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 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 (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

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

 

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

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

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to

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

The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s shares of Class A common stock outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the Registrant, computed as of June 30, 2023 (the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), was approximately $50,060,242

were 9,515,936 of the Registrant’s Class A ordinary shares and 1 of the Registrant’s Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding.

 

 

 

This Annual Report on Form contains statements that are forward-looking and as such are not historical facts. This includes, without limitation, statements under “Item 7. 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. These statements constitute projections, forecasts and forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “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.

The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 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, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

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.

 

2

 

We are a blank check company, incorporated 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 or entities, which we refer to as our initial business combination. Our efforts to identify a potential initial business combination target focuses on companies operating in the “new economy sectors”, which we broadly define as those in technology, financial services, or media and that are located in Frontier Growth Markets. While we may pursue an acquisition or a business combination target in any business, industry or geography, we are focusing our search on a target with business operations or prospective operations in the technology, digital media, financial technology, or digital services sectors, which we refer to as the “new economy sectors”, across Frontier Growth Markets, located in the following regions: the Middle East North Africa (“MENA”), Africa (“SSA”), South Asia (“SA”) and Southeast Asia (“SEA”).

Although we may pursue an initial business combination opportunity in any country or sector, we intend to capitalize on our management team’s and board’s decades of experience to identify, acquire and manage a business or businesses that we believe can benefit from their long-established relationships and expertise of having operated a successful investment management business in these regions. Our management team and board have extensive experience in identifying and executing investments at the global scale successfully across a number of sectors, and countries less followed by traditional investment managers. We believe our management team and directors’ experience and local contacts are differentiated and will enable us to successfully identify and execute an initial business combination.

Our management team has more than 85 years of combined experience investing in Frontier Growth Markets. At various times some members of our management team have lived and worked in certain markets we are targeting, which has enabled them to create professional and social networks. These relationships span the financial, corporate, legal, and political sectors. We believe their relationships and local knowledge will give our company credibility with businesses within Frontier Growth Markets and help aid in thorough company vetting and due diligence processes. Our sponsor is an affiliate of Consilium Investment Management LLC (“CIM”), an investment management firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Given our affiliation with CIM, we intend to capitalize on its global platform and investment expertise which we believe, together with the extensive experience of our management team, well positions our company to be the partner of choice for quality Frontier Growth companies seeking public sponsorship.

The registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on January 12, 2022. On January 18, 2022 we consummated our initial public offering of 18,975,000 units, (the “units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the units sold, the “ordinary shares”), including 2,475,000 units issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in full, generating gross proceeds of $189,750,000. Substantially concurrently with the closing of our initial public offering, we consummated a private placement of 7,942,500 warrants (each, a “private placement warrant” and collectively, the “private placement warrants”), at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant to our sponsor, generating gross proceeds of $7,942,500.

 

3

Upon the closing of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, $191,647,500 ($10.10 per unit) of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and certain of the proceeds of the sale of private placement warrants were placed in a trust account (“trust account”) with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund meeting certain conditions of Rule 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 funds held in the trust account, as described below. Our management team has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be applied generally toward consummating a business combination. Although CSLM has signed a Merger Agreement with a target company, as described below, there is no assurance that the we will be able to complete a business combination successfully. We must complete a business combination with one or more operating businesses or assets that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into a business combination. We 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 an interest in the target business or assets sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.

We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, shares and debt. We have not engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until we complete a business combination, and we have not generated any operating revenues to date. Our only activities since inception through December 31, 2023 have been organizational activities and those necessary to prepare for our initial offering. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination, at the earliest. We will generate income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from our initial public offering. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. We expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

On July 13, 2023 as approved by its shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on June 29, 2023 (the “”), CSLM and its trustee, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company amended (the “”) the Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of January 12, 2022 (the “”), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the “”) and the Company, in order to allow the Company to extend the time to complete a business combination by fifteen (15) additional one (1) month periods until, October 18, 2024 (the “”) by depositing into the Trust Account $70,000 for each extension (each an “”).

At the Special Meeting, the shareholders of the Company approved a special resolution to the Articles of Association to extend the time to consummate a business combination until October 18, 2024 and the Amendment in accordance with the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association (the “”).

In connection with the shareholders’ vote at the Special Meeting, 14,202,813 Class A shares were tendered for redemption.

On July 13, 2023, as was approved by the shareholders at the Special Meeting, the Company submitted a certificate of incorporation of name change to the Cayman Islands Registry of Companies to change our name from “Consilium Acquisition Corp I, LTD.” to “CSLM Acquisition Corp.” The name change of the Company to CSLM Acquisition Corp. was effected on Nasdaq at the open of trading on July 18, 2023 and continued trading under the same ticker symbol “CSLM”.

 

4

Merger Agreement

$8,240,000, (ii) the outstanding balance under the Amended and Restated Promissory Note of up to $2 Million, dated as of January 18, 2024, issued by Parent in favor of Sponsor to fund Parent’s working capital requirements, as it may be from time to time amended or supplemented, and (iii) up to $3,000,000, subject to reduction up to zero as follows: for Parent Closing Excess Cash of up to $1,000,000, and (b) a 20% reduction for every dollar of Parent Closing Excess Cash in excess of $1,000,000 (the “”), if any (the “”) at $10.00 per Parent Common Share (the “”). “” means (i) the amount of cash available in the Trust Account immediately prior to the Effective Time after deducting the amount required to satisfy the Parent Redemption Amount plus (ii) the proceeds of any equity investments (including any private investments in public equity) or debt financing facilities that are or will be actually received by Parent prior to or substantially concurrently with the Closing, but excluding the PIPE Investment Amount.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the Effective Time, each option (whether vested or unvested) (each, a “”) to purchase shares of common stock of the Company”) that is outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time will be converted into an option to acquire, subject to substantially the same terms and conditions as were applicable under such Company Option (including expiration date, vesting conditions, and exercise provisions), the number of Parent Common Shares (rounded down to the nearest whole share), determined by multiplying the number of shares of Company Common Stock subject to such Company Option as of immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Conversion Ratio (as defined below), at an exercise price per Parent Common Share (rounded up to the nearest whole cent) equal to (A) the exercise price per share of Company Common Stock of such Company Option divided by (B) the Conversion Ratio (a “”). At the Effective Time, Parent will assume all obligations of the Company with respect to each Converted Stock Option.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, effective immediately prior to the Effective Time, each of the Company’s issued and outstanding convertible promissory notes (the “Company Convertible Notes”) shall be (i) treated in accordance with the terms of the relevant agreement governing such Company Convertible Notes, and (ii) converted into Company Preferred Stock or Company Common Stock, as applicable.

