and reporting policies in place;

 

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will likely be well received by public investors and are expected to have good access to the public capital markets;

 

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have significant embedded and/or underexploited growth opportunities;

 

●

exhibit unrecognized value or other characteristics that we believe have been misevaluated by the market based on our rigorous analysis and scientific and business due diligence review; and

 

●

will offer attractive risk-adjusted equity returns for our shareholders.

 

We may use other criteria as well. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management may deem relevant.

 

Initial Business Combination

 

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held in trust and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses or we are considering an initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria.

 

2

 

 

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

 

In addition, our sponsor has indicated an interest to purchase up to an aggregate of $25,000,000 of our ordinary shares in a private placement that would occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial business combination. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, our sponsor may determine not to purchase any such shares, or to purchase fewer shares than it has indicated an interest in purchasing. Furthermore, we are not under any obligation to sell any such shares. If we sell shares to our sponsor (or any other investor) in connection with our initial business combination, the equity interest of investors in our Initial Public Offering in the combined company may be diluted and the market prices for our securities may be adversely affected. In addition, if the per share trading price of our ordinary shares is greater than the price per share paid in the private placement, the private placement will result in value dilution to you, in addition to the immediate dilution that you will experience in connection with the consummation of our Initial Public Offering.

 

Other Considerations

 

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

 

Affiliates of Perceptive Advisors and members of our board of directors directly or indirectly own founder shares and private placement warrants and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers or directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

 

Perceptive Advisors may manage multiple investment vehicles and raise additional funds and/or successor funds in the future, which may be during the period in which we are seeking our initial business combination. These Perceptive Advisors investment entities may be seeking acquisition opportunities and related financing at any time. We may compete with any one or more of them on any given acquisition opportunity.

 

3

 

 

In addition, certain of our founders, officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities, including without limitation, investment funds, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities managed by affiliates of Perceptive Advisors and certain companies in which Perceptive Advisors or such entities have invested. As a result, if any of our founders, officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he, she or it has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations (including, without limitation, any Perceptive Advisors funds or other investment vehicles), then, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law, he or she will need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, before we can pursue such opportunity. If these funds or investment entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. In addition, investment ideas generated within or presented to Perceptive Advisors or our founders may be suitable for both us and a current or future Perceptive Advisors fund, portfolio company or other investment entity and, subject to applicable fiduciary duties, will first be directed to such fund, portfolio company or other entity before being directed, if at all, to us. None of Perceptive Advisors, our founders or any members of our board of directors who are also employed by Perceptive Advisors or its affiliates have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware solely in their capacities as officers or executives of Perceptive Advisors.

 

However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

In addition, our founders, officers and directors, are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. Moreover, our founders, officers and directors have, and will have in the future, time and attention requirements for current and future investment funds, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities managed by Perceptive Advisors. To the extent any conflict of interest arises between, on the one hand, us and, on the other hand, investments funds, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities managed by Perceptive Advisors (including, without limitation, arising as a result of certain of our founders, officers and directors being required to offer acquisition opportunities to such investment funds, accounts, co-investment vehicles and other entities), Perceptive Advisors and its affiliates will resolve such conflicts of interest in their sole discretion in accordance with their then existing fiduciary, contractual and other duties and there can be no assurance that such conflict of interest will be resolved in our favor.

 

Status as a Public Company

 

We believe our structure makes us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. 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 Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. 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, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

 

Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could prevent the offering from occurring. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ 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 makes 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 shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.

 

4

 

 

Financial Position

 

With funds available for a business combination in the amount of $139,816,409 as of December 31, 2018, after payment of $4,671,875 of deferred underwriting fees, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners, providing capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or strengthening its balance sheet by reducing its debt ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires.

 

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

 

General

 

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

 

If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt securities, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, 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 need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination. We are not currently a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.

 

Sources of Target Businesses

 

Our process of identifying acquisition targets leverages Perceptive Advisors’ and our management team’s unique industry experiences, proven deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships in numerous industries, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. The collective experience, capability and network of Perceptive Advisors, our founders, directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, helps to create prospective business combination opportunities.

 

In addition, target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will have read this Annual Report on Form 10-K and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware 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.

 

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While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. 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 a finder’s fee 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 or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or 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 or directors, 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 acquisition of such target by us.

 

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

 

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.

 

Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination

 

In evaluating a prospective target business, we 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, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.

 

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, and negotiation with, 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. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination.

 

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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. 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 scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. 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, director 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 a business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

 

Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination

 

We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons.

 

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

 

●

we issue (other than in a public offering for cash) ordinary shares that will either (a) be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of Class A ordinary shares then outstanding or (b) have voting power equal to or in excess of 20% of the voting power then outstanding;

 

●

any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (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 ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or

 

●

the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control.

 

The Companies Law and Cayman Islands law do not currently require, and we are not aware of any other applicable law that will require, shareholder approval of our initial business combination.

 

7

 

 

The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business and legal reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:

 

●

the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company;

 

●

the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote;

 

●

the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination;

 

●

other time and budget constraints of the company; and

 

●

additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders.

 

Permitted Purchases of Our Securities

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive 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. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

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

 

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination or (ii) 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 Class A ordinary shares or public 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 may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) 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 shareholders 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 shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the shareholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, executive officers, directors, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

 

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Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

 

Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination

 

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per public share. The per share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Our sponsor and our directors and executive officers entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

 

Limitations on Redemptions

 

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

 

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

 

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement and we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other legal reasons.

 

If we hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:

 

●

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.

 

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

 

If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the ordinary shares voted are voted in favor of the business combination. In such case, our initial shareholders’ agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our Initial Public Offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 5,393,626, or 37.5%, of the 14,375,000 public shares sold in our Initial Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of a business combination.

 

If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:

 

●

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 Class A ordinary shares 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 shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete the initial business combination.

 

Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to Excess Shares (as defined below). We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our Initial Public Offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ 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 shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash.

 

However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

 

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Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights

 

Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have, from the time we send out our tender offer materials, up to two days prior to the vote on the business combination to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders 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 a fee of approximately $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 shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares 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 shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

 

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. 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 shareholders 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 proposed initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering.

 

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Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination

 

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we have only 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering to consummate an initial business combination. If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands 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 consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering.

 

Our sponsor entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which it has waived its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering. However, if our sponsor or members of our management team 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 consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering.

 

Our sponsor, executive officers and directors agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares 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 (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 (so that we are not subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). 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, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsors, any executive officer or director, or any other person.

 

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $1,000,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, 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, 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 shareholders upon our dissolution would be $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 shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.00. 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.

 

12

 

 

Although we will seek to have all third parties, including, but not limited to, all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, 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. The underwriters will not execute 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. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor 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 discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts 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, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account 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. 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. 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 we 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 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, in each case less taxes payable, 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 in any particular instance. 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 share.

 

We will 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 third parties, including, but not limited to, all vendors, service providers (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm), 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 will 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 will have access to up to $1,000,000 from the proceeds of our Initial Public Offering with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000). In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors.

 

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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 shareholders. 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 shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 shareholders. 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, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders 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 shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder 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, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

 

Facilities

 

We currently maintain our executive offices at 51 Astor Place, 10 ^th  Floor, New York, NY 10003. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

 

Employees

 

We currently have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.

 

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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

 

We registered our units, Class A ordinary shares 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 contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.

 

We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required 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 target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

 

We are required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2019 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

Prior to the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we 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 a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Law. As an exempted company, we applied for and received, a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 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.

 

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

 

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.

 

Item 1A. Risk Factors

 

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

We have no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

We were formed in June 2018 under the laws of the Cayman Islands and have no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

 

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

 

Information regarding performance by, or businesses associated with, Perceptive Advisors is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience and performance of Perceptive Advisors or our management team is not a guarantee either: (1) that we will be able to successfully identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination; or (2) of any results with respect to any initial business combination we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of Perceptive Advisors or our management team’s performance as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. An investment in us is not an investment in Perceptive Advisors. None of our sponsor, officers, directors or Perceptive Advisors has had experience with a blank check company or special purpose acquisition company in the past.

 

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

 

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

 

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.

 

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

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor and members of our management team agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.

 

Our initial shareholders own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares. Our sponsor and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval of an initial business combination, such initial business combination will be approved if we receive the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares voted at such meeting, including the founder shares. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need 5,393,626, or 37.5%, of the 14,375,000 public shares sold in our Initial Public Offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted). Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our sponsor and our directors and executive officers to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third party financing. Raising additional third party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.

 

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

 

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

 

The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.

 

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

 

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We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

 

We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or public warrants from public shareholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares.

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, executive 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, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, other than as expressly stated herein, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions.

 

In the event that our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the 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. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Item 1. Business—Permitted Purchases of Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, executive officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

 

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

 

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

 

We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.

 

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

 

Our public shareholders are entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to consummate an initial business within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, subject to applicable law and as further described herein. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

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

 

Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are currently listed on Nasdaq. Although after giving effect to our Initial Public Offering we expect to continue to meet the listing standards established by Nasdaq, our securities may not be, or may not continue to be, listed on Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders’ equity (generally $2,500,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 round-lot holders). Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with Nasdaq’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on Nasdaq. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and our shareholders’ equity would generally be required to be at least $5,000,000. We may not be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

 

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

 

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a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

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reduced liquidity for our securities;

 

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

 

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a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

 

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

 

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants qualify as covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

 

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

 

Since the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 upon the completion of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants and have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means that since our units were immediately tradable, we have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our Initial Public Offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule would have prohibited the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our Initial Public Offering without our prior consent, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares.” However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. And as a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

 

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination our public shareholders may receive only their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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If the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.

