Form of Underwriting Agreement
Exhibit 1.1
30,000,000 Units
Pure Acquisition Corp.
UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT
, 2018
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.,
as Representatives of the several
Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto
c/o Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
85 Broad Street
New York, New York 10004
and
EarlyBirdCapital, Inc.
366 Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10017
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Pure Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (the Company), proposes, subject to the terms and conditions contained herein, to sell to you and the other underwriters named on Schedule I to this Agreement (the Underwriters), for whom you are acting as Representatives (the Representatives), an aggregate of 30,000,000 units (the Firm Units) of the Company. The respective amounts of the Firm Units to be purchased by each of the several Underwriters are set forth opposite their names on Schedule I hereto. In addition, the Company proposes to grant to the Underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 4,500,000 units (the Option Units) for the purpose of covering over-allotments in connection with the sale of the Firm Units. The Firm Units and the Option Units are collectively called the Units, and the offer of the Units for sale by the Underwriters to the public is hereinafter referred to as the Offering.
Each Unit consists of one share of the Companys Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the Common Stock) and one half of one warrant, where each whole warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Common Stock (the Warrant(s)). The Common Stock and Warrants included in the Units will not trade separately until the 52nd day following the date of the Prospectus (as defined below), unless the Representatives inform the Company of their decision to allow earlier separate trading, subject to (a) the Companys preparation of an audited balance sheet reflecting the receipt by the Company of the gross proceeds of the Offering, (b) the filing of such audited balance sheet with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) on a Form 8-K, and (c) the Company having issued a press release announcing when such separate trading will begin. Each whole Warrant entitles its holder, upon exercise, to
purchase one share of Common Stock for $11.50 per share during the period commencing on the later of thirty (30) days after the completion of an initial Business Combination (as defined below), or twelve (12) months from the date of consummation of the Offering and terminating on the five (5) year anniversary of the date of the completion of such initial Business Combination, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation. The Units, the shares of Common Stock and the Warrants are collectively called the Public Securities). As used herein, the term Business Combination shall mean a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses.
The Company has entered into a Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, effective as of [●], 2018 (the Warrant Subscription Agreement), with HighPeak Pure Acquisition, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the Sponsor), pursuant to which the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 8,000,000 warrants (or 8,900,000 warrants if the over-allotment option is exercised in full), at a price of $1.00 per warrant, each such warrant entitling the holder upon exercise to purchase one share of Common Stock (the Private Placement Warrants), for $11.50 per share. The Private Placement Warrants are substantially similar to the Warrants included in the Units, except as described in the Prospectus.
The Company has entered into an Investment Management Trust Agreement (the Trust Agreement), effective as of [●], 2018, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (CST), as trustee, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Registration Statement (as defined below), pursuant to which the proceeds from the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and certain proceeds of the Offering will be deposited and held in a trust account (the Trust Account) for the benefit of the Company, the Underwriters and the holders of the Units, if and when issued.
The Company has entered into a Warrant Agreement (the Warrant Agreement), effective as of [●], 2018, with respect to the Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants with CST, as warrant agent, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Registration Statement, pursuant to which CST will act as warrant agent in connection with the issuance, registration, transfer, exchange, redemption and exercise of the Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants.
The Company has entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 12, 2017 (the Founders Purchase Agreement), with the Sponsor, pursuant to which the Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 10,062,500 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (including the shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion thereof, the Founder Shares), for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000. On March [●], 2018, the sponsor returned to the Company, at no cost, an aggregate of 1,437,500 Founder Shares, which the Company cancelled, leaving an aggregate of 8,625,000 Founder Shares outstanding. The Founder Shares are substantially similar to the shares of Common Stock included in the Units except as described in the Prospectus.
The Sponsor has entered into a Securities Purchase and Assignment Agreement, effective as of March [●], 2018 (the Securities Assignment Agreement), with each of the Companys independent director nominees, pursuant to which the Sponsor assigned 40,000 of its Founder Shares to such independent director nominees (an aggregate of 120,000 Founder Shares) for an aggregate purchase price of $348.