The “” is the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the number of Parent Common Shares constituting the Aggregate Merger Consideration, by (ii) the “Aggregate Fully Diluted Company Common Stock”, which means: the sum, without duplication, of (a) all shares of Company Common Stock that are issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time; plus (b) the aggregate number of shares of Company Common Stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Company Preferred Stock that are issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time; plus (c) the aggregate number of shares of Company Common Stock issuable upon full exercise of all Company Options (whether vested or unvested); plus (d) the aggregate number of shares of Company Common Stock issuable upon full conversion of all Company Convertible Notes that are outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time; plus (e) the aggregate number of shares of Company Common Stock issuable upon full conversion, exercise or exchange of any other securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time directly or indirectly convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of Company Common Stock.

The Pubco Bylaws will provide that the Parent Common Shares issued as consideration pursuant to the Merger will be subject to a period of the shorter period of (i) one year after the Closing Date and (ii) subsequent to the Closing Date, (x) if the last reported sale price of Parent Common Shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for dividends, rights issuances, reorganizations, recapitalizations and other similar transactions) for any 20 trading days within period commencing at least 120 days after the Closing Date or (y) the date following the Closing Date on which the PubCo completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of the PubCo’s shareholders having the right to exchange their Parent Common Shares for cash, securities or other property. The board of directors of the PubCo may, in its sole discretion, determine to waive, amend or repeal whether in whole or in part.

The Sponsor Support Agreement provides that the Parent Common Shares owned by the Sponsor shall be subject to the same duration and terms as those set forth in the Pubco Bylaws with respect to Parent Common Shares issued as consideration in the Merger.

 

7

The parties to the Merger Agreement have made customary representations, warranties and covenants in the Merger Agreement, including, among others, covenants with respect to the conduct of the Company and CSLM and their respective subsidiaries prior to the Closing, including the Company’s covenant to deliver to CSLM its audited financial statements for the twelve month periods ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (the “”) for inclusion in the registration statement on be filed by CSLM in connection with the Business Combination (the “”), and that such Financial Statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP applied on a consistent basis and in accordance with the requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board for public companies. The Company has covenanted to provide the Financial Statements no later than February 29, 2024, or incur delay fees in the amount equal to $35,000 for the to March 31, a partial month), $50,000 for the to April 30, 2024 and thereafter $70,000 for each any partial month).

CSLM and the Company may also mutually agree that CSLM enter into and consummate subscription agreements with investors to purchase securities of CSLM in connection with the PIPE Investment on terms mutually agreeable to CSLM and the Company.

The Closing is subject to certain customary conditions, including, among other things: (i) approval of the Business Combination and related agreements and transactions by the respective shareholders of CSLM and the Company; (ii) the effectiveness of the Registration Statement; (iii) the Parent Common Shares being conditionally approved for listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market (“”) or another national stock exchange; (iv) the Domestication shall have been consummated on the day that is at least one Business Day prior to the Closing Date (v) delivery of the respective certificates, authorizations and certificates of good standing from the Company, CSLM and Merger Sub; (vi) the Company shall have obtained each Company Consent; (vii) Company shall have delivered to Parent executed employment agreements with certain employees; (viii) the size and composition of the post-Closing Parent Board of Directors shall have been appointed; (ix) the PIPE Investment shall have been consummated as of immediately prior to the Closing with gross proceeds in an amount not less than the PIPE Investment Amount; and (x) there shall not have occurred an Event of Default under a Sponsor Convertible Note, as defined in the applicable Sponsor Convertible Note.

The Merger Agreement may be terminated by CSLM and the Company under certain circumstances, including, among others, (i) by mutual written agreement of CSLM and the Company, (ii) by either CSLM or the Company if (1) the Closing has not occurred on or before the latest of (A) October 18, 2024, and (B) such date as approved in accordance with the Parent Articles to extend such date, the last date for Parent to consummate a Business Combination pursuant to such extensions (the “”) and (2) the material breach or violation of any representation, warranty or covenant under the Merger Agreement by the party seeking to terminate the Merger Agreement is not the cause of, or has not resulted in, the failure of the Closing to occur by the Outside Date, (iii) in the event an Authority shall have issued an Order or enacted a Law (as such terms are defined in the Merger Agreement), having the effect of prohibiting the Merger or making the Merger illegal, which Order or Law is final or the Company shall have the right, at its sole option, to terminate this Agreement without liability to the other party; provided, however, that the right to terminate the Merger Agreement pursuant to this Section shall not be available to the Company or CSLM if the failure by such party or its Affiliates to comply with any provision of the Merger Agreement has been a substantial cause of, or substantially resulted in, such action by such Authority, (iv)in the event that the Parent Shareholder Meeting has been held (including any adjournment thereof) and has concluded, and the holders of Parent Common Shares have duly voted, and the Parent Shareholder Approval was not obtained, CSLM or the Company shall have the right, at its sole option, to terminate the Merger Agreement within five (5) Business Days thereafter; and (v) in the event an Event of Default (as defined in the applicable Sponsor Convertible Note) has occurred under a Sponsor Convertible Note, then CSLM or the Company, as applicable, shall have the right, at its sole option, to terminate the Merger Agreement without liability to the other party at any time; provided, however, that such termination by the Company for an Event of Default pursuant to Section 3(g) of such Sponsor Convertible Note shall be deemed a Parent Termination for Cause. Such right to terminate the Merger Agreement may be exercised by CSLM or the Company, as the case may be, giving written notice to the other at any time prior to the Outside Date.

 

8

CSLM may terminate the Merger Agreement if (i) at any time prior to the Closing Date if (x) the Company shall have breached any representation, warranty, agreement or covenant contained herein to be performed on or prior to the Closing Date, which has rendered or would reasonably be expected to render the satisfaction of certain conditions impossible; (y) such breach cannot be cured or is not cured by the earlier of the Outside Date and thirty (30) days following receipt by the Company of a written notice from CSLM describing in reasonable detail the nature of such breach, provided, however, that CSLM is not then in material breach of any of its representations, warranties, covenants or agreements contained in the Merger Agreement; or (ii) at any time after the Company Shareholder Written Consent Deadline if the Company has not previously received the Company Shareholder Approval. For the avoidance of doubt, CSLM shall also have the right to terminate the Merger Agreement if (A) such conditions have been satisfied on or prior to the date of such termination (other than those conditions that, by their nature, cannot be satisfied until the Closing Date, but, which conditions would be satisfied if the Closing Date were the date of such termination), (B) CSLM and Merger Sub are willing, ready and able to effect the Closing, and (C) the Company fails to effect the Closing within two (2) Business Days following the written request of CSLM to proceed with the Closing.