 

As of December 31, 2018, we had $1,198,306 in cash held outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that, upon closing of our Initial Public Offering, the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsor, will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the next 24 months; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we expect to use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.

 

If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Any such advances would be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, 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. 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. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.00 per share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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

 

Even if we conduct due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will surface all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

 

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

 

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

 

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.00 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors. Pursuant to a letter agreement, our sponsor agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (excluding our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account 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. Moreover, 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. 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 we 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.

 

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Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.

 

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per share and (ii) the actual amount per share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case less taxes payable, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

 

We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and executive officers.

 

We agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. However, our officers and directors agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

 

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders 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 shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

 

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

 

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

 

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

 

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

 

●

restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

 

●

restrictions on the issuance of securities,

 

●

each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:

 

●

registration as an investment company;

 

●

adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

 

●

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

 

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business will be to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

 

We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. An investment in our securities is not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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

 

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

 

If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, our public shareholders may be forced to wait beyond such 24 months before redemption from our trust account.

 

If we are unable to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind-up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Law. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless we consummate our initial business combination prior thereto and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we are unable to complete our initial business combination.

 

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

 

If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders 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. We and our directors and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our share premium account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable to a fine of $18,292.68 and to imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.

 

We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.

 

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. As an exempted company, there is no requirement under the Companies Law for us to hold annual or general meetings to elect directors. Until we hold an annual meeting of shareholders, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to elect directors and to discuss company affairs with management. 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 shareholders) serving a three-year term.

 

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Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any election of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.

 

Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.

 

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

 

We are not registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act or any state securities laws at this time. However, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we agreed to use our commercially reasonable efforts to file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering such shares and maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus relating to our Initial Public Offering, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, unless an exemption is available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

 

Our ability to require holders of our warrants to exercise such warrants on a cashless basis after we call the warrants for redemption or if there is no effective registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of these warrants will cause holders to receive fewer Class A ordinary shares upon their exercise of the warrants than they would have received had they been able to pay the exercise price of their warrants in cash.

 

If we call the warrants for redemption, we will have the option, in our sole discretion, to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a cashless basis. If we choose to require holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis or if holders elect to do so when there is no effective registration statement, the number of Class A ordinary shares received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his or her warrant for cash. For example, if the holder is exercising 875 public warrants at $11.50 per share through a cashless exercise when the Class A ordinary shares have a fair market value of $17.50 per share, then upon the cashless exercise, the holder will receive 300 Class A ordinary shares. The holder would have received 875 Class A ordinary shares if the exercise price was paid in cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrantholder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold.

 

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The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares.

 

Pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our initial shareholders, and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the shareholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares that is expected when the securities owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees are registered.

 

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

 

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

 

Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business in the healthcare industry, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this industry.

 

Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business in the healthcare industry, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this industry.

 

Healthcare related companies are generally subject to greater governmental regulation than most other industries at the U.S. state and federal levels, and internationally. In recent years, both local and national governmental budgets have come under pressure to reduce spending and control healthcare costs, which could both adversely affect regulatory processes and public funding available for healthcare products, services and facilities. In March 2010, comprehensive healthcare reform legislation was enacted in the United States. These laws are intended to increase health insurance coverage through individual and employer mandates, subsidies offered to lower income individuals, tax credits available to smaller employers and broadening of Medicaid eligibility.

 

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While one intent of healthcare reform is to expand health insurance coverage to more individuals, it may also involve additional regulatory mandates and other measures designed to constrain medical costs, including coverage and reimbursement for healthcare services. Healthcare reform has had a significant impact on the healthcare sector in the United States and consequently has the ability to affect companies within the healthcare industry. The ultimate effects of federal healthcare reform or any future legislation or regulation, or healthcare initiatives, if any, on the healthcare sector, whether implemented at the federal or state level or internationally, cannot be predicted with certainty and such reform, legislation, regulation or initiatives may adversely affect the performance of a potential business combination.

 

Changes in governmental policies may have a material effect on the demand for or costs of certain products and services. A healthcare related company must receive government approval before introducing new drugs and medical devices or procedures. This process may delay the introduction of these products and services to the marketplace, resulting in increased development costs, delayed cost recovery and loss of competitive advantage to the extent that rival companies have developed competing products or procedures, adversely affecting the company’s revenues and profitability. Failure to obtain governmental approval of a key drug or device or other regulatory action could have a material adverse effect on the business of a target company. Additionally, expansion of facilities by healthcare related providers is subject to “determinations of need” by the appropriate government authorities. This process not only increases the time and cost involved in these expansions, but also makes expansion plans uncertain, limiting the revenue and profitability growth potential of healthcare related facilities operators.

 

Certain healthcare related companies depend on the exclusive rights or patents for the products they develop and distribute. Patents have a limited duration and, upon expiration, other companies may market substantially similar “generic” products that are typically sold at a lower price than the patented product, causing the original developer of the product to lose market share and/or reduce the price charged for the product, resulting in lower profits for the original developer. As a result, the expiration of patents may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. The profitability of healthcare related companies may also be affected, among other factors, by restrictions on government reimbursement for medical expenses, rising or falling costs of medical products and services, pricing pressure, an increased emphasis on outpatient services, a limited product offering, industry innovation, changes in technologies and other market developments. Finally, because the products and services of healthcare related companies affect the health and well-being of many individuals, these companies are especially susceptible to product liability lawsuits.

 

The healthcare industry spends heavily on research and development. Research findings (e.g., regarding side effects or comparative benefits of one or more particular treatments, services or products) and technological innovation (together with patent expirations) may make any particular treatment, service or product less attractive if previously unknown or underappreciated risks are revealed, or if a more effective, less costly or less risky solution is or becomes available. Any such development could have a material adverse effect on the companies that are target businesses for investment.

 

We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.

 

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination candidate is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination candidate, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our securities than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination candidate. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any shareholder who choose to remain shareholders following our business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

 

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

 

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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

 

Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting firm or independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

 

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

 

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorize the issuance of up to 479,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. There are 464,625,000 and 16,406,250 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares are automatically convertible into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. There are no preference shares issued and outstanding.

 

We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:

 

●

may significantly dilute the equity interest of our investors;

 

●

may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares;

 

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●

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

 

●

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and

 

●

will not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.

 

Unlike most other similarly structured blank check companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.

 

The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares on the first business day following the consummation of our initial business combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of our Initial Public Offering, plus (ii) the sum of (a) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our sponsor upon conversion of working capital loans, minus (b) the number of public shares redeemed by public shareholders in connection with our initial business combination. This is different than most other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.

 

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

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

 

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We may be a passive foreign investment company, or “PFIC,” which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.

 

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a beneficial owner of our units, Class A ordinary shares or warrants who or that is (i) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, (ii) a corporation (or other entity taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (iii) an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source, or (iv) a trust, if (a) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons (as defined in the Code) have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (b) it has a valid election in effect under Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person (a “U.S. Holder”), such U.S. holder may be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. Holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service may require, including a PFIC annual information statement, in order to enable the U.S. Holder to make and maintain a “qualified electing fund” election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.

 

We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination and such reincorporation may result in taxes imposed on shareholders.

 

We may, in connection with our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Law, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located or in another jurisdiction. The transaction may require a shareholder or warrantholder to recognize taxable income in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder or warrantholder is a tax resident or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrantholders to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrantholders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.

 

After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majority of our directors and officers will live outside the United States and all of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities laws or their other legal rights.

 

It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penalties on our directors and officers under United States laws.

 

In particular, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdictions would recognize and enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States or entertain original actions brought in the Cayman Islands or any other applicable jurisdiction’s courts against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States.

 

We are dependent upon our executive officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.

 

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our executive officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our executive officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or executive officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or executive officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

 

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

 

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

 

Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a target business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination may be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.

 

Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination only if they are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combination and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. In addition, pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon consummation of an initial business combination and for so long as our sponsor and its permitted transferees collectively hold at least 50% of the number of ordinary shares held by the sponsor upon consummation of our Initial Public Offering (after giving appropriate effect to any share splits, reverse share splits or other similar corporate transactions, or any adjustment to the conversion rate of the founder shares in connection with an initial business combination), will be entitled to nominate one person for election to our board of directors.

 

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

 

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any shareholders who choose to remain shareholders following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their shares. Such shareholders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value unless they are able to successfully claim that the reduction was due to the breach by our officers or directors of a duty of care or other fiduciary duty owed to them, or if they are able to successfully bring a private claim under securities laws that the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, relating to the business combination contained an actionable material misstatement or material omission.

 

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

 

The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.

 

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Our executive officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our executive officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

 

Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including another blank check company, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

Until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional 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 to such entity, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law.

 

In addition, our founders and our directors and officers, Perceptive Advisors, or its affiliates may in the future become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us, subject to our officers’ and directors’ fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we renounce our interest in any business combination 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 the company and it is an opportunity that we are able to complete on a reasonable basis.

 

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

 

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

 

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The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our shareholders’ best interest. If this were the case, it would be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we or our shareholders might have a claim against such individuals for infringing on our shareholders’ rights. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.