2
The Company has entered into a Registration Rights Agreement (the Registration Rights Agreement), dated as of [●], 2018, with the Sponsor and other parties thereto, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the Registration Statement (as defined below), pursuant to which the Company has granted certain registration rights in respect of the Private Placement Warrants and the shares of Common Stock underlying the Founder Shares, the shares of Common Stock underlying the Private Placement Warrants, the shares of Common Stock underlying the Founder Shares, certain warrants that may be issued upon conversion of the working capital loans (including the shares of Common Stock underlying such warrants) and certain shares of Common Stock (including shares of Common Stock underlying warrants) issued pursuant to the Forward Purchase Agreement (as defined below).
The Company has entered into a letter agreement, dated [●], 2018, with the Sponsor and each of the Companys officers, directors and director nominees, in the form filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Registration Statement (the Insider Letter(s)). Among other things, pursuant to the Insider Letter the Sponsor has agreed that it will effect, or cause an affiliate of the Sponsor to effect, a tender offer for the Warrants not owned by the Sponsor or its affiliates at a price of $1.00 per Warrant, which will occur promptly after any occurrence of (a) the Companys announcement of an initial Business Combination or (b) any filing by the Company of a proxy statement or information statement with respect to a proposed amendment to the Companys amended and restated certificate of incorporation that would affect the substance of timing of the Companys obligation to redeem 100% of the shares of Common Stock held by Public Stockholders if the Company does not complete a Business Combination within 18 months from the closing of the Offering.
The Company has entered into an Administrative Services Agreement, dated as of [●], 2018, with the Sponsor, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Registration Statement (the Administrative Services Agreement), pursuant to which the Company will pay to the Sponsor an aggregate monthly fee of $10,000 for certain office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services.
The Company has entered into that certain business combination marketing agreement, dated as of [●], 2018, with the Representatives, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 1.2 to the Registration Statement (the Business Combination Marketing Agreement).
The Company has issued that certain non-interest bearing promissory note in favor of the Sponsor, dated as of December 16, 2017, pursuant to which the Company has promised to pay to the Sponsor up to an aggregate principal amount of $200,000 (the Sponsor Note).
The Company has entered into that certain stock escrow agreement, dated as of [●], 2018, with CST, the Sponsor and the Companys independent director nominees, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Registration Statement (the Stock Escrow Agreement), pursuant to which the Founder Shares will be held in escrow by CST until (a) with respect to 50% of the Founder Shares, the earlier of one year after the date consummation of the initial Business Combination and the date on which the closing price of the Common Stock equals or
3
exceeds $12.00 per share for any twenty (20) trading days within any thirty (30) trading day period commencing after the initial Business Combination and (b) with respect to the remaining 50% of the Founder Shares, one year after the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination, or earlier in certain limited situations as described in the Registration Statement.
The Company has entered into a Forward Purchase Agreement, effective as of [●], 2018, with HighPeak Energy Partners, LP (HighPeak), in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.9 to the Registration Statement (the Forward Purchase Agreement), pursuant to which HighPeak or its affiliates or third party-transferees will purchase up to 15,000,000 units (the Forward Purchase Units) for an aggregate purchase price of up to $150,000,000 in a private placement that will close simultaneously with the closing of the initial Business Combination, which Forward Purchase Units will have the same terms as the Units, except that any shares purchased subject to the Forward Purchase Agreement are subject to certain transfer restrictions and registration rights, as further set forth in the Registration Statement.
The Sponsor has entered into that certain escrow agreement, dated as of [●], 2018, with CST, in substantially the form filed as Exhibit 10.11 to the Registration Statement (the Cash Escrow Agreement), pursuant to which the Sponsor has agreed to deposit, or to cause an affiliate to deposit, cash funds or a letter of credit from a financially capable bank in good standing in an amount equal to $15,000,000 (or $17,250,000 if the over-allotment option is exercised in full) with CST, to be used to pay $1.00 per Warrant to holders of the Warrants that tender in a tender offer for the Warrants, as described in the Registration Statement.