The Company may terminate the Merger Agreement (i) at any time prior to the Closing Date if (x) CSLM shall have breached any of its covenants, agreements, representations, and warranties contained herein to be performed on or prior to the Closing Date, which has rendered or reasonably would render the satisfaction of certain conditions impossible; and (y) such breach cannot be cured or is not cured by the earlier of the Outside Date and thirty (30) days following receipt by CSLM of a written notice from the Company describing in reasonable detail the nature of such breach, provided, however, that the Company is not then in material breach of any of its representations, warranties, covenants or agreements contained in the Merger Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company shall also have the right to terminate if (A) such conditions have been satisfied on or prior to the date of such termination (other than those conditions that, by their nature, cannot be satisfied until the Closing Date, but, which conditions would be satisfied if the Closing Date were the date of such termination), (B) the Company is willing, ready and able to effect the Closing, and (C) CSLM and Merger Sub fail to effect the Closing within two (2) Business Days following the written request of the Company to proceed with the Closing.

In the event that the Merger Agreement is validly terminated by CSLM pursuant to Section 10.2(a) of the Merger Agreement, and at the time of any such termination, the Company is not permitted to terminate the Merger Agreement pursuant to Section 10.2(b) thereof, (such termination, a “”), then the Company shall pay to CSLM a termination fee in the amount equal to $1,000,000 (which fee shall be payable within two (2) Business Days after such termination).

In the event that the Merger Agreement is validly terminated by the Company pursuant to Section 10.2(b) of the Merger Agreement, and at the time of any such termination, Parent is not permitted to terminate the Merger Agreement pursuant to Section 10.2(a), then Sponsor and CSLM shall pay to (and Sponsor and CSLM shall be jointly and severally liable for) the Company a termination fee in the amount equal to $1,000,000 (which fee shall be payable within two (2) Business Days after such termination).

The executive management of the Company is expected to serve as the executive management of Pubco following the Closing. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Pubco’s board of directors will consist of five members, with the Sponsor having the right to designate one independent director and the remaining directors shall be designated by the Company. At least a majority of the board of directors shall qualify as independent directors under the Securities Act and Nasdaq or Alternate Exchange rules, as applicable. Pursuant to the Parent Certificate of Incorporation, the Parent’s Board of Directors will be a classified board with three classes of directors, with (I) one class of directors, the Class I Directors, initially serving until the first annual meeting of PubCo shareholders occurring after the Closing, such term effective from the Closing (but any subsequent Class I Directors serving a three (3) year term), (II) a second class of directors, the Class II Directors, initially serving until the second annual meeting of PubCo shareholders occurring after the Closing, such term effective from the Closing (but any subsequent Class II Directors serving a three (3) year term), and (III) a third class of directors, the Class III Directors, serving until the third annual meeting of PubCo shareholders occurring after the Closing, such term effective from the Closing (and with any subsequent Class III Directors serving a three (3) year term). The director designated by the Sponsor shall be a Class III Director.

 

9

The foregoing description of the Merger Agreement and the Business Combination does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by the terms and conditions of the Merger Agreement, a copy of which is filed hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and is incorporated herein by reference. The Merger Agreement contains representations, warranties and covenants that the parties to the Merger Agreement made to each other as of the date of the Merger Agreement or other specific dates. The assertions embodied in those representations, warranties and covenants were made for purposes of the contract among the parties and are subject to important qualifications and limitations agreed to by the parties in connection with negotiating the Merger Agreement. The Merger Agreement has been attached to provide investors with information regarding its terms and is not intended to provide any other factual information about CSLM, the Company or any other party to the Merger Agreement. In particular, the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements contained in the Merger Agreement, which were made only for purposes of the Merger Agreement and as of specific dates, were solely for the benefit of the parties to the Merger Agreement, may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties (including being qualified by confidential disclosures made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk between the parties to the Merger Agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts) and may be subject to standards of materiality applicable to the contracting parties that differ from those applicable to investors and reports and documents filed with the SEC. Investors should not rely on the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements, or any descriptions thereof, as characterizations of the actual state of facts or condition of any party to the Merger Agreement. In addition, the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements and other terms of the Merger Agreement may be subject to subsequent waiver or modification. Moreover, information concerning the subject matter of the representations and warranties and other terms may change after the date of the Merger Agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in CSLM’s public disclosures.

CSLM expects to file the Registration Statement as promptly as practicable after the date of the Merger Agreement. The Closing is expected to occur following the fulfillment or waiver of the closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement.

In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, CSLM entered into a support agreement (the “”) with the Sponsor and the Company, pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to, among other things, (i) vote all of its shares in favor of the various proposals related to the Business Combination and the Merger Agreement and any other matters necessary or reasonably requested by CSLM for consummation of the Business Combination, (ii) vote against any alternative proposal or alternative transaction or any proposal relating to an alternative proposal or alternative transaction, (iii) vote against any merger agreement or merger, consolidation, combination, sale of substantial assets, reorganization, recapitalization, dissolution, liquidation or winding up of or by CSLM (other than the Merger Agreement and transactions relating to the Merger), (iv) vote against any change in the business, management or board of directors of CSLM (other than in connection with the Merger), (v) vote against any proposal that would impede the Merger or that would result in a breach with respect to any obligation or agreement of CSLM, Merger Sub or the Sponsor under the Merger Agreement or the Parent Support Agreement, and (vi) vote in favor of any proposal to extend the period of time CSLM is afforded under its organizational documents to consummate an initial business combination, in each case, subject to the terms and conditions of the Parent Support Agreement. The Sponsor agrees that, effective as of and conditioned upon the Closing, it shall irrevocably forfeit and surrender to Parent 3,971,250 Parent Private Warrants purchased in connection with the initial public offering.

In addition, the Sponsor agreed to be bound by exclusivity and publicity sections of the Merger Agreement.

 

10

Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We may not 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.

In the event that the business combination is not consummated, we will have to find another target business relying on the following strengths of our management team, including theirmore than 85 years of combined experience investing in Frontier Growth Markets; their experience executing complex transactions and navigating complicated regulatory environments.

Consistent with our strategy, we have identified the following characteristics and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating potential target businesses or entities. We have used these criteria and guidelines in assessing acquisition opportunities, including Fusemachines. In the event that the business combination with Fusemachines is not consummated, we will continue to use the following criteria as a guideline:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13

Our directors and officers presently have, 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. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, or in the case of a restriction, may not present such opportunity to us at all, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our directors and officers are also 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. This may affect us if we do not consummate the business combination with Fusemachines.

The Nasdaq listing rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more operating businesses or assets with a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into our initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% of fair market value test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination, although there is no assurance that will be the case.

If we are unable to complete the business combination with Fusemachines, we believe our team’s significant operating and transaction experience and relationships with companies will provide us with a substantial number of potential business combination targets. Over the course of their careers, the members of our team have developed a broad network of contacts and corporate relationships around the world.

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

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

If any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our directors and officers currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

 

14

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

 

 

 

In the event 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, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of securities such persons may purchase. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. 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. In the event our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates determine to undertake any such transactions, such transactions could have the effect of influencing the vote necessary to approve such transaction. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. They will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such shareholder, although still the record holder of our shares, is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. We will adopt an insider trading policy which will require insiders to (1) refrain from purchasing securities during certain blackout periods and when they are in possession of any material information and (2) clear certain trades prior to execution. We cannot currently determine whether our insiders will make such purchases pursuant to a Rule plan, as it will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to, the timing and size of such purchases. Depending on such circumstances, our insiders may either make such purchases pursuant to a Rule plan or determine that such a plan is not necessary.

