Description of Securities of the Company

EX-4.5 2 d323124dex45.htm EX-4.5 EX-4.5

Exhibit 4.5

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

The following description of Black Mountain Acquisition Corp.’s (the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) units, Class A common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (“Class A common stock” or “public shares”), Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (“Class B common stock” or “founder shares” and, together with the Class A common stock, “common stock”), undesignated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, is based upon the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, bylaws and applicable provisions of law. We have summarized certain portions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws below. The summary is not complete and is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety by express reference to, the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws, each of which is filed as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this exhibit is a part. The following also summarizes certain provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to the DGCL. Terms used, but not defined herein, shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this exhibit is a part.

General

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our authorized capital stock consists of 500,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, 50,000,000 shares of Class B common stock and 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock,. The following description summarizes the material terms of our capital stock. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you.

Units

Each unit consists of one whole share of Class A common stock and three quarters of one warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment described below. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrantholder may exercise its warrants only for a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrantholder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade.

Our units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “BMAC.U.” On November 9, 2021, we announced that, commencing on November 12, 2021, holders of our units may elect to separately trade the shares of Class A common stock and warrants included in the units. The shares of Class A common stock and warrants that are separated will trade on the NYSE under the symbols “BMAC” and “BMAC WS,” respectively. Those units not separated will continue to trade on the NYSE under the symbol “BMAC.U.”

Additionally, any units that are not separated prior to the completion of our initial business combination will automatically separate into their component parts and will not be traded after completion of our initial business combination.

Common Stock

As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, 27,600,000 shares of our Class A common stock and 6,900,000 shares of our Class B common stock were outstanding.

Common stockholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. Holders of our Class B common stock will have the right to elect all of our directors prior to our initial business combination. On any other matter submitted to a vote of our stockholders, holders of the Class A common stock and holders of the Class B common stock will vote together as a single class, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Unless specified in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or as required by applicable provisions of the DGCL or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of our shares of common stock that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our stockholders. Our board of directors is divided into three classes, each of which generally serves for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the election of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares of common stock voted for the election of directors can elect all of the directors. Our stockholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. Pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, holders of our Class B common stock have the exclusive right to elect, remove and replace any director prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. This provision may only be amended if approved by holders of 90% of our common stock entitled to vote thereon.

 

1


Exhibit 4.5

 

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

In accordance with the NYSE corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws, unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their public shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting discounts and commissions we will pay to the underwriters of our initial public offering. Black Mountain Sponsor LLC (our “sponsor”), officers and directors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination. Unlike many blank check companies that hold stockholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a stockholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek stockholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions, if any, could result in the approval of our business combination even if a majority of our public stockholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.

 

2


Exhibit 4.5

 

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 20% of the public shares, which we refer to as the Excess Shares. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Our stockholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination, and such stockholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such stockholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, as a result, such stockholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 20% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

If we seek stockholder approval in connection with our business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares, approval of our initial business combination would require the affirmative vote of only (i) 10,350,001, or 37.5%, of the 27,600,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering, assuming that all outstanding shares are voted, or (ii) 1,725,001, or 6.25%, of the 27,600,000 public shares sold in our initial public offering, assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are. Additionally, each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).

Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, and subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor, officers and directors will not be entitled to rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors acquire public shares in or after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.

In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our stockholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of stock, if any, having preference over the common stock. Our stockholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock, except that we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.

 

3


Exhibit 4.5

 

Founder Shares

The founder shares are identical to the shares of Class A common stock included in the units sold in our initial public offering, and holders of founder shares have the same stockholder rights as public stockholders, except that (i) only holders of the founder shares have the right to vote on the election of directors prior to our initial business combination, (ii) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (iii) our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed that they will not be entitled to (A) redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination (B) redemption rights with respect to their founder shares and public shares in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (x) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide for the redemption of our public shares in connection with an initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (y) with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (C) rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within such time period, (iv) the founder shares are shares of our Class B common stock that will automatically convert into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of the holder, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein and (v) the founder shares are subject to registration rights. If we submit our business combination to our public stockholders for a vote, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination.

The shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment for net of redemptions, merger consideration, private placement warrants and any securities issued to affiliates), and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional shares of Class A common stock, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in excess of the amounts sold in our initial public offering and related to the closing of the business combination, including pursuant to a specified future issuance, the ratio at which shares of Class B common stock shall convert into shares of Class A common stock will be adjusted (unless the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance, including a specified future issuance) so that the number of shares of our Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of all shares of Class B common stock will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of our initial public offering plus all shares of Class A common stock and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of Class A common stock by public stockholders and excluding any shares or equity linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination and any private placement warrants to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans). Holders of founder shares may also elect to convert their shares of Class B common stock into an equal number of shares of Class A common stock, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.

With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (i) 180 days after the completion of our initial business combination or (ii) subsequent to our initial business combination the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property.

Preferred Stock

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our board of directors is able to, without stockholder approval, issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the common stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future. No shares of preferred stock are being issued or registered in our initial public offering.

 

4


Exhibit 4.5

 

Warrants

Public Stockholders’ Warrants

Each whole warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one share of our Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed below, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrantholder may exercise its warrants for only a whole number of shares of Class A common stock. This means that only a whole warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrantholder. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. The warrants will expire five years after the completion of our initial business combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

We will not be obligated to deliver any shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the exercise of a warrant and will have no obligation to settle such warrant exercise unless a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of Class A common stock underlying the warrants is then effective and a prospectus relating thereto is current, subject to our satisfying our obligations described below with respect to registration. No warrant will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of a warrant unless the Class A common stock issuable upon such warrant exercise has been registered, qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the registered holder of the warrants. In the event that the conditions in the two immediately preceding sentences are not satisfied with respect to a warrant, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire without value to the holder. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant. In the event that a registration statement is not effective for the exercised warrants, the purchaser of a unit containing such warrant will have paid the full purchase price for the unit solely for the share of Class A common stock underlying such unit.

We registered the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants in the registration statement on Form S-1 filed on October 15, 2021 because the warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, which may be within one year of our initial public offering. However, as the warrants will be exercisable until their expiration date of up to five years after the completion of our initial business combination, in order to comply with the requirements of Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) following the consummation of our initial business combination, we have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than fifteen (15) business days, after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our best efforts to file with the SEC post-effective amendment to this registration statement, or a new a registration statement, for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. We will use our best efforts to cause the same to become effective and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. Notwithstanding the above, if our Class A common stock is at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, we may, at our option, require holders of 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 be required to use our best efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.

 

5


Exhibit 4.5

 

Redemption of Warrants

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

 

   

in whole and not in part;

 

   

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

 

   

upon not less than the 30-day redemption period to each warrantholder; and

 

   

if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Class A common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period commencing once the warrants become exercisable and ending three business days before we send the notice of redemption to the warrantholders.

We will not redeem the warrants unless (i) a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is effective and a current prospectus relating to those shares of Class A common stock is available throughout the 30-day redemption period or (ii) the company has elected to require the exercise of the warrants on a “cashless basis,” as described below. Any such exercise made for cash would require the exercising warrantholder to pay the exercise price for each warrant being exercised. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrantholder will be entitled to exercise its warrants prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the shares of Class A common stock may fall below $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) price as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price (for whole shares) after the redemption notice is issued.

We have established the last of the redemption criterion discussed above to prevent a redemption call unless there is at the time of the call a significant premium to the warrant exercise price. If the foregoing conditions are satisfied and we issue a notice of redemption of the warrants, each warrantholder will be entitled to exercise its warrant prior to the scheduled redemption date. However, the price of the Class A common stock may fall below the $18.00 redemption trigger price (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) as well as the $11.50 warrant exercise price (for whole shares) after the redemption notice is issued.

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all, but not less than all, warrantholders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis.” In the event any warrants are exercised on a “cashless basis,” each exercising warrantholder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of shares of Class A common stock equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the product of (A) the number of shares of our Class A common stock underlying and warrants and (B) the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) over the exercise price of the warrants by (ii) such fair market value. For purposes of this section, the “fair market value” shall mean the average last reported sale price of the Class A common stock for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of warrant exercise is sent to the warrantholder or its securities broker or intermediary. 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.