As part of the offering contemplated by this Agreement, the Company and the Underwriters agree that up to [●] (the Directed Units) of the Units to be purchased by the Underwriters shall be reserved for sale by the Underwriters to certain of the Companys directors, officers, employees and other parties associated with the Company (each, individually a Participant and collectively, the Participants), as part of the distribution of the Units by the Underwriters, under the terms of the friends and family directed sales program (the Friends and Family Program), and subject to the terms of this Agreement, the applicable rules, regulations and interpretations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and all other applicable laws, rules and regulations. Units to be sold pursuant to the Friends and Family Program shall be sold pursuant to this Agreement at the public offering price. To the extent that any such Directed Units are not orally confirmed for purchase by a Participant by the end of the first business day after the date of this Agreement, such Directed Units may be offered to the public as part of the public offering contemplated hereby.
The Company has prepared and filed in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and the published rules and regulations thereunder (the Rules) adopted by the Commission a Registration Statement (as hereinafter defined) on Form S-1 (No. 333-223845), including a preliminary prospectus relating to the Units, and such amendments thereof as may have been required to the date of this Agreement. Copies of such Registration Statement (including all amendments thereof) and of the related Preliminary Prospectus (as hereinafter defined) have heretofore been delivered by the Company to you. The term Preliminary Prospectus means any preliminary prospectus included at any time as a part of the Registration Statement or filed with the Commission by the Company pursuant to Rule 424 of the Rules. The term Registration Statement as used in this
4
Agreement means the initial registration statement (including all exhibits and financial schedules), as amended at the time and on the date it becomes effective (the Effective Date), including the information (if any) contained in the form of final prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules and deemed to be part thereof at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430A of the Rules. If the Company has filed an abbreviated registration statement to register additional Units pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Rules (the 462(b) Registration Statement), then any reference herein to the Registration Statement shall also be deemed to include such 462(b) Registration Statement. The term Prospectus as used in this Agreement means the prospectus in the form included in the Registration Statement at the time of effectiveness or, if Rule 430A of the Rules is relied on, the term Prospectus shall also include the final prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to and within the time limits described in Rule 424(b) of the Rules.
The Company understands the Underwriters propose to make a public offering of the Shares, as set forth in and pursuant to the Statutory Prospectus (as hereinafter defined) and the Prospectus, as soon after the Effective Date and the date of this Agreement as the Representatives deem advisable. The Company hereby confirms that the Underwriters and dealers have been authorized to distribute or cause to be distributed each Preliminary Prospectus and are authorized to distribute the Prospectus (as from time to time amended or supplemented if the Company furnishes amendments or supplements thereto to the Underwriters).
1. Sale, Purchase, Delivery and Payment for the Units. On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements contained in, and subject to the terms and conditions of, this Agreement:
(a) The Company agrees to issue and sell to each of the Underwriters, and each of the Underwriters agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company, at a purchase price of $9.80 per Unit (the Initial Price), the number of Firm Units set forth opposite the name of such Underwriter under the column Number of Firm Units to be Purchased from the Company on Schedule I to this Agreement, subject to adjustment in accordance with Section 8 hereof.
(b) The Company hereby grants to the several Underwriters an option to purchase, severally and not jointly, all or any part of the Option Units at the Initial Price. The number of Option Units to be purchased by each Underwriter shall be the same percentage (adjusted by the Representatives to eliminate fractions) of the total number of Option Units to be purchased by the Underwriters as such Underwriter is purchasing of the Firm Units. Such option may be exercised only to cover over-allotments in the sales of the Firm Units by the Underwriters and may be exercised in whole or in part at any time on or before 12:00 noon, New York City time, on the business day before the Firm Units Closing Date (as defined below), and from time to time thereafter within 45 days after the date of this Agreement, in each case upon written, facsimile or telegraphic notice, or verbal or telephonic notice confirmed by written, facsimile or telegraphic notice, by the Representatives to the Company no later than 12:00 noon, New York City time, on the business day before the Firm Units Closing Date or at least two business days before the Option Units Closing Date (as defined below), as the case may be, setting forth the number of Option Units to be purchased and the time and date (if other than the Firm Units Closing Date) of such purchase.