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

The purpose of such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of our initial business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

 

17

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities 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.

Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and/or any of their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of public shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming 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. Such persons would select the shareholders from whom to acquire shares based on the number of shares available, the negotiated price per share and such other factors as any such person may deem relevant at the time of purchase. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor, directors, officers and/or any of their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule under the Exchange Act will be restricted unless such purchases are made in compliance with Rule which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule of the Exchange Act. Rule has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, directors, officers and/or any of their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of ordinary shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule of the Exchange Act.

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a 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 (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. At the completion of our initial business combination, we will be required to purchase any ordinary shares properly delivered for redemption and not withdrawn. The amount in the trust account is initially anticipated to be $10.10 per public share. The 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. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination.

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (1) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the business combination or (2) 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. 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 issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless shareholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.

 

18

If a shareholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:

 

 

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule to purchase our ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 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 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 a specified number of public shares, which number will be based on the requirement that we may not redeem public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.

If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:

 

 

We expect that a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Although we are not required to do so, we currently intend to comply with the substantive and procedural requirements of Regulation 14A in connection with any shareholder vote even if we are not able to maintain our Nasdaq listing or Exchange Act registration.

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 we receive the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of holders of a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, our initial shareholders have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree) to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. Our directors and officers also have agreed to vote in favor of our initial business combination with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that at the time of any shareholder vote relating to our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote thereon. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares without voting and, if they do vote, irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. In addition, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.

 

19

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 following such redemptions. Redemptions of our public shares may also be subject to a higher net tangible asset test or cash requirement pursuant to an agreement relating to our initial business combination. For example, the proposed business combination may require: (1) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners; (2) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes; or (3) 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 public 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 ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

Notwithstanding the foregoing redemption rights, 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 redeeming its shares with respect to Excess Shares, without our prior consent. 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 sponsor or its affiliates to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us or our sponsor or its affiliates at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in the initial public offering, 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.

We may require our public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, rather than simply voting against the initial business combination. The tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public shareholders to satisfy such 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 until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Pursuant to the tender offer rules, the tender offer period will be not less than 20 business days and, in the case of a shareholder vote, a final proxy statement would be mailed to public shareholders at least 10 days prior to the shareholder vote. However, we expect that a draft proxy statement would be made available to such shareholders well in advance of such time, providing additional notice of redemption if we conduct redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

 

20

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 general meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the tender offer materials or two business days prior to the scheduled date of the general meeting set forth in our proxy materials, as applicable (unless we elect to allow additional withdrawal rights). 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.

On July 13, 2023 as approved by its shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on June 29, 2023 (the “”), CSLM and its trustee, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company amended (the “”) the Investment Management Trust Agreement, dated as of January 12, 2022 (the “”), by and between the Company and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the “”) and the Company, in order to allow the Company to extend the time to complete a business combination by fifteen (15) additional one (1) month periods until, October 18, 2024 (the “”) by depositing into the Trust Account $70,000 for each extension (each an “”).

At the Special Meeting, the shareholders of the Company approved a special resolution to the Articles of Association to extend the time to consummate a business combination until October 18, 2024 and the Amendment in accordance with the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association (the “”).

In connection with the shareholders’ vote at the Special Meeting, 14,202,813 Class A shares were tendered for redemption.

 

21

If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination by October 18, 2024, with the payment of $70,000 per month for each one month Extension, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) 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 each case 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 complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024 if the $70,000 Extension payments for each month is made.

Our initial shareholders have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024. However, if our initial shareholders acquire public shares, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024.

Our sponsor, directors and officers have 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 (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024, after depositing $70,000 in the Trust Account for each one month Extension, or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and 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 following such redemptions.

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 $138,283 of proceeds held outside the trust account, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses. Additionally, we issued an interest-bearing promissory note to our Sponsor in the principal amount of $1,500,000 in February 2023. In January 2024, we amended the promissory note to increase the principal amount from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. Proceeds from the promissory note will be applied towards monthly extension deposits and working capital needs.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.10. 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 redemption amount received by shareholders will not be substantially less than $10.10. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent 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

 

22

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 enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only 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 we are 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 have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than 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 amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the 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. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations. None of our other officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the redemption price will not be substantially less than $10.10 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 vendors, service providers (other than 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 monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of this offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We will have access to up to $51,976,918 from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, and have issued an interest bearing promissory note to the Sponsor in the principal amount of $1,500,000 (which has been amended to $2,000,000 in January 2024) 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.

 

23

If we file a petition or a petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our insolvency estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any insolvency claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.10 per share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a petition or a petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable preference. 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 will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) 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; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024, after depositing $70,000 in the Trust Account for each one month Extension or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination by such date, subject to applicable law. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (2) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 18, 2024, after depositing $70,000 in the Trust Account for each one month Extension with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of rights and warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the rights or warrants.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain certain requirements and restrictions that apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain a provision which provides that, if we seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024, after depositing $70,000 in the Trust Account for each one month Extension or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or business combination activity, we will provide public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such amendment. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that:

 

 

 

 

24

 

These provisions cannot be amended without the approval of holders of at least (or such higher threshold as specified in the company’s amended and restated articles of association) of our ordinary shares who attend and vote in a general meeting. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we may consummate our initial business combination only if approved by a majority of the ordinary shares voted by our shareholders at a duly held shareholders meeting.

Additionally, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the appointment of directors and that holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by the holders of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in person or by proxy in a general meeting. With respect to any other matter submitted to a vote of our shareholders, including any vote in connection with our initial business combination, except as required by law, holders of our founder shares and holders of our public shares will vote together as a single class, with each share entitling the holder to one vote.

Although we have signed a Merger Agreement, we have not yet completed the process of the business combination. We cannot ensure our ability in completing a business combination.

There are a number of factors that could impact our ability to complete the business combination. Our management believes, however, that if we succeed in effecting our initial business combination, there will be, in all likelihood, intense competition from competitors of the target business. Subsequent to our initial business combination, we may not have the resources or ability to compete effectively.

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

 

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, including our financial statements and related notes, 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. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

25

We may not hold a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange rules or if we decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, Nasdaq listing 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 issued and 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 issued and outstanding shares, we would seek shareholder approval of such business combination. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, 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 issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we consummate.