 

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

 

In light of the involvement of our sponsor, executive officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria for a business combination and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or accounting firm regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers, directors or existing holders, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

 

Since our sponsor, executive officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to public shares they may have acquired during or may acquire after our Initial Public Offering), a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

 

On July 5, 2018, we issued to our sponsor 3,593,750 founder shares in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.007 per share. In September 2018, our sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Conroy, Wider and Hung. Prior to the initial investment in the company of $25,000 by the sponsor, the company had no assets, tangible or intangible. The per share price of the founder shares was determined by dividing the amount contributed to the company by the number of founder shares issued. The founder shares will be worthless if we do not complete an initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor purchase 5,953,125 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($5,953,125 in the aggregate), in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering. If we do not consummate an initial business within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The personal and financial interests of our executive officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination. This risk may become more acute as the 24-month anniversary of the closing of our Initial Public Offering nears, which is the deadline for our consummation of an initial business combination.

 

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

 

Although we have no commitments as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K to issue any notes or other debt securities, or to otherwise incur outstanding debt, we may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the per share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

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●

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

 

●

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

 

●

our inability to pay dividends on our Class A ordinary shares;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

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

 

The net proceeds from our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of warrants provided us with $139,816,409 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $4,671,875 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account).

 

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

 

Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

 

We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for us not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-transaction company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.

 

We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.

 

We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.

 

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, changed industry focus and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, meaning the approval of holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered in our Initial Public Offering, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.

 

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The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to our pre-business combination activity (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of holders of not less than two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.

 

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to a company’s pre-business combination activity, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s public shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to pre-business combination activity (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution, meaning holders of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 65% of our ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders, and their permitted transferees, if any, who will collectively beneficially own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our Class A ordinary shares (assuming they do not purchase any units after our Initial Public Offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination with which you do not agree. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.

 

Our sponsor, executive officers and directors agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares 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 (net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our sponsor, executive officers and directors for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

 

We may be unable to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless.

 

Although we believe that the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet negotiated the acquisition of a target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment has made it especially difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public shareholders may only receive their pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account that are available for distribution to public shareholders, and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing could have a material adverse effect on the continued development or growth of the target business. None of our officers, directors or shareholders is required to provide any financing to us in connection with or after our initial business combination.

 

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Our initial shareholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support.

 

Our initial shareholders own, on an as-converted basis, 20% of our issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares. Accordingly, they may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our initial shareholders purchase any units or Class A ordinary shares in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a terms for three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors prior to the completion of our initial business combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will have considerable influence regarding the outcome. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Accordingly, our initial shareholders will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination.

 

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.

 

Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the public warrants with the consent of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

 

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

 

We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper notice of such redemption provided that on the date we give notice of redemption. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to (i) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

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

 

We issued warrants to purchase 7,187,500 Class A ordinary shares as part of the units offered by the prospectus relating to our Initial Public Offering and, simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering, we issued in a private placement 5,953,125 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share. In addition, if the sponsor makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. To the extent we issue ordinary shares to effectuate a business transaction, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increase the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reduce the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

 

Because each unit contains one-half of one warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than units of other blank check companies.

 

Each unit contains one-half of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the components of the units in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if it included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

 

A market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

 

The price of our securities may vary significantly due to one or more potential business combinations and general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.

 

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

 

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statement with respect to a vote on a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will include the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, or international financial reporting standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such 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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2019. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer will we be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. Further, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

 

42

 

 

Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts may be limited.

 

We are an exempted company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to effect service of process within the United States upon our directors or executive officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.

 

Our corporate affairs and the rights of shareholders are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Law (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. We are also subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman Islands as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, may have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal court of the United States.

 

We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

 

As a result of all of the above, public shareholders may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by management, members of the board of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders of a United States company.

 

Provisions in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary shares and could entrench management.

 

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

 

Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

 

We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.

 

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Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

●

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

 

●

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

 

●

complex corporate withholding taxes on individuals;

 

●

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

 

●

exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;

 

●

tariffs and trade barriers;

 

●

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

 

●

local or regional economic policies and market conditions;

 

●

unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

 

●

longer payment cycles;

 

●

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

 

●

currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

 

●

rates of inflation;

 

●

challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

 

●

cultural and language differences;

 

●

employment regulations;

 

●

underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;

 

●

corruption;

 

●

protection of intellectual property;

 

●

social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;

 

●

regime changes and political upheaval;

 

●

terrorist attacks and wars; and

 

●

deterioration of political relations with the United States.

 

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

 

44

 

 

If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.

 

Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors of the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

 

After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue will be derived from our operations in such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and legal policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.

 

The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.

 

Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.

 

In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.

 

We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements and we may not be able to enforce our legal rights.

 

In connection with our initial business combination, we may relocate the home jurisdiction of our business from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction. If we determine to do this, the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction may not be as certain in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.

 

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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

 

None.

 

Item 2. Properties

 

We maintain our principal executive offices at 51 Astor Place, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10003. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations .

 

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

 

To the knowledge of our management, 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.

 

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PART II

 

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

(a)

Market Information

 

Our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are each traded on the NYSE under the symbols “ARYAU,” “ARYA” and “ARYAW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on October 5, 2018. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on November 2, 2018.

 

The following table sets forth, for the calendar quarter indicated, the high and low closing sales prices for our units for the period from October 5, 2018 (the first day on which our units began trading) to December 31, 2018, and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants for the period from November 2, 2018 (the first day on which our Class A ordinary shares and Warrants were traded separately) to December 31, 2018.

 

		Units (ARYAU)								Class A ordinary shares (ARYA)								Warrants (ARYAW)
		High				Low				High				Low				High				Low
Period from October 5, 2018 to December 31, 2018:
Quarter ended December 31, 2018(1)		$	10.44			$	10.12			$	9.80			$	9.50			$	1.60			$	0.50

 

 

(1)	Beginning on November 2, 2018 with respect to ARYA and ARYAW.

 

(b)

Holders

 

On December 31, 2018, there was one holders of record of our units, one holders of record of our Class A ordinary shares, four holders of our Class B ordinary shares and two holders of record of our warrants.

 

(c)

Dividends

 

We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares 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.

 

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(d)

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

 

None.

 

(e)

Performance Graph

 

Not applicable.

 

(f)

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings

 

Concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our sponsor purchased  5,953,125 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating proceeds of approximately $5.953 million. Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the trust account. If the company does not complete an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our Initial Public Offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants are substantially similar to the warrants underlying the units issued in the Initial Public Offering, except that they are non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the sponsor or its permitted transferees. The sponsor and the company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their private placement warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial business combination. The sale of the private placement warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.

 

Use of Proceeds

 

In connection with our Initial Public Offering, we incurred offering costs of approximately $12.2 million (including underwriting commissions of $4,000,000 and deferred underwriting commissions of $7,000,000). Other incurred offering costs consisted principally of formation and preparation fees related to the Initial Public Offering. Our sponsor and its affiliate had loaned us an aggregate of $300,000 to cover expenses related to our Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note. This loan was non-interest bearing and became payable upon the completion of our Initial Public Offering. On October 10, 2018, we repaid the note in full and advanced an additional $1,524 to the sponsor. The sponsor repaid this advance back to us on October 12, 2018.

 

After deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion of $7,000,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions, which amount will be payable upon consummation of our initial business combination, if consummated) and our Initial Public Offering expenses, $143.75 million of the net proceeds from our Initial Public Offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants (or $10.00 per unit sold in our Initial Public Offering) was placed in the trust account. As of December 31, 2018, we had $1,198,306 in cash held outside the trust account and will be used to fund our operating expenses. The net proceeds of our Initial Public Offering and certain proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants are held in the trust account and are invested in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.

 

(g)

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

 

None.

 

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Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

 

Not applicable.

 

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

 

References to the “company,” “ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp.,” “our,” “us” or “we” refer to ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp. The following discussion and analysis of the company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

 

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K including, without limitation, statements under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward looking statements. When used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, words such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such a discrepancy include, but are not limited to, those described in our other SEC filings. Such forward looking statements are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management. No assurance can be given that results in any forward-looking statement will be achieved and actual results could be affected by one or more factors, which could cause them to differ materially. The cautionary statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements whenever they appear in this Annual Report. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. 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 our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.

 

Overview

 

We are a blank check company incorporated on June 29, 2018 (inception) as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, we focus on industries that complement our management team’s background, and in our search for targets for our Business Combination seek to capitalize on the ability of our management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the healthcare or healthcare related industries. In particular, we are targeting North American or European companies in the biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and therapeutics subsectors where our management has extensive investment experience.

 

The registration statement for our Initial Public Offering was declared effective on  October 4, 2018 .  On October 10, 2018 , we consummated the Initial Public Offering of 14,375,000 Units at $10.00 per Unit,  generating gross proceeds of $143.75 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $9.2 million, inclusive of approximately $4.672 million in deferred underwriting commissions.  Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole public warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, we consummated the private placement of  5,953,125 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant to the sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $5.95 million. Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share.

 

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Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and private placement,  $143.75 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the private placement were placed in the  trust account, located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and will only be invested in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 180 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by us meeting the conditions of paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by us, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the assets held in the trust account. Our management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the private placement, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied toward consummating an initial Business Combination.

