Description of Securities

EX-4.3 2 f10k2022ex4-3_lakeshoreacq2.htm DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

Exhibit 4.3

 

DESCRIPTION OF REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

As of December 31, 2022, the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K, Lakeshore Acquisition II Corp. (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) had four classes of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”): the Company’s units, ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, warrants, and rights.

 

The following description of the Company’s capital stock and provisions of the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and the Cayman Islands company law are summaries and are qualified in their entirety by reference to the Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and the Cayman Islands company law. Copies of these documents have been filed with the SEC as exhibits to the Annual Report on Form 10-K to which this description has been filed as an exhibit.

 

General

 

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of 500,000,000 ordinary shares, par value of US$0.0001 per share. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, 6,374,089 ordinary shares are issued or outstanding. The following description summarizes all of the material terms of our securities. Because it is only a summary, it may not contain all the information that is important to you. For a complete description you should refer to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, which is filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

Units

 

Each unit has an offering price of $10.00 and consists of one ordinary share, one-half of one redeemable warrant and one right. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade, so unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. Each right entitles the holder thereof to receive one-tenth (1/10) of one ordinary share upon consummation of our initial business combination, so you must hold rights in multiples of 10 in order to receive shares for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination.

 

Private Units

 

The private units (including the private rights, private warrants or private shares issuable upon exercise of such rights and warrants warrants) will not be transferable, assignable or salable until 30 days after the completion of our initial business combination (except as described herein). Otherwise, the private units are identical to the units sold in our initial public offering except that the private warrants will be entitled to registration rights.

 

Ordinary Shares

 

Our shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. In connection with any vote held to approve our initial business combination, our initial shareholders, as well as all of our officers and directors, have agreed to vote their respective ordinary shares owned by them immediately prior to our initial public offering and any shares purchased in our initial public offering or following our initial public offering in the open market in favor of the proposed business combination.

 

We will consummate our initial business combination only if we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon such consummation and, solely if a vote is held to approve a business combination, an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company, will be required to approve the business combination.

 

 

 

 

Our board of directors is divided into three classes: Class I, Class II and Class III. The number of directors in each class shall be as nearly equal as possible. The Class I directors shall stand appointed for a term expiring at our company’s first annual general meeting, the Class II directors shall stand appointed for a term expiring at our company’s second annual general meeting and the Class III directors shall stand appointed for a term expiring at our company’s third annual general meeting. Commencing at our company’s first annual general meeting, and at each annual general meeting thereafter, directors appointed to succeed those directors whose terms expire shall be appointed for a term of office to expire at the third succeeding annual general meeting after their appointment. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares eligible to vote for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. 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. We may not hold an annual general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.

 

Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we do not consummate a business combination by 12 months (or 15 months, as applicable) from the consummation of our initial public offering, we will redeem 100% of the public shares sold in our initial public offering. Our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their rights to share in any distribution from the trust account with respect to their founders’ shares upon our winding up, dissolution and liquidation. They will, however, participate in any liquidation distribution from the trust account with respect to any ordinary shares acquired in, or following, our initial public offering.

 

Our shareholders have no conversion, preemptive or other subscription rights and there are no sinking fund or redemption provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that public shareholders have the right to sell their shares to us in a tender offer or have their ordinary shares redeemed for cash equal to their pro rata share of the trust account if they vote on the proposed business combination in connection with such business combination and the business combination is completed. Public shareholders who sell or redeem their shares for their share of the trust account still have the right to exercise the warrants that they received as part of the units.

 

Under Cayman Islands law, we must keep a register of members and there shall be entered therein:

 

(a) the names and addresses of the members and a statement of the shares held by each member which shall distinguish each share by its number, confirm the amount paid or agreed to be considered as paid on the shares of each member, confirm the number and category of shares held by each member, and confirm whether each relevant category of shares held by a member carries the voting rights of the shares under the articles of association of the company, and if so, whether such voting rights are conditional;

 

(b) the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and

 

(c) the date on which any person ceased to be a member.

 

Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e. the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members shall be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. Upon the closing of this public offering, the register of members shall be immediately updated to reflect the issue of shares by us. Once our register of members has been updated, the shareholders recorded in the register of members shall be deemed to have legal title to the shares set against their name.

 

However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position. Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.

 

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Private shares

 

Except as described in the paragraph below, the private shares have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the ordinary shares being sold as part of the units in our initial public offering.

 

The private shares will not be transferable, assignable or salable until after the completion of our initial business combination. The initial shareholders has agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their private shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their private shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or 15 months, as applicable) from the closing of our initial public offering or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to their private shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or 15 months, as applicable) from the closing of our initial public offering. We have issued to Network 1 Financial Securities, Inc. and/or its designees, 165,000 ordinary shares (the “Representative Shares”). Network 1 Financial Securities, Inc. has agreed not to transfer, assign, sell, pledge, or hypothecate any such Representative Shares, or subject such Representative Shares to hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, Network 1 Financial Securities, Inc. has agreed (i) to waive its redemption rights with respect to such shares in connection with the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) to waive its rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within 12 months (or 15 months, as applicable) from the closing of our initial public offering.