Unlike some other blank check companies in which the initial shareholders agree to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by the public shareholders in connection with an initial business combination, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will be present if the of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the meeting are represented in person or by proxy. Our initial shareholders, directors and officers will count toward this quorum and, pursuant to the letter agreement, our initial shareholders, directors and officers have agreed to vote any founder shares and public shares held by them (including any shares purchased in our initial public offering or in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial shareholders’ founder shares, we would need only 1,603,380, or 33% (assuming all issued and outstanding shares are voted), or none (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum, being of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares entitled to vote at the meeting, are voted), of the 4,772,187 public shares sold in the initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have such initial business combination approved. Our directors and officers have also entered into the letter agreement, imposing similar obligations on them with respect to public shares acquired by them, if any. We expect that our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees will own at least 50% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares at the time of any such shareholder vote. Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, it is more likely that the necessary shareholder approval will be received than would be the case if such persons agreed to vote their founder shares in accordance with the majority of the votes cast by our public shareholders. The agreement by our initial shareholders, directors and officers to vote in favor of our initial business combination and our quorum threshold will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.

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 approval. Accordingly, if we do not seek shareholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

 

26

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. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with a business combination and such amount of deferred underwriting discount is not available for us to use as consideration in an initial business combination. If we are able to consummate an initial business combination, the value of shares held by shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay and the payment of the deferred underwriting commissions. 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 following such redemptions, or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement that may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination.

Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination (including, potentially, with the same target). Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

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

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 increases. 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.

 

27

If we have not completed our initial business combination by October 18, 2024 after depositing $70,000 into the Trust Account for each one month Extension, we will: (1) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (2) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (3) 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 each case to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.10 per share, or less than $10.10 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “- If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.10 per share” and other risk factors herein.

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, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Any such price per share may be different than the amount per share a public shareholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their respective affiliates are under no obligation or duty to do so and 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. The purpose of such purchases could be to vote such shares in favor of our initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of our initial business combination or to satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. 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 warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. This may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our securities 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.

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

 

28

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 redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. 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.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent 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 enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver only 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 we are 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 have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.10 per public share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.

Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than 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 amount of funds in the trust account to below (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the 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. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our

 

29

company. Our sponsor may not have sufficient funds available to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations, and therefore, no funds are currently set aside to cover any such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.10 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our directors or officers will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (1) $10.10 per public share or (2) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. 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. 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 $10.10 per share.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a or bankruptcy or insolvency petition or an involuntary or bankruptcy or insolvency petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or insolvency laws as a voidable preference. As a result, a liquidator 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 by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a petition a petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable insolvency law, and may be included in our liquidation estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our shareholders. To the extent any liquidation claims deplete the trust account, the amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.

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, including as a result of changes in economic, political, social and government policies, 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.

 

30

If we have not completed our initial business combination by October 18, 2024, after the deposit of $70,000 into the Trust Account for each one month Extension, we will distribute the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and which interest shall be net of taxes payable), pro rata to our public shareholders by way of redemption and cease all operations except for the purposes of winding up of our affairs, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account shall 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 Act. We have no obligation to return funds to investors prior to the date of our redemption or liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and then only in cases where investors have properly sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon our redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior thereto.

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, and 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 offense and may be liable for a fine of up to approximately $18,300 and to imprisonment for up to five years in the Cayman Islands.

In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual general meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. In addition, as holders of our Class A ordinary shares, our public shareholders will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors prior to consummation of our initial business combination. In addition, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.

 

31

At or after the time of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of loans from our sponsor or its affiliates may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A 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 ordinary shares owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees, our private placement warrants or warrants issued in connection with loans from our sponsor or its affiliates are registered for resale.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 500,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 50,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 5,000,000 undesignated preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 2022, there were no authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and 4,743,750 Class B ordinary shares, available for issuance, which amount takes into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants but not upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares. Class B ordinary shares are convertible into Class A ordinary shares, initially at a ratio but subject to adjustment as set forth herein. As of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, there were no preference shares issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares, and may issue preference shares, in order to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares to redeem the warrants upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. 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 ordinary shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (1) receive funds from the trust account or (2) vote as a class with our public shares on any initial business combination. The issuance of additional ordinary shares or preference shares:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32

The Sponsor is a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership and is likely to be considered a “foreign person” under the regulations administered by CFIUS. As such, an initial business combination with Fusemachines may be subject to CFIUS jurisdiction, the scope of which includes controlling investments (within the meaning of “control” under the CFIUS regulations) as well as certain investments in sensitive U.S. businesses meeting certain criteria. The parties have determined that Fusemachines is not a TID U.S. business, as that term is defined in 31 C.F.R. § 800.248, and as a result, it is not mandatory to submit a CFIUS filing with respect to the Business Combination. The parties may determine to submit a voluntary filing to CFIUS, or to proceed with the initial business combination without notifying CFIUS and risk CFIUS intervention, before or after closing the initial business combination. CFIUS may decide to delay the Business Combination, impose conditions to mitigate national security concerns with respect to the Business Combination or recommend that the U.S. president block the initial business combination or order CSLM to divest all or a portion of Fusemachines following the Closing. Moreover, the process of government review, whether by the CFIUS or otherwise, could be lengthy and CSLM has limited time to complete its initial business combination. If CSLM cannot complete its initial business combination by July 18, 2024, by depositing $70,000 in the Trust Account on a monthly basis for each extension, or such later date that may be approved by CSLM’S shareholders, because the review process extends beyond such timeframe or because the Business Combination is ultimately prohibited by CFIUS or another U.S. government entity, CSLM may be required to liquidate. If CSLM liquidates, its Public Shareholders may only receive their pro rata share of amounts held in the Trust Account that are available for distribution to Public Shareholders, and the CSLM Warrants will expire worthless. This will also cause shareholders to lose the investment opportunity in Fusemachines and the chance of realizing future gains on their investment through any price appreciation in the combined company.

If we were deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), we may be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate the Company.

There is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) and we may in the future be subject to a claim that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company. If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we might be forced to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead be required to liquidate. If we are required to liquidate, our investors would not be able to realize the benefits of owning stock in a successor operating business, including the potential appreciation in the value of our stock and warrants following such a transaction, and our warrants would expire worthless.

The longer that the funds in the trust account are held in short-term U.S. government securities or in money market funds invested exclusively in such securities, the greater the risk that we may be considered an unregistered investment company, in which case we may be required to liquidate.

Continued attention must be paid to ensure that major decisions by the Company are not made from another jurisdiction, since this could cause us to lose our status as tax resident solely in the Cayman Islands. The composition of the board of directors, the place of residence of the individual members of the board of directors and the location(s) in which the board of directors makes decisions will all be important factors in determining and maintaining our tax residence in the Cayman Islands. If we were to be considered as tax resident within another jurisdiction, we may be subject to additional tax in that jurisdiction, which could negatively affect our financial and operating results, and/or our shareholders’ or warrant holders’ investment returns could be subject to additional or increased taxes (including withholding taxes).