 

If we are unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or October 10, 2020, 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 for our income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and our board of directors, proceed to commence a voluntary liquidation and thereby a formal dissolution of our company, subject in each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, at December 31, 2018, we had approximately $1.2 million our operating bank account, and working capital of approximately $1.3 million, and approximately $738,000 of interest available to pay income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses). We expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our initial Business Combination plans.

 

Our liquidity needs have been satisfied prior to the completion of the Initial Public Offering through receipt of a $25,000 capital contribution from our sponsor in exchange for the issuance of the founder shares to our sponsor and a commitment from our sponsor to loan up to $300,000 to us to cover our expenses in connection with our Initial Public Offering. Our sponsor paid for an aggregate of approximately $148,000 to cover for expenses on our behalf under the note agreement. On October 10, 2018, we repaid the note in full and advanced an additional $1,524 to the sponsor. The sponsor repaid this advance back to us on October 12, 2018.

 

Critical Accounting Policy

 

Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption

 

We account for our Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in FASB ASC Topic 480 “ Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity .” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. Our Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2018, 13,614,368 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption at the redemption amount are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of our balance sheet.

 

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Results of Operations

 

All activity during the year ended December 31, 2018, was in preparation for our formation, the Initial Public Offering and, since the closing of our Initial Public Offering, a search for initial Business Combination candidates. As of December 31, 2018, $1,198,306 was held outside the trust account and was being used to fund the company’s operating expenses. We will not be generating any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial Business Combination.

 

For the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018, we had net income of approximately $626,600, which consisted of approximately $738,000 in investment income, offset by approximately $112,000 in general and administrative costs.

 

Related Party Transactions

 

Founder Shares

 

On July 5, 2018, our sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain expenses and offering costs on behalf of our company in consideration of 3,593,750 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share. Prior to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, our sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Kevin Conroy, Dr. Todd Wider and Dr. David Hung, our independent directors. The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions. Our sponsor had agreed to forfeit up to 468,750 founder shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriters. On October 10, 2018, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full; thus, these founder shares were no longer subject to forfeiture.

 

The initial shareholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.

 

Private Placement Warrants

 

Concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, our sponsor purchased  5,953,125 private placement warrants at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating proceeds of approximately $5.953 million in the private placement.

 

Each private placement warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the private placement warrants was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the trust account. If we do not complete a business combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. The private placement warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by our sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

Our sponsor and our officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their private placement warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.

 

Related Party Loans

 

On July 5, 2018, our sponsor agreed to loan us an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2018 or the completion of the Initial Public Offering. As of December 31, 2018, our sponsor paid for an aggregate of approximately $103,000 to cover for expenses on our behalf under the Note. On October 10, 2018, we repaid the Note in full and advanced an additional $1,524 to the sponsor. The sponsor repaid this advance back to us on October 12, 2018.

 

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In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If we complete a Business Combination, we would repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the trust account. In the event that a Business Combination is not completed, we may use a portion of the 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 $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. As of December 31, 2018, there were no outstanding Working Capital Loans under this arrangement.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

We agreed, commencing on the effective date of the Initial Public Offering through the earlier of the company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to pay our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. We recognized approximately $29,000 in expenses incurred in connection with the aforementioned arrangements with the related parties on our Statements of Operations for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018.

 

Private Placement of Ordinary Shares

  

Our sponsor has indicated an interest to purchase up to $25 million of our ordinary shares in a private placement that would occur concurrently with the consummation of the initial Business Combination. The funds from such private placement would be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial Business Combination, and any excess funds from such private placement would be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, our sponsor may determine not to purchase any such shares, or to purchase fewer shares than it indicated an interest in purchasing. Furthermore, we are not under any obligation to sell any such shares.

 

Contractual Obligations

 

Registration and Shareholder Rights

 

The holders of founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, will be entitled to registration rights (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion of such shares into Class A ordinary shares) pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement to be entered into upon consummation of the Initial Public Offering. These holders will be entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration and shareholder rights. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable lock-up period for the securities to be registered. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

Underwriting Agreement

  

We granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 1,875,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at $10.00 per Unit, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters exercised this option in full on October 10, 2018.

 

The underwriters were entitled to underwriting discounts of $0.275 per Unit, or approximately $3.953 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. An additional fee of $0.325 per Unit, or approximately $4.672 million in the aggregate will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred underwriting commissions will become payable to the underwriters from the amounts held in the trust account solely in the event that we complete a Business Combination, subject to the terms of the underwriting agreement.

 

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Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

As of December 31, 2018, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations.

 

JOBS Act

 

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

 

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

 

To date, our efforts have been limited to organizational activities and activities relating to the Initial Public Offering and the identification and evaluation of prospective acquisition targets for a Business Combination. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues. Following our Initial Public Offering, we invested the funds held in the trust account invested in U.S. government treasury bills, notes or bonds with a maturity of 180 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 do not believe that there will be an associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

At December 31, 2018, approximately $144.5 million was held in the trust account for the purposes of consummating a Business Combination. If we complete a Business Combination within 24 months after the closing of our Initial Public Offering, the funds in the trust account will be used to pay for the Business Combination, redemptions of Class A ordinary shares, if any, deferred underwriting compensation of $4.672 million and accrued expenses related to the Business Combination. Any funds remaining will be made available to us to provide working capital to finance our operations.

 

We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception. We do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.

 

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

 

This information appears following Item 16 of this Report.

 

Index To Financial Statements

 

	Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	F-2
Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018	F-3
Statements of Operation for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018	F-4
Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018	F-5
Statement of Cash Flows for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018	F-6
Notes to Financial Statements	F-7

 

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Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

 

None.

 

Item 9a. Controls and Procedures

 

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are 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 company reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

As of December 31, 2018, as required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2018. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were effective.

 

Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our independent 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

 

During the most recently completed fiscal quarter, there has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

Item 9b. Other Information

 

None.

 

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Part III

 

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

 

Directors and Executive Officers

 

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

 

NAME		AGE		POSITION
Joseph Edelman		63		Chairman
Adam Stone		39		Chief Executive Officer and Director
Michael Altman		37		Chief Financial Officer and Director
Kevin Conroy		53		Director
Dr. Todd Wider		53		Director
Dr. David Hung		61		Director

 

Joseph Edelman  serves as the Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Edelman is Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager of Perceptive Advisors. Prior to founding Perceptive Advisors, Mr. Edelman was a Senior Analyst at Aries Fund, a Paramount Capital Asset Management biotechnology hedge fund, from 1994 through 1998. Prior to that position, Mr. Edelman was a Senior Biotechnology Analyst at Prudential Securities from 1990 to 1994. Mr. Edelman started his career in the healthcare sector of the securities industry as a Biotechnology Analyst at Labe, Simpson from 1987 to 1990. Mr. Edelman earned an MBA from New York University and a BA, magna cum laude, in psychology from the University of California San Diego.

 

We believe that Mr. Edelman’s broad operational and transactional experience make him well qualified to serve as the Chairman of our board of directors.

 

Adam Stone  serves as our Chief Executive Officer and is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Stone joined Perceptive Advisors in 2006 and has acted as Chief Investment Officer since 2012 and is a member of the internal investment committees of Perceptive Advisors’ credit opportunities and venture funds. Mr. Stone currently also serves on the boards of directors of Solid Biosciences (Nasdaq: SLDB), Renovia, and Xontogeny, which are portfolio companies of Perceptive Advisors. Prior to joining Perceptive Advisors, Mr. Stone was a Senior Analyst at Ursus Capital from 2001 to 2006 where he focused on biotechnology and specialty pharmaceuticals. During Mr. Stone’s tenure at Ursus Capital, Mr. Stone focused on biotech and specialty pharmaceuticals. Mr. Stone graduated with honors from Princeton University with a BA in molecular biology.

 

We believe that Mr. Stone’s broad operational and transactional experience, and his position as Chief Executive Officer, make him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

 

Michael Altman , CFA, serves as our Chief Financial Officer and is a member of our board of directors. Mr. Altman joined Perceptive Advisors in 2007, is a Senior Analyst on the investment team and is a member of the internal investment committee of Perceptive Advisors’ credit opportunities fund. Mr. Altman’s focus is on medical devices, diagnostics, digital health and specialty pharmaceuticals. Mr. Altman also serves on the boards of directors of Vensun Pharmaceuticals, Vitruvius Therapeutics and Lyra Therapeutics, which are portfolio companies of Perceptive Advisors. Prior to joining Perceptive Advisors in, Mr. Altman was a trader and analyst at First New York Securities from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Altman graduated from the University of Vermont with a BS in Business Administration.

 

We believe that Mr. Altman’s broad operational and transactional experience make him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

 

Kevin Conroy  serves on our board of directors. Mr. Conroy has served as Chief Executive Officer since 2009, and Chairman since 2014 of Exact Sciences Corporation (Nasdaq: EXAS), which focuses on the early detection and prevention of cancer. Mr. Conroy also currently serves on the board of directors of Epizyme, Inc. (Nasdaq: EPZM), a biopharmaceutical company, and of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. Prior to joining Exact Sciences Corporation, Mr. Conroy served from 2005 as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Third Wave Technologies (formerly, Nasdaq: TWTI), a molecular diagnostics company, until its acquisition by Hologic, Inc. in 2008. Mr. Conroy joined Third Wave in July 2004 and served as general counsel until December 2005. Prior to joining Third Wave Technologies, Mr. Conroy was an intellectual property counsel at GE Healthcare. Before joining GE Healthcare, Mr. Conroy was chief operating officer of two early-stage venture-backed companies. Prior to those positions, Mr. Conroy was an intellectual property litigator at McDermott Will & Emery and Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard and Geraldson, where he was a partner. Mr. Conroy has also served as the Chairman of United Way of Dane County and on the boards of directors of Wisconsin Technology Council, BioForward Wisconsin, and Overture Center Foundation. Mr. Conroy graduated from the University of Michigan Law School with a JD and from Michigan State University with a BA in electrical engineering.