 

Public warrants

 

Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at any time commencing 30 days after the completion of an initial business combination. However, no public warrants will be exercisable for cash unless we have an effective and current registration statement covering the issuance of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to such ordinary shares. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the issuance of the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the public warrants is not effective within 90 days from the closing of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to an available exemption from registration under the Securities Act. If an exemption from registration is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. The warrants will expire five years from the closing of our initial business combination at 5:00 p.m., New York City time or earlier redemption.

 

In addition, if (x) we issue additional ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per share (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 initial shareholders or their affiliates, without taking into account any founders’ shares held by our initial shareholders or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described below will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

 

We may call the warrants for redemption in whole and not in part, at a price of $0.01 per warrant:

 

The right to exercise will be forfeited unless the warrants are exercised prior to the date specified in the notice of redemption. On and after the redemption date, a record holder of a warrant will have no further rights except to receive the redemption price for such holder’s warrant upon surrender of such warrant.

 

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The redemption criteria for our warrants have been established at a price which is intended to provide warrant holders 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.

 

If we call the warrants for redemption as described above, our management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise warrants to do so on a “cashless basis.” In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of ordinary shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the difference between the exercise price of the warrants and the fair market value by (y) the fair market value. The “fair market value” for this purpose shall mean the average reported last sale price of the ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the notice of redemption is sent to the holders of warrants. For example, if a holder held 150 warrants to purchase 150 shares and the fair market value on the trading date prior to exercise was $15.00, that holder would receive 35 shares without the payment of any additional cash consideration. Whether we will exercise our option to require all holders to exercise their warrants on a “cashless basis” will depend on a variety of factors including the price of our ordinary shares at the time the warrants are called for redemption, our cash needs at such time and concerns regarding dilutive share issuances.

 

The warrants will be issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval, by written consent or vote, of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding warrants (including the private warrants) in order to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders.

 

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

 

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

 

Except as described above, no public warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue ordinary shares unless at the time a holder seeks to exercise such warrant, a prospectus relating to the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is current and the ordinary shares have been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. Under the terms of the warrant agreement, we have agreed to use our best efforts to meet these conditions and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants until the expiration of the warrants. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so and, if we do not maintain a current prospectus relating to the ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, holders will be unable to exercise their warrants and we will not be required to settle any such warrant exercise. If the prospectus relating to the ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the warrants is not current or if the ordinary shares is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside, we will not be required to net cash settle or cash settle the warrant exercise, the warrants may have no value, the market for the warrants may be limited and the warrants may expire worthless.

 

Warrant holders may elect to be subject to a restriction on the exercise of their warrants such that an electing warrant holder would not be able to exercise their warrants to the extent that, after giving effect to such exercise, such holder would beneficially own in excess of 9.8% of the ordinary shares outstanding.

 

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No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the warrants. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of ordinary shares to be issued to the warrant holder, and the fractional interest will be canceled. Therefore, you must separate your units in multiples of two to not have any fractional warrants canceled.

 

Our 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 warrant agreement 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.

 

Private warrants

 

The private warrants have terms and provisions that are identical to those of the warrants being sold as part of the units in our initial public offering.

 

Our initial shareholders have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of the founder shares and insider units (except to certain permitted transferees) until, with respect to 50% of the founder shares and insider units, the earlier of six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination and the date on which the closing price of our ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.50 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period following the consummation of our initial business combination and, with respect to the remaining 50% of the founder shares and insider units, six months after the date of the consummation of our initial business combination, or earlier in each case if, subsequent to our initial business combination, we complete a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction which results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.

 

With respect to the private warrants held by the underwriters, for so long as such warrants are held by the underwriters, such warrants will not be exercisable more than five years from the date of the prospectus for our IPO in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(i).

  

Rights included as part of units

 

Except in cases where we are not the surviving company in a business combination, each holder of a right will automatically receive one-tenth (1/10) of an ordinary share upon consummation of our initial business combination, even if the holder of a public right converted all ordinary shares held by him, her or it in connection with the initial business combination or an amendment to our certificate of incorporation with respect to our pre-business combination activities. In the event we will not be the surviving company upon completion of our initial business combination, each holder of a right will be required to affirmatively convert his, her or its rights in order to receive the one- tenth (1/10) of a share underlying each right upon consummation of the business combination. No additional consideration will be required to be paid by a holder of rights in order to receive his, her or its additional ordinary shares upon consummation of an initial business combination. The shares issuable upon exchange of the rights will be freely tradable (except to the extent held by affiliates of ours). If we enter into a definitive agreement for a business combination in which we will not be the surviving entity, the definitive agreement will provide for the holders of rights to receive the same per share consideration the holders of the ordinary shares will receive in the transaction on an as-converted into ordinary share basis.