 

33

We may, subject to requisite shareholder approval by special resolution under the Companies Act, effect a business combination with a target company in another jurisdiction, reincorporate in the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located, or reincorporate in another jurisdiction. Such transactions may result in tax liability for a shareholder or warrant holder in the jurisdiction in which the shareholder is a tax resident (or in which its members are resident if it is a tax transparent entity), in which the target company is located, or in which we reincorporate. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to pay such taxes. Shareholders or warrant holders may be subject to withholding taxes or other taxes with respect to their ownership of us after the reincorporation.

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 have not completed our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.10 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our rights and warrants will expire worthless.

We may choose to incur substantial debt to complete our initial business combination. We have agreed that we will not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies held in the trust account. As such, no issuance of debt will affect the amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debt could have a variety of negative effects, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

34

 

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues that may be present with a particular target business that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forced to later write down or write off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even if our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arise and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be 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 debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any shareholder or warrant holder who chooses to remain a shareholder or warrant holder, respectively, following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such shareholders and warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

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.

Our sponsor is managed by CIC, which is owned by Charles Cassel and Jonathan Binder, who serve on our board of directors and as our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and our Chairman, respectively. In addition, our sponsor is owned by CSLM affiliates. As a result, Charles Cassel and Jonathan Binder and the CSLM affiliates may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including appointment of our directors, amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approval of major corporate transactions. If our sponsor purchases any Class A ordinary shares in the initial public offering or in the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase their influence over such actions.

 

35

Our letter agreements with our initial shareholders, officers and directors contains provisions relating to, among other things, restrictions on transfer of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the Trust Account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the Trust Account. The letter agreement may be amended without shareholder approval. While we do not expect our board of directors to approve any amendment to the letter agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board of directors, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to the letter agreements. Any such amendments to the letter agreement would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.

Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (1) 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; (2) the redemption of any public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by October 18, 2024 or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or business combination activity; and (3) the redemption of our public shares if we have not completed an initial business combination by October 18, 2024, subject to applicable law. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (2) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination by October 18, 2024, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Holders of rights and 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, rights and/or warrants, potentially at a loss.

We cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed on Nasdaq 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. In general, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders’ equity and a minimum of 300 round lot holders. Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the applicable exchange’s initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.

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

 

 

 

 

36

 

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.” Our units, Class A ordinary shares, rights and warrants currently qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered 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 such statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities, including in connection with our initial business combination, which may negatively impact our ability to consummate our initial business combination.

We are exempt from certain rules promulgated by the SEC related to certain blank check companies, including Rule 419. Accordingly, investors are not afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units were immediately tradable and that we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than those companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if the initial public offering had been subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of an initial business combination.

If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we redeem the funds held in the trust account, the rights will expire and holders will not receive any of the amounts held in the trust account in exchange for such rights.

If the issuance of the Class A ordinary shares upon exercise of the warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws, holders of warrants will not be entitled to exercise such warrants, and such warrants may have no value and may expire worthless. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any public warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the public warrants in the event we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the public warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the public warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such public warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such public warrant, and such public warrant may have no value and may expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their public 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.

While we have registered the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants under the Securities Act, under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the Commission a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. 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

 

37

or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct, or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, in which case the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be based on a formula. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are, at the time of any exercise of a warrant, not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. Exercising the warrants on a cashless basis could have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in our company because the warrant holder will hold a smaller number of Class A ordinary shares upon a cashless exercise of the warrants they hold. 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 we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified, nor exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant, and such warrant may have no value and may 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. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in the initial public offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants, while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. 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 Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above, even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise their warrants.

In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity of a business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days, after the closing of our initial business combination.

Although we are registering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act, such registration may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis and potentially causing such warrants to expire worthless. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, we have agreed that, as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement or a new registration statement covering the issuance of such shares, and we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of our initial business combination and to maintain the effectiveness of the same relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed. We

 

38

cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current, complete or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act in accordance with the above requirements, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their public warrants on a cashless basis, in which case, the number of Class A ordinary shares that you will receive upon cashless exercise will be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the public warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the public warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” as used in the preceding sentence shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the ten trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of public warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event we so elect, we will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and no exemption is available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the public warrants included as part of units sold in the initial public offering. In such an instance, our sponsor and its permitted transferees (which may include our directors and executive officers) would be able to exercise their warrants and sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. If and when the public warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying Class A ordinary shares for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the public warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise such warrants.

Our rights will be issued in registered form under a rights agreement, and our warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. Each of the rights agreement and warrant agreement provides that the terms of the rights or warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the rights agreement or warrant agreement to the description of the terms of the rights or warrants and the rights agreement or warrant agreement set forth in the prospectus related to the initial public offering, or defective provision, (ii) removing or reducing our ability to redeem the rights or public warrants, (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the rights agreement or warrant agreement as the parties to the rights agreement or warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the rights or warrants in any material respect, or (iv) making any amendments that are necessary in the good faith determination of the board of directors (taking into account then existing market precedents for initial public offerings of special purpose acquisition companies underwritten by bulge bracket investment banks) to allow for the rights and warrants to be or continue to be, as applicable, classified as equity in the company’s financial statements; provided that no such amendment pursuant to clause (iv) shall increase the right or warrant price, shorten the exercise period or will, in the aggregate, materially affect the legal rights of registered holders of the then-outstanding rights and public warrants under the rights agreement and warrant agreement. The rights agreement and warrant agreement may be amended by the parties

 

39

thereto with the vote or written consent of the registered holders of at least 50% of the rights or public warrants and private placement warrants, voting together as a single class, to allow for the warrants to be or continue to be, as applicable, classified as equity in the company’s financial statements. All other modifications or amendments, (a) with respect to the terms of the public warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the public warrants requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants, and (b) with respect to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants requires the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement 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 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 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 if, among other things, the last reported sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted) for any 20 trading days within any 30 period ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the public warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrants could force you to: (1) exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (2) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (3) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise his, her or its warrant to do so on a “cashless basis.” In determining whether to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis,” our management will consider, among other factors, our cash position, the number of warrants that are outstanding and the dilutive effect on our shareholders of issuing the maximum number of shares of Class A common issuable upon the exercise of our warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, all holders of warrants would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the “fair market value” (defined herein) over the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. If our management takes advantage of this option, the notice of redemption will contain the information necessary to calculate the number of Class A ordinary shares to be received upon exercise of the warrants, including the “fair market value” in such case.

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

 

40

Each unit contains of one warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole warrants will trade. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant or a greater fraction of one whole warrant to purchase one 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 a third of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive business combination partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if they included one whole warrant or a greater fraction of one whole warrant to purchase one whole share.

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 officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.

Our corporate affairs will be governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. 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.

The courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (1) 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 (2) 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.

 

41

Each of our rights agreement and warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the rights agreement or the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the rights agreement and warrant agreement do not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our rights agreement or warrant agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope of the forum provisions of the rights agreement or warrant agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.

This provision may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our rights agreement or warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and board of directors.