 

We believe that Mr. Conroy’s experience in the healthcare and life sciences industries make him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

 

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Dr. Todd Wider , MD, serves on our board of directors. Dr. Wider is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, focusing on cancer surgery, with a hospital appointment with Mt. Sinai Hospital/St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Dr. Wider also currently serves on the board of directors of Abeona Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO) and Emendo Biotherapeutics. Dr. Wider previously consulted with a number of entities in the biotechnology space. Dr. Wider is also a principal in Wider Film Projects, a documentary film company focusing on producing films with sociopolitical resonance. Dr. Wider graduated from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons with an MD and from Princeton University with a BA in history of art and architecture.

 

We believe that Dr. Wider’s experience in the healthcare and life sciences industries make him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

 

Dr. David Hung , MD, serves on our board of directors. Dr. Hung recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Axovant Biosciences Inc. from April 2017 until his resignation in February 2018. Prior to that, Dr. Hung was a co-founder of Medivation, Inc. (“Medivation”) and served as President, Chief Executive Officer and director of its subsidiary, Medivation Neurology, Inc., from its inception in September 2003 until its acquisition by Medivation in December 2004, at which time he became President, Chief Executive Officer and director of Medivation. Dr. Hung served in those roles until Medivation was acquired by Pfizer, Inc. in September 2016. From 1998 to 2001, Dr. Hung served as Chief Scientific Officer (1998–1999) and as President, Chief Executive Officer and director (1999–2001) of Pro-Duct Health, Inc., a privately-held medical device company focused on breast cancer cytological diagnostics. From 1996 to 1998, Dr. Hung served in various senior positions at Chiron Corporation, including as Vice President of Lead Discovery and Development and Vice President of New Projects. Dr. Hung currently serves as a director of Establishment Labs Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ESTA), Novocure (NASDAQ: NVCR), Agilvax, Inc. and Auransa Inc., and as founder, President and CEO and director of Nuvation Bio, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company. He previously served as a director of Opexa Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from May 2006 to October 2011. Dr. Hung received an MD from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, and an AB in Biology from Harvard College.

 

We believe that Dr. Hung’s experience in the healthcare and life sciences industries make him well qualified to serve on our board of directors.

 

Number and Terms of Office of Officers and Directors

 

Our board of directors is divided into three classes, with only one class of directors being elected in each year, and with each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual meeting of shareholders) serving a three-year term. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Michael Altman and Dr. Todd Wider, will expire at our first annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Adam Stone and Kevin Conroy, will expire at our second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Joseph Edelman and Dr. David Hung, will expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders.

 

Prior to the completion of an initial Business Combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial Business Combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.

 

Pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement, our sponsor, upon consummation of an initial Business Combination and for so long as our sponsor and its permitted transferees collectively hold at least 50% of the number of ordinary shares held by the sponsor upon consummation of our Initial Public Offering (after giving appropriate effect to any share splits, reverse share splits or other similar corporate transactions, or any adjustment to the conversion rate of the founder shares in connection with an initial Business Combination), is entitled to nominate one person for election to our board of directors.

 

Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairman of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

 

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Committees of the Board of Directors

 

Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating committee and a compensation committee. Each committee operates under a charter that has been approved by our board and has the composition and responsibilities described below. The charter of each committee is available on our website.

 

Audit Committee

 

Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung are independent. Dr. Todd Wider serves as the Chairman of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee meets the financial literacy requirements of Nasdaq and our board of directors has determined that Dr. Todd Wider qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.

 

The audit committee operates pursuant to a charter and is responsible for:

 

●

meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems;

 

●

monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our Initial Public Offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our Initial Public Offering; and

 

●

reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, executive officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval.

 

Nominating Committee

 

The members of our nominating committee are Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung, and Kevin Conroy serves as chairman of the nominating committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung are independent.

 

The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.

 

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Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees

 

The guidelines for selecting nominees are specified in the nominating committee’s charter, which provides that persons to be nominated:

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

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

 

Compensation Committee

 

The members of our compensation committee are Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung, and Dr. David Hung serves as chairman of the compensation committee.

 

Our board of directors has determined that each of Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung are independent. The compensation committee operates pursuant to a charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

 

●

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

 

●

reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 executive officers;

 

●

reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

●

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

 

The charter 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 is 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.

 

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

 

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

 

Code of Ethics

 

We adopted a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. 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.

 

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Conflicts of Interest

 

Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:

 

●

duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;

 

●

duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;

 

●

directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;

 

●

duty to exercise powers fairly as between different sections of shareholders;

 

●

duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and

 

●

duty to exercise independent judgment.

 

In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.

 

As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at general meetings.

 

Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a Business Combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such Business Combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial Business Combination.

 

Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our executive officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:

 

INDIVIDUAL		ENTITY		ENTITY’S BUSINESS		AFFILIATION
Joseph Edelman		Perceptive Advisors, LLC		Hedge Fund		Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager
Adam Stone		Perceptive Advisors, LLC		Hedge Fund		Chief Investment Officer
		Solid Biosciences		Pharmaceuticals		Director
		Renovia		Healthcare		Director
		Xontogeny		Biotechnology		Director
Michael Altman		Perceptive Advisors, LLC		Hedge Fund		Senior Analyst
		Vensun Pharmaceuticals		Pharmaceuticals		Director
		Vitruvius Therapeutics		Pharmaceuticals		Director
		Lyra Therapeutics		Healthcare		Director
Kevin Conroy		Exact Sciences Corporation		Diagnostics		Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
		Epizyme, Inc.		Biopharmaceuticals		Director
Todd Wider		Abeona Therapeutics		Pharmaceuticals		Director
		Emendo Biotherapeutics		Biopharmaceuticals		Director
David Hung		Agilvax, Inc.		Biotechnology		Director
		Auransa Inc.		Biopharmaceuticals		Director
		Establishment Labs Holdings Inc.		Medical Devices		Director
		NovoCure		Oncology		Director
		Nuvation Bio, Inc.		Biopharmaceuticals		Founder, President and CEO and Director

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Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

 

●

Our executive officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a Business Combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial Business Combination. Each of our executive officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our executive officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.

 

●

Our sponsor and our directors and executive officers entered into agreements with us, pursuant to which they agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with the completion of our initial Business Combination. Additionally, our sponsor agreed to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to our initial Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. The private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial Business Combination. Because each of our executive officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial Business Combination.

 

●

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

 

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We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial Business Combination with a Business Combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors or making the acquisition through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial Business Combination with an Business Combination target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm, that such 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. Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, be paid by the company any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial Business Combination. Further, commencing on the closing of our Initial Public Offering, we also started to reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per month.

 

We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

 

In the event that we submit our initial Business Combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our sponsor agreed to vote its founder shares, and it and the members of our management team agreed to vote any shares purchased during or after the offering, in favor of our initial Business Combination.

 

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

 

Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We 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.

 

Our officers and directors agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial Business Combination.

 

Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

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

 

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Item 11. Executive Compensation

 

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

 

In September 2018, our sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Conroy, Wider and Hung. None of our executive officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Since the consummation of our Initial Public Offering and until the earlier of consummation of our initial Business Combination and our liquidation, we will reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or our or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial Business Combination are made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not 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 our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial Business Combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, is paid by the company to our sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our 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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed 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 Business Combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our executive officers will be determined, 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 executive 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 executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

 

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 ordinary shares as of March 25, 2019 based on information obtained from the persons named below, with respect to the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, by:

 

●

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

 

●

each of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our ordinary share; and

 

●

all our executive officers and directors as a group.

 

In the table below, percentage ownership is based on 14,375,000 Class A ordinary shares (which includes Class A ordinary shares that are underlying the units) and 3,593,750 Class B ordinary shares outstanding as of December 31, 2018. Voting power represents the combined voting power of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares owned beneficially by such person. On all matters to be voted upon, the holders of the Class A ordinary shares and the Class B ordinary shares vote together as a single class. Currently, all of the Class B ordinary shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis. The table below does not include the Class A ordinary shares underlying the private placement warrants held by our sponsor because these securities are not exercisable within 60 days of this Annual Report.

 

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		Class B ordinary shares								Class A ordinary shares
Name of Beneficial Owners (1)		Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				Approximate Percentage of Class				Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				Approximate Percentage of Class				Approximate Percentage of Voting Control
ARYA Sciences Holdings (our sponsor) (2)			3,503,750				97.5	%											19.5	%
Governors Lane LP and affiliates (3)			—				—				1,000,000				7.0	%			5.6	%
Eventide Asset Management, LLC and affiliates (4)			—				—				800,000				5.6	%			4.5	%
Prudential Financial, Inc. and affiliates (5)			—				—				829,513				5.8	%			4.6	%
Adage Capital Partners GP, L.L.C. and affiliates (6)			—				—				1,250,000				8.7	%			7.0	%
Joseph Edelman			—				—				—				—				—
Adam Stone			—				—				—				—				—
Michael Altman			—				—				—				—				—
Kevin Conroy			30,000				—				—				—				*
Dr. Todd Wider			30,000				—				—				—				*
Dr. David Hung			30,000				—				—				—				*
All officers and directors as a group (six individuals)			90,000				2.5	%			—				—				*

 

*

Less than one percent.