5
(c) Payment of the purchase price for, and delivery of the Firm Units shall be made at the offices of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, New York 10004, at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the [third] business day following the date of this Agreement or at such time on such other date, not later than ten (10) business days after the date of this Agreement, as shall be agreed upon by the Company and the Representatives (such time and date of delivery and payment are called the Firm Units Closing Date). In addition, in the event any or all of the Option Units are purchased by the Underwriters, payment of the purchase price, and delivery of such Option Units shall be made at the above-mentioned offices, or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the Representatives and the Company, on each date of delivery as specified in the notice from the Representatives to the Company (such time and date of delivery and payment are called the Option Units Closing Date). The Firm Units Closing Date and any Option Units Closing Date are called, individually, a Closing Date and, together, the Closing Dates.
(d) The Units shall be registered in such names and shall be in such denominations as the Representatives shall request at least two full business days before the Firm Units Closing Date or, in the case of Option Units, on the day of notice of exercise of the option as described in Section 1(b) and shall be delivered by or on behalf of the Company to the Representatives through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (DTC) for the account of such Underwriter.
2. Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company represents and warrants to each Underwriter as of the date hereof, as of the Firm Units Closing Date and as of each Option Units Closing Date (if any), as follows:
(a) On the Effective Date, the Registration Statement complied, and on the date of the Prospectus, the date any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement becomes effective, the date any supplement or amendment to the Prospectus is filed with the Commission and each Closing Date, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus (and any amendment thereof or supplement thereto) will comply, in all material respects, with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Rules and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. The Registration Statement did not, as of the Effective Date, contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading; and on the Effective Date and the other dates referred to above neither the Registration Statement nor the Prospectus, nor any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, will contain any untrue statement of a material fact or will omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading. When any Preliminary Prospectus was first filed with the Commission (whether filed as part of the Registration Statement or any amendment thereto or pursuant to Rule 424(a) of the Rules) and when any amendment thereof or supplement thereto was first filed with the Commission, such Preliminary Prospectus as amended or supplemented complied in all material respects with the applicable provisions of the Securities Act and the Rules and did not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading. Each Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus delivered to the Underwriters for use in connection with this offering was identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the
6
Commission pursuant to the Commissions Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (EDGAR), except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T. Notwithstanding the foregoing, none of the representations and warranties in this paragraph 2(a) shall apply to statements in, or omissions from, the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus made in reliance upon, and in conformity with, information herein or otherwise furnished in writing by the Representatives on behalf of the several Underwriters specifically for use in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, as the case may be. With respect to the preceding sentence, the Company acknowledges the only information furnished in writing by the Representatives on behalf of the several Underwriters for use in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus is the statements contained under the caption Underwriting in the Prospectus which relate to the list of Underwriters and their respective roles and participation in the sale of the Units, the sentences related to concessions and reallowances and the Underwriters intention not to make sales to discretionary accounts and the paragraphs related to stabilization, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids and under the subsections Price Stabilization, Short Positions, Determination of Offering Price, Electronic Distribution and Selling Restrictions (collectively, the Underwriter Information).
(b) As of the Applicable Time (as hereinafter defined), none of (i) the price to the public and the number of Units offered and sold, as indicated on the cover page of the Prospectus and the Statutory Prospectus (as hereinafter defined), all considered together (collectively, the General Disclosure Package), and (ii) any individual Written Testing-the Waters Communication (as defined herein), when considered together with the General Disclosure Package, included, includes or will include as of their dates any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements in or omissions in the General Disclosure Package made in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information.
As used in this Section and elsewhere in this Agreement:
Applicable Time means [10][4]:00 [a][p]m (Eastern time) on the date of this Underwriting Agreement.
Statutory Prospectus as of any time means the Preliminary Prospectus relating to the Shares that is included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to the Applicable Time.
(c) The Registration Statement is effective under the Securities Act and no stop order preventing or suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or suspending or preventing the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued by the Commission and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are threatened under the Securities Act. Any required filing of any Preliminary Prospectus and/or the Prospectus and any supplement thereto pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Rules has been or will be made in the manner and within the time period required by such Rule 424(b). Any material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) or Rule 163(b)(2) of the Rules has been or will be made in the manner and within the time period required by such Rules.