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 director terms 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.

We are a newly incorporated company incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with 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.

 

42

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $138,283 in cash and a working capital deficit of $1,676,487. Further, we have incurred and expect to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of our financing and acquisition plans. Our plans to raise capital and to consummate our initial business combination may not be successful. These conditions raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans to address this need for capital are discussed under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report. The financial statements contained in this Annual Report do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our ordinary shares or warrants, the U.S. Holder may be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. Our PFIC status for our taxable year ended December 31, 2022, our current taxable year and our subsequent taxable years may depend upon the status of an acquired company pursuant to a business combination and whether we qualify for the PFIC exception. Depending on the particular circumstances, the application of the exception may be subject to uncertainty, and there cannot be any assurance that we will qualify for the exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our status as a PFIC for our taxable year ended December 31, 2022, our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, moreover, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. 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 (“IRS”) 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 likely be unavailable with respect to our warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. Holders to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules to holders of our ordinary shares, rights and warrants.

Our letter agreement with our initial shareholders, directors and officers contain provisions relating to transfer restrictions of our founder shares and private placement warrants, indemnification of the trust account, waiver of redemption rights and participation in liquidating distributions from the trust account. The letter agreement and the registration rights agreement may be amended, and provisions therein may be waived, without shareholder approval (although releasing the parties from the restriction contained in the letter agreement not to transfer any units, warrants, Class A ordinary shares or any other securities convertible into, or exercisable, or exchangeable for, Class A ordinary shares for 180 days following the date of this prospectus will require the prior written consent of BTIG, LLC). While we do not expect our board to approve any amendment to or waiver of the letter agreement or registration rights agreement prior to our initial business combination, it may be possible that our board, in exercising its business judgment and subject to its fiduciary duties, chooses to approve one or more amendments to or waivers of such agreements. Any such amendments or waivers would not require approval from our shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of an investment in our securities.

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 ordinary shares held by equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of any second quarter of a fiscal year, in which case we would no longer be an

 

43

emerging growth company as of the end of such fiscal year. 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 growth companies but any such 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 accounting standards used.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by equals or exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (2) our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year or the market value of our ordinary shares held by equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Members of our team have been involved in a wide variety of businesses. Such involvement has, and may lead to, media coverage and public awareness. As a result of such involvement, members of our team and companies affiliated thereof have been, and may from time to time be, involved in legal proceedings or governmental investigations unrelated to our business. Any such proceedings or investigations may be detrimental to our or their reputation or result in other negative consequences or damages, which could negatively affect our ability to identify and complete an initial business combination and may have an adverse effect on the price of our securities.

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 or substantially 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.

Our target company has operations outside the United States. As a result, we may face political and economic risks and other uncertainties with respect these potential international operations. These risks may include the following, among other things:

 

44

We may be exposed to liabilities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and any determination that we violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could have a material adverse effect on our business.

10-K.

 

 

 

 

Not Applicable.

 

53

PART III.

 

Our current directors and executive officer are as follows:

 

has been our Director since April 13, 2021 and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer since July 20, 2021. Mr. Cassel is the and Chief Executive Officer of CIM. Mr. Cassel is responsible for the risk management for CIM’s investment strategies, the operations of CIM and all portfolio management initiatives, and also serves as the Chief Compliance Officer. Before CSLM, Mr. Cassel held the position as Head of Emerging Markets Portfolio Management at Standard Asset Management. Prior to that, Mr. Cassel was at Americas Trust Bank as an Emerging Market debt portfolio manager and was earlier the Chief Financial Officer for the US subsidiary of Banco Cafetero de Colombia, where, among other responsibilities, he ran the bank’s international treasury book. Earlier, he was a Portfolio Manager of mortgage-backed securities at Bank Atlantic, a federally chartered savings bank. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Cassel served as a director of Panache Beverages, Inc. Mr. Cassel holds a B.A. in Economics from Washington & Lee University and a M.Acc. in Accounting from Nova Southeastern University. Additionally, he is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute. We believe Mr. Cassel’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his extensive investment experience as well as his experience developing operating and financing strategies alongside management.

has been our Director since April 13, 2021 and Chairman since July 20, 2021. Mr. Binder is the of CIM and Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager for CIM’s Frontier Equity and Extended Opportunities Fund Strategies. Prior to CSLM, Mr. Binder spent four years at Standard Asset Management, a division of the Standard Bank Group of South Africa, as Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Binder had previously spent two years at Americas Trust Bank where he was an Emerging Market equity hedge fund portfolio manager. Prior to this, Mr. Binder was Managing Director of Latin American Equity Capital Markets at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and before that, launched James Capel’s equity sales trading and research business in Latin America. He graduated from the University of Bristol, England, with a B.Sc. (Econ) joint honors degree in Economics and Politics. Mr. Binder is an alumnus of Eton College. We believe Mr. Binder’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his extensive investment experience as well as his experience in emerging markets.

has served as a director since January 2022. Mr. Gilauri is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Georgia Capital. Irakli Gilauri formerly served as the Chief Executive Officer of BGEO Group from 2011 to May 2018. He joined as CFO of Bank of Georgia in 2004 and was appointed as Chairman of the Bank in September 2015, having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of the Bank since May 2006. Prior to that time, he was an EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) banker. Mr Gilauri has up to 20 years of experience in banking, investment and finance. He served as Director of Georgia Healthcare Group PLC (now Georgia Healthcare Group

 

54

Limited) from August 2015. Mr. Gilauri also sits on the Supervisory Board of JSC Georgia Capital. Mr. Gilauri received his undergraduate degree in Business Studies, Economics and Finance from the University of Limerick, Ireland, in 1998. He was later awarded the Chevening Scholarship, granted by the British Council, to study at the Cass Business School of City University, London, where he obtained his MSc in Banking and International Finance. We believe Mr. Gilauri’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his extensive knowledge and experience in the finance industry and experience serving as an executive and director.

has served as a director since January 2022. Mr. Tropper has been the Managing Member of Peter Tropper LLC since February 2014. He was a Senior Advisor to the Global Private Capital Association (previously known as the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association) and chair of the Frontier Markets Council. He has been appointed to numerous private equity fund advisor committees, and is a lecturer at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he was the Chief Investment Officer in IFC’s Private Equity Group. In this role, Mr. Tropper ran IFC’s program for funds that invest in small and medium enterprises and frontier markets. Prior to 2001, he was the HQ “anchor” for the supervision work of IFC’s South Asia Department. Until September 1999, Mr. Tropper served in IFC’s Latin America and Caribbean Department, where he was responsible for identifying and structuring IFC’s investments in the financial sector in the Caribbean and Chile, and for recommending investment strategies that contribute to the development of the region’s capital markets. Mr. Tropper also served as the first head of IFC’s Emerging Markets Data Base unit, which has since been sold to Standard & Poor’s. Mr. Tropper joined IFC in 1984, after several years as Deputy Director of the Northeast- Midwest Institute in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tropper has a B.A. from Yale University, an MBA from the University of Maryland, and a Master’s in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). We believe Mr. Tropper’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his extensive experience in emerging markets and his investment experience.