(1)

Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of our shareholders is 51 Astor Place, 10 th  Floor, New York, NY 10003.

(2)

Our sponsor is governed by a board of directors consisting of three directors, Messrs. Edelman, Stone and Altman. Each director has one vote, and the approval of a majority of the directors is required to approve an action of our sponsor. Under the so-called “rule of three,” if voting and dispositive decisions regarding an entity’s securities are made by three or more individuals, and a voting or dispositive decision requires the approval of a majority of those individuals, then none of the individuals is deemed a beneficial owner of the entity’s securities. Based upon the foregoing analysis, no director of our sponsor exercises voting or dispositive control over any of the securities held by our sponsor, even those in which he directly holds a pecuniary interest. Accordingly, none of them will be deemed to have or share beneficial ownership of such shares.

(3)

Includes Class A ordinary shares beneficially held by Governors Lane Master Fund LP, Governors Lane LP, Governors Lane Fund General Partner LLC and Isaac Corre, based solely on the Schedule 13G filed jointly by Governors Lane Master Fund LP, Governors Lane LP, Governors Lane Fund General Partner LLC and Isaac Corre with the SEC on February 14, 2019. The address of the principal business office of Governors Lane LP is 510 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10022. The address of the principal business office of Governors Lane Master Fund LP, Governors Lane Fund General Partner LLC and Isaac Corre is c/o Governors Lane LP, 510 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Governors Lane LP serves as discretionary investment manager to Governors Lane Master Fund LP and Governors Lane SIF LP. Governors Lane Fund General Partner LLC is the general partner of Governors Lane Master Fund LP and Governors Lane SIF LP. Mr. Corre is the chief executive officer of Governors Lane LP and the managing member of Governors Lane Fund General Partner LLC.

(4)

Includes Class A ordinary shares beneficially held by Eventide Asset Management, LLC, based solely on the Schedule 13G filed jointly by Eventide Asset Management, LLC with the SEC on February 13, 2019. The address of the principal business office of Eventide Asset Management, LLC is One International Place, Suite 4210, Boston, MA 02110. Eventide Asset Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, is the beneficial owner of the 800,000 Class A ordinary shares, as of December 31, 2018, by virtue of being the investment adviser to registered investment companies. All 800,000 Class A ordinary shares, which represents 5.6% of the issuer’s Class A ordinary shares, were held by the Eventide Healthcare & Life Sciences Fund.

(5)

Includes Class A ordinary shares beneficially held by Prudential Financial, Inc. (“Prudential”) and Jennison Associates LLC (“Jennison”), based solely on the Schedules 13G filed with the SEC by Prudential on January 28, 2019 and by Jennison on January 30, 2019. The address of the principal business office of Prudential is 751 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102-3777. The address of the principal business office of Jennison is 466 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10017. Jennison furnishes investment advice to several investment companies, insurance separate accounts, and institutional clients (“Managed Portfolios”). As a result of its role as investment adviser of the Managed Portfolios, Jennison may be deemed to be the beneficial owner of the company’s ordinary shares held by such Managed Portfolios. Prudential indirectly owns 100% of equity interests of Jennison. As a result, Prudential may be deemed to have the power to exercise or to direct the exercise of such voting and/or dispositive power that Jennison may have with respect to the company’s ordinary shares held by the Managed Portfolios. Jennison does not file jointly with Prudential, as such, the company’s ordinary shares reported on Jennison’s Schedule 13G may be included in the ordinary shares reported on the Schedule 13G filed by Prudential. These shares were acquired in the ordinary course of business, and not with the purpose or effect of changing or influencing control of the company.

(6)

Includes Class A ordinary shares beneficially held by Adage Capital Partners GP, L.L.C. (“ACP”), Adage Capital Partners GP, L.L.C. (“ACPGP”), Adage Capital Advisors, L.L.C. (“ACA”), Robert Atchinson (“Mr. Atchinson”) and Phillip Gross (“Mr. Gross”) (together, the “Reporting Persons”), based solely on the Schedule 13G jointly filed with the SEC on October 15, 2018 by ACP, a Delaware limited partnership, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares directly owned by it, ACPGP, a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, as general partner of ACP with respect to the Class A ordinary shares directly owned by ACP, ACA, a limited liability company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, as managing member of ACPGP, general partner of ACP, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares directly owned by ACP, Mr. Atchinson, as managing member of ACA, managing member of ACPGP, general partner of ACP with respect to the Class A ordinary shares directly owned by ACP, and Mr. Gross, as managing member of ACA, managing member of ACPGP, general partner of ACP with respect to the Class A ordinary shares directly owned by ACP. The address of the principal business office of the Reporting Persons is 200 Clarendon Street, 52nd floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02116. Messrs. Atchinson and Gross, as managing members of ACA, have shared power to vote the Class A ordinary shares beneficially owned by ACP. Neither Mr. Atchinson nor Mr. Gross directly own any Class A ordinary shares. By reason of the provisions of Rule 13d-3 of the Act, each may be deemed to beneficially own the Class A ordinary shares beneficially owned by ACP.

 

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

 

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Changes in Control

 

None.

 

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

 

On July 5, 2018, we issued 3,593,750 founder shares to our sponsor in exchange for a capital contribution of $25,000, or approximately $0.007 per share. In September 2018, our sponsor transferred 30,000 founder shares to each of Messrs. Conroy, Wider and Hung. The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such founder shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon completion of our Initial Public Offering. The founder shares (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

 

Our sponsor purchased 5,953,125 private placement warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per whole warrant in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our Initial Public Offering. Our sponsor’s interest in this transaction is valued at $5,953,125. Each private placement warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our Class A ordinary shares at $11.50 per share. The private placement warrants (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

 

If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a Business Combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

 

We currently maintain our executive offices at 51 Astor Place, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10003. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services, commencing on the date we closed our initial public offering. Upon completion of our initial Business Combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

 

No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid to our sponsor, officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial Business Combination. However, these individuals will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable Business Combinations. Our audit committee reviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made to our sponsor, officers, directors or our or their affiliates and will determine which expenses and the amount of expenses that will be reimbursed. There is no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

 

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial Business Combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. 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 warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. 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, 2018, no working capital loans were outstanding.

 

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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 shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. 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 shareholder 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.

 

We entered into a registration and shareholder rights agreement pursuant to which our initial shareholders, and their permitted transferees, if any, is entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares. Further, upon consummation of our initial Business Combination and for so long as our sponsor and its permitted transferees collectively hold at least 50% of the number of ordinary shares held by the sponsor upon consummation of our Initial Public Offering (after giving appropriate effect to any share splits, reverse share splits or other similar corporate transactions, or any adjustment to the conversion rate of the founder shares in connection with an initial Business Combination), our sponsor will be entitled to nominate one person for election to our board of directors.

 

Our sponsor has indicated an interest to purchase up to an aggregate of $25,000,000 of our ordinary shares in a private placement that would occur concurrently with the consummation of our initial Business Combination. The funds from such private placement would be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial Business Combination, and any excess funds from such private placement would be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, our sponsor may determine not to purchase any such shares, or to purchase fewer shares than it has indicated an interest in purchasing. Furthermore, we are not under any obligation to sell any such shares. Such investment would be made on terms and conditions determined at the time of the Business Combination.

 

Policy for Approval of Related Party Transactions

 

The audit committee of our board of directors operates pursuant to a charter that provides for the review, approval and/or ratification of “related party transactions,” which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated by the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, the audit committee is provided with the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairman of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completion of its review of the related party transaction, the committee may determine to permit or to prohibit the related party transaction.

 

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. Upon the effectiveness of the registration statement we used for our Initial Public Offering, we had “independent directors” as defined by Nasdaq’s listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our board of directors has determined that Joseph Edelman, Dr. Todd Wider, Kevin Conroy and Dr. David Hung are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our independent directors have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

 

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Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

 

The following is a summary of fees paid to WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”), for services rendered.

 

Audit Fees . Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements and services that are normally provided by Withum in connection with regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by Withum for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements and other required filings with the SEC for the period from June 29, 2018 (date of inception) to December 31, 2018, including services in connection with our Initial Public Offering, totaled $58,500. The above amounts include interim review procedures and audit fees, as well as attendance at audit committee meetings.

 

Audit-Related Fees . Audit-related services consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. For the period from June 29, 2018 (date of inception) to December 31, 2018, we did not pay Withum for consultations concerning financial accounting and reporting standards.

 

Tax Fees . We did not pay Withum for tax planning and tax advice for the period from June 29, 2018 (date of inception) to December 31, 2018.

 

All Other Fees . We did not pay Withum for other services for the period from June 29, 2018 (date of inception) to December 31, 2018.

 

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).

 

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PART IV

 

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules

 

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

 

(1)

Financial Statements

  

(2)

Exhibits

 

We hereby file as part of this Annual Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index.

 

Exhibit No.		Description
3.1		Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association.(1)
4.1		Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant.(2)
10.1		Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the  Registrant.(2)
10.2		Registration and Shareholder Rights Agreement among the Registrant, the Sponsor and the Holders signatory thereto.(2)
10.3		Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor.(1)
10.4		Administrative Services Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor.(2)
10.5		Letter Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor.(2)
10.6		Form of Letter Agreement among the Registrant and each director and executive officer of the Registrant.(2)
14.1		Code of Ethics.*
31.1		Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
31.2		Certification of the Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).*
32.1		Certification of the Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and 18 U.S.C. 1350**
32.2		Certification of the Chief 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 Extension Calculation Linkbase
101.DEF		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase
101.LAB		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase
101.PRE		XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase

 

*

Filed herewith

**

Furnished herewith

(1)

Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on October 11, 2018.