 

We will not issue fractional shares in connection with an exchange of rights. As a result, you must hold rights in multiples of 10 in order to receive shares for all of your rights upon closing of a business combination. If we are unable to complete an initial business combination within the required time period and we liquidate the funds held in the trust account, holders of rights will not receive any of such funds with respect to their rights, nor will they receive any distribution from our assets held outside of the trust account with respect to such rights, and the rights and warrants will expire worthless. Further, there are no contractual penalties for failure to deliver securities to the holders of the rights upon consummation of an initial business combination. Additionally, in no event will we be required to net cash settle the rights. Accordingly, the rights and warrants may expire worthless.

 

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Dividends

 

We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination. The payment of any dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our then board of directors. It is the present intention of our board of directors to retain all earnings, if any, for use in our business operations and, accordingly, our board does not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.

 

Our Transfer Agent and Warrant Agent

 

The transfer agent for our securities and warrant agent for our warrants is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 1 State Street, New York, New York 10004.

 

Listing of our Securities

 

Our units, ordinary shares, warrants and rights trade separately on Nasdaq under the symbols “LBBBU,”, “LBBB” “LBBBW”, and “LBBBR,” respectively.

 

CERTAIN DIFFERENCES IN CORPORATE LAW

 

Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the material differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.

 

Mergers and Similar Arrangements

 

In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).

 

Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually a majority of 2/3 in value of the voting shares voted at a shareholder meeting) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (a company that holds issued shares that together represent at least 90% of the votes at a general meeting of the subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.

 

Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted.

 

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Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidation is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived, (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company, and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.

 

Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides for a right of dissenting shareholders to be paid the fair value of their shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows: (a) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (b) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree to the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree a price within such 30 day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30 day period expires, the company (and any dissenting shareholder) must file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or shares of the surviving or consolidated company.

 

Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances. Schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement” which may be tantamount to a merger. In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at an annual general meeting, or an extraordinary general meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the general meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:

 

we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with;

 

the shareholders have been fairly represented at the general meeting in question;

 

the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and

 

the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a fraud on the minority.

 

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If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights, which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations, providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares.

 

Squeeze-out Provisions

 

When a takeover offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer is made within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.

 

Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements of an operating business.

 

Shareholders’ Suits

 

Harney Westwood & Riegels, our Cayman Islands counsel, is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:

 

a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or beyond the scope of its authority;

 

the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or

 

those who control the company are perpetrating a fraud on the minority.

 

A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.

 

Enforcement of civil liabilities

 

The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, shareholders of Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.

 

We have been advised by Harney Westwood & Riegels, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money (or, in certain circumstances, non-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 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, and 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.

 

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Special Considerations for Exempted Companies

 

We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:

 

annual reporting requirements are minimal and consist mainly of a statement that the company has conducted its operations mainly outside of the Cayman Islands and has complied with the provisions of the Companies Law;

 

an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection;

 

an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting;

 

an exempted company may issue negotiable or bearer shares or shares with no par value;

 

an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance);

 

an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands;

 

an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and

 

an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company.

 

“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).

 

AMENDED AND RESTATED MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION

 

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections that will apply to us until the consummation of a business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution under Cayman Islands law. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (i) the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s shareholders entitled to vote and so voting at a shareholder meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that special resolutions must be approved either by not less than two-thirds of our shareholders who attend and vote at a shareholder meeting of the company (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders. The following are the material rights and protections contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:

 

the right of public shareholders to exercise redemption rights and have their public shares repurchased in lieu of participating in a proposed business combination (up to a maximum of 20% of the public shares sold in our IPO);

 

a prohibition against completing a business combination unless we have net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 immediately prior to or upon consummation of such business combination;

 

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a requirement that if we seek shareholder approval of any business combination, the approval of an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of shareholders holding a majority of ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general meeting, must be obtained;

 

the separation of our board of directors into three classes and the establishment of related procedures regarding the standing and appointment of such directors;

 

a requirement that directors may call general meetings on their own accord and are required to call an extraordinary general meeting if holders entitled to exercise 10% or more of the voting rights   request such a general meeting;

 

a requirement that our management take all actions necessary to liquidate our trust account in the event we do not consummate a business combination by 12 months (or 15 months) from the consummation of our IPO;

 

a prohibition, prior to a business combination, against our issuing (i) any ordinary shares or any securities convertible into ordinary shares or (ii) any other securities (including preference shares) which participate in or are otherwise entitled in any manner to any of the proceeds in the trust account or which vote as a class with the ordinary shares on a business combination; and

 

the limitation on shareholders’ rights to receive a portion of the trust account.

 

Although  we could amend any of the provisions relating to our proposed offering, structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our officers or directors, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares in connection with any such vote. The foregoing is set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and cannot be amended.

 

 

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