has served as a director since January 2022. Mr. Alam is Vice President, Legal, at Western Digital Corporation, a leading provider of data storage technologies, where he has been responsible for worldwide product development and technology legal issues since 2016. With nearly 15 years of legal experience in the corporate legal sector, he also serves as a principal counsel for the flash technology and consumer products business unit, dealing with emerging product regulatory issues within the data ecosystem in markets across the world, including South Asia and the ASEAN region, where he has significant cross-border transactional experience. Mr. Alam also previously served in roles of increasing responsibility at Western Digital, including Sr. Director, Assistant General Counsel, from 2016 to 2021, Director, Associate General Counsel from 2015 to 2016, Director, Senior Legal Counsel from 2013 to 2015, and Senior Counsel from 2013 to 2013. Prior to Western Digital, Mr. Alam has served as a legal executive to technology startups focused on mobile, web, and advertising business models, as well as a corporate transactional attorney at Newmeyer & Dillion, LLP, where he represented emerging and established companies in corporate transactions, M&A, capital markets, and corporate governance matters. Mr. Alam received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, with two majors in South & Southeast Asian Studies (high honors) and Economics, and minors in Business Administration (Haas School of Business) and Philosophy, respectively. He also received a law degree from the University of California, Hastings. He has additionally completed coursework in the executive education program at Columbia Business School. We believe Mr. Alam’s qualifications to serve on our board of directors include his extensive experience in legal and governance matters and experience with technology companies.

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent within one year of our initial public offering. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. We have three “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Our board has determined that each of Irakli Gilauri, Peter Tropper and Salman Alam is an independent director under applicable SEC rules and the Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

 

55

Our board of directors consists of five members. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares have the right to appoint all of our directors and remove members of the board of directors for any reason, and holders of our ordinary shares will not have the right to vote on the appointment of directors during such time. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may only be amended by a special resolution passed by the holders of a majority of at least 90% of our ordinary shares attending and voting in person or by proxy in a general meeting. Each of our directors will hold office for a term. Subject to any other special rights applicable to the shareholders, any vacancies on our board of directors may be filled by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present and voting at the meeting of our board of directors or by a majority of the holders of our ordinary shares (or, prior to our initial business combination, holders of our founder shares).

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 a Chairman, a Chief Executive Officer, a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Financial Officer, Vice Presidents, a Secretary, Assistant Secretaries, a Treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, each comprised of independent directors. Under Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1), a company listing in connection with its initial public offering is permitted to phase in its compliance with the independent committee requirements. We do not intend to rely on the schedules set forth in Nasdaq listing rule 5615(b)(1). Each committee operates under a charter approved by our board of directors and has the composition and responsibilities described below. Each committee charter is available on our website.

The members of our audit committee are Irakli Gilauri, Peter Tropper and Salman Alam. Irakli Gilauri serves as chair of the audit committee. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Peter Tropper qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules and has accounting or related financial management expertise.

Our audit committee charter details the purpose and principal functions of the audit committee, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

56

 

 

The members of our compensation committee are Peter Tropper and Salman Alam. Peter Tropper serves as chair of the compensation committee. The compensation committee charter details the purpose and responsibility of the compensation committee, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

The members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Peter Tropper and Salman Alam. Salman Alam serves as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee. The corporate governance committee charter details the purpose and responsibilities of the nominating and corporate governance committee, including:

 

 

 

57

 

The charter also provides that the nominating and corporate governance committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of, and terminate, any search firm to be used to identify director candidates, and will be directly responsible for approving the search firm’s fees and other retention terms.

We have not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the board of directors considers educational background, diversity of professional experience, knowledge of our business, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the ability to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Prior to our initial business combination, holders of our public shares will not have the right to recommend director candidates for nomination to our board of directors.

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers, directors and persons who beneficially own more than ten percent of our ordinary shares to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC. Based solely upon a review of such forms, we believe that as of March 31, 2023 there were no delinquent filers.

We have adopted a code of ethics and business conduct (our “code of ethics”) applicable to our directors, officers and employees. We have filed a copy of our code of ethics as an exhibit to this Annual Report. We have also posted a copy of our code of ethics and the charters of our audit committee, compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee on our website at www.cimspac.com under “Investor Relations-Governance Documents”. Our website and the information contained on, or that can be accessed through, the website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this Annual Report. You are able to review these documents by accessing our public filings at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, a copy of the code of ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our code of ethics in a Current Report on Form

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care and skill, 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 which that director has.

 

58

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 at the expense of the company. 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.

Our team, in their capacities as directors, officers or employees of our sponsor or its affiliates or in their other endeavors, may choose to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future entities affiliated with or managed by our sponsor, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law and any other applicable fiduciary duties.

Certain members of our team have fiduciary and contractual duties to CSLM and to certain companies in which CSLM has invested. These entities may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing such opportunities. None of the members of our team who are also employed by our sponsor or its affiliates have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware, subject to his or her fiduciary duties under Cayman Islands law. Our sponsor and members of our team are also not prohibited from sponsoring, investing or otherwise becoming involved with, any other blank check companies, including in connection with their initial business combinations, prior to us completing our initial business combination, and certain of them expect to do so in the future. Any such involvement may result in conflicts of interests as described above.

Our directors and officers presently have, 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. Accordingly, if any of our directors or officers becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor these fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, or in the case of a restriction, may not present such opportunity to us at all. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law: (i) no individual serving as a director or an officer shall have any duty, except and to the extent expressly assumed by contract, to refrain from engaging directly or indirectly in the same or similar business activities or lines of business as us; and (ii) we renounce any interest or expectancy in, or in being offered an opportunity to participate in, any potential transaction or matter which may be a corporate opportunity for any director or officer, on the one hand, and us, on the other. In addition our amended and restated articles of association contains provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to the company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity. Our directors and officers 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. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Management Team- Certain of our directors and officers are now, and all of them may in the future become, affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.”

In addition, our sponsor, its members, our officers or our directors or their respective affiliates may be investors, or have other direct or indirect interests, in a business with which we may enter into a business combination agreement and/or in certain funds or other persons that may have purchased shares in our initial public offering or that may otherwise purchase our ordinary shares in the public market.

We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our directors or officers will materially affect our ability to identify and pursue business combination opportunities or complete our initial business combination.

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

 

59

 

 

 

 

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

Accordingly, as a result of multiple business affiliations, our directors, officers and director nominees have similar legal obligations relating to presenting business opportunities meeting the above-listed criteria to multiple entities. Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our directors, officers and director nominees currently have fiduciary duties or contractual obligations:

 

60

Promissory Note — Related Party

 

heets

as

a

 

 

F-2

 

 

F-3