(2)

Incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on October 16, 2018.

 

Item 16. Form 10-K Summary

 

Not applicable.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Annual Report on Form 10-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. 

 

March 25, 2019 

 

	ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.
	/s/ Adam Stone
	Name:	Adam Stone
	Title:	Chief Executive Officer
		(Principal Executive Officer)

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report on Form 10-K 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/ Joseph Edelman		Chairman		March 25, 2019
Joseph Edelman
/s/ Adam Stone		Chief Executive Officer and Director		March 25, 2019
Adam Stone		(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Michael Altman		Chief Financial Officer and Director		March 25, 2019
Michael Altman		(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ Kevin Conroy		Director		March 25, 2019
Kevin Conroy
/s/ Todd Wider		Director		March 25, 2019
Dr. Todd Wider
/s/ David Hung		Director		March 25, 2019
Dr. David Hung

 

68

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

 

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Audited Financial Statements for ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp.:

 

	Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	F-2
Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2018	F-3
Statements of Operations for the period from June 29, 2018 (Inception) to December 31, 2018	F-4
Statements of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity for the period from June 29, 2018 (Inception) to December 31, 2018	F-5
Statements of Cash Flows for the period from June 29, 2018 (Inception) to December 31, 2018	F-6
Notes to Financial Statements	F-7

 

F- 1

 

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of

Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying balance sheet of Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”), as of December 31, 2018, and the related statements of operations, changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018 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, 2018, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018, 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 entity’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 2018.

 

Whippany, New Jersey

 

March 25, 2019

 

F- 2

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

BALANCE SHEET

December 31, 2018

 

Assets:
Current assets:
Cash		$	1,198,306
Prepaid expenses			133,966
Total current assets			1,332,272
Cash and investments held in Trust Account			144,488,284
Total assets		$	145,820,556
Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity:
Current liabilities:
Accrued expenses		$	5,000
Total current liabilities			5,000
Deferred underwriting commissions			4,671,875
Total liabilities			4,676,875
Commitments
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 13,614,368 shares subject to possible redemption at redemption value			136,143,680
Shareholders’ Equity:
Preference shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding			-
Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 479,000,000 shares authorized; 760,632 shares issued and outstanding (excluding 13,614,368 shares subject to possible redemption)			76
Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 3,593,750 shares issued and outstanding			359
Additional paid-in capital			4,372,966
Retained earnings			626,600
Total shareholders’ equity			5,000,001
Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity		$	145,820,556

 

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

 

 

F- 3

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

		For the Period From
		June 29, 2018 (inception)
		Through December 31, 2018
General and administrative costs		$	111,684
Loss from operations			(111,684	)
Investment income on Trust Account			738,284
Net income		$	626,600
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class A ordinary shares			14,375,000
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A		$	0.05
Weighted average shares outstanding of Class B ordinary shares			3,593,750
Basic and diluted net loss per share, Class B		$	(0.03	)

 

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

 

F- 4

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
FOR THE PERIOD FROM JUNE 29, 2018 (INCEPTION) to December 31, 2018

 

		Ordinary Shares																Additional								Total
		Class A								Class B								Paid-In				Accumulated				Shareholders’
			Shares				Amount				Shares				Amount				Capital				Deficit				Equity
Balance - June 29, 2018 (inception)			-			$	-				-			$	-			$	-			$	-			$	-
Issuance of Class B ordinary shares to Sponsor			-				-				3,593,750				359				24,641				-				25,000
Sale of units in initial public offering, gross			14,375,000				1,437												143,748,563								143,750,000
Offering costs																			(9,211,044	)							(9,211,044	)
Sale of private placement warrants to Sponsor in private placement																			5,953,125								5,953,125
Ordinary shares subject to possible redemption			(13,614,368	)			(1,361	)											(136,142,319	)							(136,143,680	)
Net income			-				-				-				-				-				626,600				626,600
Balance - December 31, 2018			760,632			$	76				3,593,750			$	359			$	4,372,966			$	626,600			$	5,000,001

 

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

 

F- 5

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

  FOR THE PERIOD FROM JUNE 29, 2018 (INCEPTION) to December 31, 2018

 

Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net income		$	626,600
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities:
Formation and operating costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares			2,352
Income earned on investment held in Trust Account			(738,284	)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses			(133,966	)
Accrued expenses			5,000
Net cash used in operating activities			(238,298	)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Principal deposited in Trust Account			(143,750,000	)
Net cash used in investing activities			(143,750,000	)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Repayment of note payable and advances to related parties			(149,960	)
Proceeds from repayment of advances to related parties			1,524
Proceeds received from initial public offering, gross			143,750,000
Proceeds received from private placement			5,953,125
Payment of offering costs			(4,368,085	)
Net cash provided by financing activities			145,186,604
Net change in cash			1,198,306
Cash - beginning of the period			-
Cash - end of the period		$	1,198,306
Supplemental disclosure of noncash activities:
Offering costs paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of Class B ordinary shares		$	22,648
Offering costs paid by Sponsor under note payable		$	148,436
Deferred underwriting commissions in connection with the initial public offering		$	4,671,875
Value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption		$	136,143,680

 

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

 

F- 6

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 1 — Description of Organization and Business Operations

 

ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a newly organized blank check company incorporated on June 29, 2018 (inception) as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). While the Company may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, it focuses on industries that complement its management team’s background, and in its search for targets for its Business Combination capitalizes on the ability of its management team to identify and acquire a business, focusing on the healthcare or healthcare related industries. In particular, the Company is targeting North American or European companies in the biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device and therapeutics subsectors where its management has extensive investment experience. The Company is an emerging growth company and, as such, the Company is subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies.

 

As of December 31, 2018, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018 relates to the Company’s formation, the preparation for the initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) described below, and since the Initial Public Offering, the search for a target 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 will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and investments from the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering. The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

 

The Company’s sponsor is ARYA Sciences Holdings, a Cayman Islands exempted limited company (the “Sponsor”).  The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on October 4, 2018. On October 10, 2018, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering, and offered and sold  14,375,000 units (each, a “Unit” and collectively, the “Units”) for $10.00 per Unit, which is discussed in Note 3,  generating gross proceeds of $143.75 million, and incurring offering costs of approximately $9.2 million, inclusive of approximately $4.672 million in deferred underwriting commissions (Note 5).

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the private placement (the “Private Placement”) of  5,953,125 warrants (each, a “Private Placement Warrant” and collectively, the “Private Placement Warrants”) at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, to the Sponsor, generating gross proceeds of approximately $5.95 million (Note 4).

 

Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering  and the Private Placement, $143.75 million ($10.00 per Unit) of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and certain of the proceeds of the Private Placement were placed in a  trust account (the “Trust Account”), located in the United States at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and will only be invested 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 180 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 paragraphs (d)(2), (d)(3) and (d)(4) 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 assets held in the Trust Account as described below.

 

Upon closing of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, the Company had approximately $1.2 million in cash held outside of the Trust Account.  The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the Private Placement, 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 income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial Business Combination. However, 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.

 

F- 7

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The Company will provide the holders of its outstanding Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the “Class A ordinary shares”), sold in the Initial Public Offering (the “Public Shareholders”) with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares (as defined in Note 3) upon the completion of a Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The Public Shareholders 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). The per-share amount to be distributed to Public Shareholders 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 5). These Public Shares will be recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and a majority of the shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination. If a shareholder vote is not required by law and the Company does not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will, pursuant to its amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing a Business Combination. If, however, shareholder approval of the transactions is required by law, or the Company decides to obtain shareholder approval for business or legal reasons, the Company will offer to redeem Public Shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. Additionally, each Public Shareholder may elect to redeem their Public Shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. If the Company seeks shareholder approval in connection with a Business Combination, the initial shareholders (as defined below) agreed to vote their Founder Shares (as defined in Note 4) and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering in favor of a Business Combination. In addition, the initial shareholders agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and any Public Shares acquired by them in connection with the completion of a Business Combination.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a Public Shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the 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 Company’s Sponsor, officers and directors (the “initial shareholders”) agreed not to propose an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would affect the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of its Public Shares if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period (as defined below), unless the Company provides the Public Shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares in conjunction with any such amendment.

 

If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering, or October 10, 2020 (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 income taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Shareholders’ rights as shareholders (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 shareholders and the Company’s board of directors, proceed to commence a voluntary liquidation and thereby a formal dissolution of the Company, subject in each case to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

 

F- 8

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The initial shareholders agreed to waive their liquidation rights with respect to the Founder Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. However, if the initial shareholders acquire Public Shares in or after the Initial Public Offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to such Public Shares if the Company fails to complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period. The underwriters agreed to waive their rights to their deferred underwriting commission (see Note 5) held in the Trust Account in the event the Company does not complete a Business Combination within the Combination Period and, in such event, such amounts will be included with the funds held in the Trust Account that will be available to fund the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares. In the event of such distribution, it is possible that the per share value of the residual assets remaining available for distribution (including Trust Account assets) will be only the $10.00 per share initially held in the Trust Account (or less than that in certain circumstances). In order to protect the amounts held in the Trust Account, the Sponsor agreed to be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by third parties, including any vendor 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. 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 third parties, including vendors, service providers (except for the Company’s independent registered public 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 U.S. dollars in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. 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 auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder 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 an emerging growth 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.