7
(d) No free writing prospectus (as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Rules) has been prepared by or on behalf of the Company or used or referred to by the Company in connection with the Offering, including, without limitation, any road show related to the Offering.
(e) The financial statements of the Company (including all notes and schedules thereto) included in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and Prospectus present fairly the financial position of the Company at the dates indicated and the statement of operations, stockholders equity and cash flows of the Company for the periods specified; and such financial statements and related schedules and notes thereto, and the unaudited financial information filed with the Commission as part of the Registration Statement, have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied throughout the periods involved. The summary and selected financial data included in the Statutory Prospectus and Prospectus present fairly the information shown therein as at the respective dates and for the respective periods specified and have been presented on a basis consistent with the consolidated financial statements set forth in the Prospectus and other financial information.
(f) WithumSmith+Brown, PC (the Auditor) whose reports are filed with the Commission as a part of the Registration Statement, are and, during the periods covered by their reports, were independent public accountants as required by the Securities Act and the Rules.
(g) The Company is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware and has all requisite power and authority to carry on its business as is currently being conducted as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, and to own, lease and operate its properties. The Company is duly qualified to do business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted by it or location of the assets or properties owned, leased or licensed by it requires such qualification, except for such jurisdictions where the failure to so qualify individually or in the aggregate would not have a material adverse effect on the assets, properties, condition, financial or otherwise, or on the results of operations, business affairs or business prospects of the Company (a Material Adverse Effect); and to the Companys knowledge, no proceeding has been instituted in any such jurisdiction revoking, limiting or curtailing, or seeking to revoke, limit or curtail, such power and authority or qualification. The Company has no subsidiary or subsidiaries and does not control, directly or indirectly, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association or other business organization.
(h) The Company has all requisite corporate power and authority, and all necessary authorizations, approvals, consents, orders, licenses, certificates and permits of and from all governmental or regulatory bodies or any other person or entity (collectively, the Permits), to conduct its business, all of which are valid and in full force and effect, except where the lack of such Permits, individually or in the aggregate, would not have a Material Adverse Effect. The Company has fulfilled and performed in all material respects all of its obligations with respect to such Permits and no event has occurred that allows, or after notice or
8
lapse of time would allow, revocation or termination thereof or results in any other material impairment of the rights of the Company thereunder. Except as may be required under the Securities Act and state and foreign Blue Sky laws, no other Permits are required to enter into, deliver and perform this Agreement and to issue and sell the Public Securities.
(i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement and (ii) at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an ineligible issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Rules, including (but not limited to) the Company in the preceding three years not having been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor or having been made the subject of a judicial or administrative decree or order as described in Rule 405 of the Rules.
(j) (i) Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, there has not been any event which would have a Material Adverse Effect; and (ii) since the date of the latest balance sheet included in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company has not (A) issued any securities or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, for borrowed money, except such liabilities or obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business, (B) entered into any transaction not in the ordinary course of business or (C) declared or paid any dividend or made any distribution on any shares of its stock or, except as disclosed in such balance sheet, redeemed, purchased or otherwise acquired or agreed to redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire any shares of its capital stock.
(k) There is no document, contract or other agreement required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus or to be filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement which is not described or filed as required by the Securities Act or Rules. Each description of a contract, document or other agreement in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus accurately reflects in all material respects the terms of the underlying contract, document or other agreement. Each contract, document or other agreement described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus or listed in the Exhibits to the Registration Statement to which the Company or the Sponsor is a party or to which its assets are bound is in full force and effect and is valid and enforceable by and against the Company (or the Sponsor, as applicable) in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability. Neither the Company nor, to the Companys knowledge, any other party is in default in the observance or performance of any term or obligation to be performed by it under any such agreement, and no event has occurred which with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute such a default, in any such case which default or event, individually or in the aggregate, would have a Material Adverse Effect. No default exists, and no event has occurred which with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute a default, in the due performance and observance of any term, covenant or condition, by the Company, of any other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which Company or its properties or business may be bound or affected which default or event, individually or in the aggregate, would have a Material Adverse Effect.
9
(l) The statistical and market related data included in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company believes to be reliable and accurate.