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

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

 

6


Exhibit 4.5

 

Amendments to Warrant Agreement

The warrants have been issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between us and the warrant agent. You should review a copy of the warrant agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a complete description of the terms and conditions applicable to the warrants. The warrant agreement will provide that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision. All other modifications or amendments will require the written consent or vote of the registered holders of (i) at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants to if such modification or amendment is being undertaken prior to, or in connection with, the consummation of an initial business combination, (ii) at least 50% of all then outstanding warrants (both public warrants and private placement warrants) if such modification or amendment is being undertaken after the consummation of an initial business combination or (iii) solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, at least 50% of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Although our ability to amend the terms of the 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 or stock (at a ratio different than initially provided), shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of our Class A common stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

Anti-Dilution Adjustments

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

In addition, if (i) we issue additional shares of Class A common stock or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per share of common stock (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by our board of directors and, in the case of any such issuance to our sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any founder shares held by the sponsor or its affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represents more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the greater of (A) the Market Value or (B) the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described above under “Redemption of Warrants” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the Newly Issued Price.

The warrants may be exercised upon surrender of the warrant certificate on or prior to the expiration date at the offices of the warrant agent, with the exercise form on the reverse side of the warrant certificate completed and executed as indicated, accompanied by full payment of the exercise price (or on a “cashless basis,” if applicable), by certified or official bank check payable to us, for the number of warrants being exercised. The warrantholders do not have the rights or privileges of holders of Class A common stock or any voting rights until they exercise their warrants and receive shares of Class A common stock. After the issuance of shares of Class A common stock upon exercise of the warrants, each holder will be entitled to one (1) vote for each share held of record on all matters to be voted on by stockholders.

No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number of shares of Class A common stock to be issued to the warrantholder.

We have agreed that, subject to applicable law, any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to 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 we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction will be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. See “Risk Factors — Risks Relating to our Securities — Our warrant agreement will designate the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrantholders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.” We note, however, that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will 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. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

 

7


Exhibit 4.5

 

Private Placement Warrants

The private placement warrants are identical to the warrants included in the units being sold in our initial public offering, except that the private placement warrants (i) will not initially be registered under the Securities Act and therefore will not be eligible for offer, sale, transfer or other disposition unless and until so registered or there is an exemption from registration available and (ii) will be subject to transfer restrictions pursuant to lock-up provisions in a letter agreement with us to be entered into by our sponsor, officers and directors. Except as described above, the private placement warrants will be freely transferable, assignable or salable, subject to compliance with applicable law. The private placement warrants will be redeemable by us in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by us on the same basis as the warrants included in the units being sold in our initial public offering.

We have policies in place that prohibit insiders from selling our securities except during specific periods of time. Even during such periods of time when insiders will be permitted to sell our securities, an insider cannot trade in our securities if he or she is in possession of material non-public information. Accordingly, unlike public stockholders who could sell the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants freely in the open market, the insiders could be significantly restricted from doing so.

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds on a non-interest bearing basis as may be required. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period.

Our sponsor has agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the private placement warrants (including the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of any of these warrants), until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination, except in each case (A) to our officers or directors, any affiliates or family members of any of our officers or directors, any members of our sponsor, or any affiliates of our sponsor; (B) in the case of an individual, by gift to a member of the individual’s immediate family, to a trust, the beneficiary of which is a member of the individual’s immediate family or an affiliate of such person, or to a charitable organization; (C) in the case of an individual, by virtue of laws of descent and distribution upon death of the individual; (D) in the case of an individual, pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order; (E) by private sales or transfers made in connection with the consummation of a business combination at prices no greater than the price at which the securities were originally purchased; (F) in the event of our liquidation prior to the completion of our initial business combination; (G) by virtue of the laws of Delaware or our sponsor’s limited liability company agreement upon dissolution of our sponsor; or (H) in the event of our liquidation, merger, capital stock exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property subsequent to the completion of our initial business combination; provided, however, that in the case of clauses (A) through (E) and (G) these permitted transferees must enter into a written agreement agreeing to be bound by these transfer restrictions.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial conditions subsequent to completion of a business combination. Further, if we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. Our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future.

 

8


Exhibit 4.5

 

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

The transfer agent for our common stock and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent and warrant agent, its agents and each of its stockholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any liability due to any gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith of the indemnified person or entity.

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company has agreed that it has no right of set-off or any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account, and has irrevocably waived any right, title, interest or claim of any kind to, or to any monies in, the trust account that it may have now or in the future. Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied, or a claim will only be able to be pursued, solely against us and our assets outside the trust account and not against any monies in the trust account or interest earned thereon.

Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions relating to our initial public offering that will apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions (other than amendments relating to the appointment of directors, which require the approval of a majority of at least 90% of our common stock voting at a stockholder meeting) cannot be amended without the approval of the holders of 50% of our common stock. Our initial stockholders, who will collectively beneficially own 20% of our common stock upon the closing of our initial public offering (assuming they do not purchase any units in our initial public offering), will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:

 

   

if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses and net of taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, and subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law;

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

9


Exhibit 4.5

 

   

the NYSE rules require that our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses or assets with an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting discount held in trust) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination;

 

   

if our stockholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (i) modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A common stock or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares; and

 

   

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

In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our common stock to no longer qualify for exemption from the SEC’s “penny stock” rules.

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

We have opted out of Section 203 of the DGCL. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:

 

   

prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;

 

   

upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or

 

   

at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least 66-2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.

Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or certain other transactions resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 20% or more of our voting stock.

Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with a corporation for a three-year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring our company to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction which results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions which stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.

 

10


Exhibit 4.5

 

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our sponsor and its respective affiliates, any of their respective direct or indirect transferees of at least 20% of our outstanding common stock and any group as to which such persons are party to, do not constitute “interested stockholders” for purposes of this provision.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board of directors only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual meetings.

Our authorized but unissued common stock and preferred stock are available for future issuances without stockholder approval (including a specified future issuance) and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.

Exclusive forum for certain lawsuits

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that derivative actions brought in our name, actions against directors, officers and employees for breach of fiduciary duty and other similar actions (other than actions arising under the Securities Act or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)) may be brought only in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware (or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, any other court located in the State of Delaware with subject matter jurisdiction) and, if brought outside of Delaware, the stockholder bringing the suit will be deemed to have consented to service of process on such stockholder’s counsel. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for state and federal courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us and our directors, officers or other employees and may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Special meeting of stockholders

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority vote of our board of directors, by our Chief Executive Officer or by our Chairman.

Advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals and director nominations

Our bylaws provide that stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders, or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders, must provide timely notice of their intent in writing. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice will need to be received by the company secretary at our principal executive offices not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the anniversary date of the immediately preceding annual meeting of stockholders. Pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the Exchange Act, proposals seeking inclusion in our annual proxy statement must comply with the notice periods contained therein. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements as to the form and content of a stockholders’ meeting. These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders.

Class B Common Stock Consent Right

For so long as any shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, we may not, without the prior vote or written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares of Class B common stock then outstanding, voting separately as a single class, amend, alter or repeal any provision of our certificate of incorporation, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, if such amendment, alteration or repeal would alter or change the powers, preferences or relative, participating, optional or other special rights of the Class B common stock. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the holders of Class B common stock may be taken without a meeting, without prior notice and without a vote, if a consent or consents in writing, setting forth the action so taken, shall be signed by the holders of the outstanding Class B common stock having not less than the minimum number of votes that would be necessary to authorize or to take such action at a meeting at which all shares of Class B common stock were present and voted.

 

11


Exhibit 4.5

 

Securities Eligible for Future Sale

Immediately after the consummation of our initial public offering (assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) we had 34,500,000 shares of common stock outstanding. Of these shares 27,600,000 shares sold in our initial public offering will be freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the remaining 6,900,000 founder shares and all 13,040,000 private placement warrants are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering, and the shares of Class B common stock and private placement warrants are subject to transfer restrictions. These restricted securities will be subject to registration rights as more fully described below under “— Registration Rights.”

Rule 144

Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock or warrants for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.

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

 

   

1% of the total number of shares of common stock then outstanding, which will equal 345,000 shares immediately after our initial public offering; or

 

   

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

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

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

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

12


Exhibit 4.5

 

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

Registration Rights

The holders of the founder shares, private placement warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (and any shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of the private placement warrants or warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and upon conversion of the founder shares) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement dated October 13, 2021, requiring us to register such securities for resale (in the case of the founder shares, only after conversion to our Class A common stock). The holders of at least $25 million in value of these securities are entitled to demand that we file a registration statement covering such securities and to require us to effect up to an aggregate of three underwritten offerings of such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination.

 

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