 

F- 9

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Concentration of Credit Risk

  

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which, at times, may exceed the Federal Depository Insurance Coverage of $250,000. At December 31, 2018, the Company has not experienced losses on these accounts and management believes the Company is not exposed to significant risks on such accounts.

 

Use of Estimates

  

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

  

Offering Costs

 

Offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting fees and other costs that were directly related to the Initial Public Offering were charged to shareholders’ equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering.

 

Class A Ordinary Shares subject to possible redemption

  

The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in FASB ASC Topic 480 “ Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity .” Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as liability instruments and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, Class A ordinary shares are classified as shareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, at December 31, 2018, 13,614,368 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption at the redemption amount are presented as temporary equity, outside of the shareholders’ equity section of the Company’s balance sheet.

 

Net Income (Loss) Per Ordinary Share

  

Net income per share is computed by dividing net income by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period. The Company has not considered the effect of warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement to purchase 13,140,625 Class A ordinary shares of the Company in the calculation of diluted income per share, since their inclusion would be anti-dilutive under the treasury stock method.

  

The Company’s statement of operation includes a presentation of income per share for Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption in a manner similar to the two-class method of income per share. Net income per share, basic and diluted for Class A ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the interest income earned on the Trust Account, by the weighted average number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding for the period. Net loss per share, basic and diluted for Class B ordinary shares is calculated by dividing the net income, less income attributable to Public Shares, by the weighted average number of Class B ordinary shares outstanding for the period.

 

Financial Instruments

 

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under the FASB ASC Topic 820, “ Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures ,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet.

 

F- 10

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Fair Value Measurements

  

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). These tiers include:

 

●

Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets;

 

●

Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

 

●

Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

 

In some circumstances, the inputs used to measure fair value might be categorized within different levels of the fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety in the fair value hierarchy based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company follows the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes under FASB ASC Topic 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.

 

FASB ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2018. The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. 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 were accrued for interest and penalties for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018. 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 may be subject to potential examination by U.S. federal, U.S. state or foreign taxing authorities in the area of income taxes. These potential examinations may include questioning the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with U.S. federal, U.S. state and foreign tax laws. There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman federal income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, deferred tax assets and income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements. The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next twelve months.

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

In August 2018, the SEC adopted the final rule under SEC Release No. 33-10532, “Disclosure Update and Simplification,” amending certain disclosure requirements that were redundant, duplicative, overlapping, outdated or superseded. In addition, the amendments expanded the disclosure requirements on the analysis of shareholders’ equity for interim financial statements. Under the amendments, an analysis of changes in each caption of shareholders’ equity presented in the balance sheet must be provided in a note or separate statement. The analysis should present a reconciliation of the beginning balance to the ending balance of each period for which a statement of income is required to be filed. The Company anticipates its first presentation of changes in shareholders’ equity, under the new guidance, will be included in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.

 

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

 

F- 11

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 3 — Initial Public Offering

 

On October 10, 2018, the Company sold  14,375,000 Units at a price of $10.00 per Unit in the Initial Public Offering. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share (such Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), and one-half of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment (see Note 6).

 

Note 4 — Related Party Transactions

 

Founder Shares

  

On July 5, 2018, the Sponsor paid $25,000 to cover certain expenses and offering costs on behalf of the Company in consideration of 3,593,750 shares (the “Founder Shares”) of the Company’s Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class B ordinary shares”). Prior to the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor transferred 30,000 Founder Shares to each of Kevin Conroy, Dr. Todd Wider and Dr. David Hung, the Company’s independent directors. The Founder Shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the Company’s initial Business Combination and are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in Note 6. The Sponsor had agreed to forfeit up to 468,750 Founder Shares to the extent that the over-allotment option was not exercised in full by the underwriters. On October 10, 2018, the underwriters exercised the over-allotment option in full; thus, these Founder Shares were no longer subject to forfeiture.

  

The initial shareholders agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the last sale price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share splits, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.

 

Private Placement Warrants

  

Concurrently with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Sponsor purchased  5,953,125 Private Placement Warrants at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating proceeds of approximately $5.953 million in the Private Placement.

 

 Each Private Placement Warrant is exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants was 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 Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Private Placement Warrants will be non-redeemable and exercisable on a cashless basis so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.

 

The Sponsor and the Company’s officers and directors agreed, subject to limited exceptions, not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Private Placement Warrants until 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination.

 

Related Party Loans

  

On July 5, 2018, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to the Initial Public Offering pursuant to a promissory note (the “Note”). This loan is non-interest bearing and payable on the earlier of December 31, 2018 or the completion of the Initial Public Offering. As of October 10, 2018, the Sponsor paid for an aggregate of approximately $103,000 to cover for expenses on the Company’s behalf under the Note. On October 10, 2018, the Company repaid the Note in full and advanced an additional $1,524 to the Sponsor. The Sponsor repaid this advance back to the Company on October 12, 2018.

 

F- 12

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

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 is not completed, the Company may use a portion of the 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 $1.5 million of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 2018, there were no outstanding Working Capital Loans under this arrangement.

 

Administrative Support Agreement

 

The Company agreed, commencing on the effective date of the Initial Public Offering in October 2018 through the earlier of the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination and its liquidation, to pay the Sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. The Company recognized approximately $29,000 in expenses incurred in connection with the aforementioned arrangements with the related parties on the Statements of Operations for the period from June 29, 2018 (inception) to December 31, 2018.

 

Private Placement of Ordinary Shares

 

The Sponsor has indicated an interest to purchase up to $25 million of the Company’s ordinary shares in a private placement that would occur concurrently with the consummation of the initial Business Combination. The funds from such private placement would be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial Business Combination, and any excess funds from such private placement would be used for working capital in the post-transaction company. However, because indications of interest are not binding agreements or commitments to purchase, the Sponsor may determine not to purchase any such shares, or to purchase fewer shares than it indicated an interest in purchasing. Furthermore, the Company is not under any obligation to sell any such shares.

 

Note 5 — Commitments & Contingencies

 

Registration and Shareholder Rights

 

The holders of Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans, if any, will be entitled to registration rights (in the case of the Founder Shares, only after conversion of such shares into Class A ordinary shares) pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement entered into in connection with the consummation of the Initial Public Offering. These holders are entitled to certain demand and “piggyback” registration and shareholder rights. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until the termination of the applicable lock-up period for the securities to be registered. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

 

Underwriting Agreement

 

The Company granted the underwriters a 45-day option from the date of the final prospectus relating to the Initial Public Offering to purchase up to 1,875,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at $10.00 per Unit, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters exercised this option in full on October 10, 2018.

 

The underwriters were entitled to underwriting discounts of $0.275 per Unit, or approximately $3.953 million in the aggregate, paid upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering. An additional fee of $0.325 per Unit, or approximately $4.672 million in the aggregate, will be payable to the underwriters for deferred underwriting commissions. The deferred underwriting commissions 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.

 

F- 13

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

Note 6 — Shareholders’ Equity

  

Class A Ordinary Shares  — The Company is authorized to issue 479,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share on each matter on which they are entitled to vote. As of December 31, 2018,  there were 14,375,000 Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding, including 13,614,368 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption.

 

Class B Ordinary Shares  — The Company is authorized to issue 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders of Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to vote, except as required by law. Holders of Class B ordinary shares are entitled to one vote for each share. As of December 31, 2018, there were 3,593,750 Class B ordinary shares outstanding.

 

The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of the initial Business Combination at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20.0% of the sum of (i) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the Initial Public Offering, plus (ii) the sum of (a) the total number of Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued in connection with the initial Business Combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination or any warrants issued to the Sponsor upon conversion of Working Capital Loans), minus (b) the number of Public Shares redeemed by Public Shareholders in connection with the initial Business Combination.

   

Preference Shares  — The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share, and with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 2018, there were no preference shares issued or outstanding.

   

Warrants  — Public Warrants may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. No fractional Public Warrants will be issued upon separation of the Units and only whole Public 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) twelve months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering; provided in each case that the Company has an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available (or the Company permits holders to exercise their Public Warrants on a cashless basis and such cashless exercise is exempt from registration under the Securities Act). The Company agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days, after the closing of a Business Combination, the Company will use its best efforts to file with the SEC a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants. The Company will use its best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the Public Warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants is not effective by the sixtieth (60th) day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of a Business Combination or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

F- 14

 

 

ARYA SCIENCES ACQUISITION CORP.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

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

 

The Company may call the Public Warrants for redemption:

 

●

in whole and not in part;

 

●

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

●

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and

 

●

if, and only if, the last reported closing price of the ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

 

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 Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a share dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of Class A ordinary shares at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrant shares. 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.

 

Note 7 — Fair Value Measurements

 

The following table presents information about the Company’s assets that are measured on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2018 and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques that the Company utilized to determine such fair value. 

 

Quoted Prices in Active Markets

Significant Other Observable Inputs

Significant Other Unobservable Inputs

Description

(Level 1)

(Level 2)

(Level 3)

Cash and investment held in Trust Account

$

144,488,284

-

-

 

At December 31, 2018, approximately $696 of the balance held in the Trust Account was held in cash.

 

Note 8 — Subsequent Events

  

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

 

 

F-15