(m) The Company is not (i) in violation of its certificate of incorporation, by-laws, or other organizational documents, (ii) in default under, and no event has occurred which, with notice or lapse of time, or both, would constitute a default under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge, mortgage, pledge, security interest, claim, limitation on voting rights, equity, trust or other encumbrance, preferential arrangement, defect or restriction of any kind whatsoever, upon, any property or assets of the Company pursuant to, any bond, debenture, note, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it is bound or to which any of its properties or assets is subject or (iii) in violation of any statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, directive, judgment, decree or order of any judicial, regulatory or other legal or governmental agency or body, foreign or domestic, except (in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above) for violations or defaults that would not (individually or in the aggregate) reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(n) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability. The Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Forward Purchase Agreement, the Business Combination Marketing Agreement, the Sponsor Note and the Registration Rights Agreement have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, and each is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability. The Founders Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Stock Escrow Agreement and the Administrative Services Agreement have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and the Sponsor, and each is a valid and binding agreement of the Company and the Sponsor, enforceable against the Company and the Sponsor in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability. The Cash Escrow Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Sponsor, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Sponsor, enforceable against the Sponsor in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability. The Insider Letters executed by the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Companys knowledge, each executive officer, director and director nominee of the Company, has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Companys knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, and is a valid and binding agreement of the Company, the Sponsor and, to the Companys knowledge, each such executive officer, director and director nominee, respectively, in accordance with its terms except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general
10
applicability. No consent, approval, authorization, filing with or order of any court or governmental agency or body is required in connection with the transactions contemplated in the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Forward Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Stock Escrow Agreement, the Cash Escrow Agreement, the Insider Letters, the Sponsor Note, the Business Combination Marketing Agreement or the Administrative Services Agreement.
(o) Neither the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement by the Company nor the consummation of any of the transactions contemplated hereby (including, without limitation, the issuance and sale by the Company of the Public Securities) will give rise to a right to terminate or accelerate the due date of any payment due under, or conflict with or result in the breach of any term or provision of, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would constitute a default) under, or require any consent or waiver under, or result in the execution or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any properties or assets of the Company pursuant to the terms of any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust or other agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which the Company or any of its properties or businesses is bound, or any franchise, license, permit, judgment, decree, order, statute, rule or regulation applicable to the Company or violate any provision of the charter or by-laws of the Company, except for such consents or waivers which have already been obtained and are in full force and effect.
(p) The Company has authorized and outstanding capital stock as set forth under the caption Capitalization in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Public Securities are in due and proper legal form and have been duly authorized for issuance by the Company. All of the issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock have been duly and validly issued and are fully paid and nonassessable. Except as disclosed in the General Disclosure Package, there are no statutory preemptive or other similar rights to subscribe for or to purchase or acquire any shares of Common Stock of the Company or any such rights pursuant to its Certificate of Incorporation or by-laws or any agreement or instrument to or by which the Company is a party or bound. The Units, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided in this Agreement, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, will be free of statutory and contractual preemptive rights, resale rights, rights of first refusal or similar rights. The shares of Common Stock included in the Units have been duly authorized and, when issued and delivered against payment therefor as provided herein will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable and free of statutory and contractual preemptive rights, resale rights, rights of first refusal and similar rights. The Warrants included in the Units, Private Placement Warrants and the Forward Purchase Units, when executed, authenticated, issued and delivered in the manner set forth in the Warrant Agreement against payment therefor as provided herein, the Warrant Subscription Agreement or the Forward Purchase Agreement, as applicable, will be duly executed, authenticated, issued and delivered and will constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as the enforceability thereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, or similar laws affecting creditors rights generally from time to time in effect and by equitable principles of general applicability. The shares of Common Stock included in the Forward Purchase Units and issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants included in the Forward Purchase Units have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance upon exercise
11
thereof pursuant to the Warrant Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; the holders of such Common Stock are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; such shares of Common Stock are not and will not be subject to any preemptive or other similar contractual right granted by the Company; and all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of such Common Stock (other than such execution, countersignature and delivery at the time of issuance) has been duly and validly taken. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, there is no outstanding option, warrant or other right calling for the issuance of, and there is no commitment, plan or arrangement to issue, any share of stock of the Company or any security convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, such stock. The Common Stock, the Units, the Warrants, the Private Placement Warrants and the Forward Purchase Units conform in all material respects to all statements in relation thereto contained in the Registration Statement and the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The shares of Class B common stock included in the Founder Shares are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
(q) No holder of any security of the Company has any right, which has not been waived, to have any security owned by such holder included in the Registration Statement or to demand registration of any security owned by such holder for a period of 180 days after the date of this Agreement. Each director, executive officer and stockholder of the Company has delivered to the Representatives his or its enforceable Insider Letter, which includes certain lock-up obligations as described in the Registration Statement.
(r) There are no legal or governmental proceedings pending to which the Company is a party or of which any property of the Company is the subject which, if determined adversely to the Company could individually or in the aggregate have a Material Adverse Effect; and, to the knowledge of the Company, no such proceedings are threatened or contemplated by governmental authorities or threatened by others.
(s) All necessary corporate action has been duly and validly taken by the Company to authorize the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement, the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Forward Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Stock Escrow Agreement, the Insider Letters, the Sponsor Note, the Business Combination Marketing Agreement, the Administrative Services Agreement and the issuance and sale of the Public Securities, Private Placement Warrants and Forward Purchase Units by the Company. All necessary corporate or limited liability company action, as applicable, has been duly and validly taken by the Company or the Sponsor, as applicable, to authorize the execution, delivery and performance of the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Stock Escrow Agreement and the Administrative Services Agreement by the Company and the Sponsor, respectively. All necessary limited liability company action has been duly and validly taken by the Sponsor to authorize the execution, delivery and performance of the Cash Escrow Agreement by the Sponsor.
(t) The Company is not aware of any threatened or pending litigation between the Company and any of its executive officers which, if adversely determined, could have a Material Adverse Effect.
12
(u) No transaction has occurred between or among the Company and any of its officers or directors, shareholders or any affiliate or affiliates of any such officer or director or shareholder that is required to be described in and is not described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(v) The Company has not taken, nor will it take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or which might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, or which has constituted or which might reasonably be expected to constitute, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Common Stock or any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Units.
(w) The Company has filed all Federal, state, local and foreign tax returns which are required to be filed through the date hereof, or has received timely extensions thereof, and has paid all taxes required to be paid by it and all assessments received by it to the extent that the same are material and have become due. There are no tax audits or investigations pending, which if adversely determined would have a Material Adverse Effect; nor are there any material proposed additional tax assessments against the Company.
(x) There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of the Companys officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the Effective Date the Company will be in compliance with, the listing and corporate governance rules (the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules) of The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (Nasdaq). Further, there is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of the Companys officers or directors, in their capacities as such, to comply with (as and when applicable), and immediately following the Effective Date the Company will be in compliance with, the phase-in requirements and all other provisions of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements set forth in the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules. The Common Stock, Units and Warrants have been duly authorized for listing on Nasdaq, subject to official Notice of Issuance. A registration statement has been filed on Form 8-A pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act, which registration statement complies in all material respects with the Exchange Act.
(y) The books, records and accounts of the Company accurately and fairly reflect, the transactions in, and dispositions of, the assets of, and the results of operations of, the Company. The Company maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with managements general or specific authorizations, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain asset accountability, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with managements general or specific authorization and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.
(z) The Company has established and maintains disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15 under the Exchange Act), which: (i) are designed to ensure material information relating to the Company is made known to the Companys principal executive officer and its principal financial officer by others within the
13
Company, particularly during the periods in which the periodic reports required under the Exchange Act are required to be prepared; (ii) provide for the periodic evaluation of the effectiveness of such disclosure controls and procedures at the end of the periods in which the periodic reports are required to be prepared; and (iii) are effective in all material respects to perform the functions for which they were established.
(aa) Based on the evaluation of its disclosure controls and procedures, the Company is not aware of (i) any material weakness or significant deficiency in the design or operation of internal controls which could adversely affect the Companys ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data or any material weaknesses in internal controls; or (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a role in the Companys internal controls.
(bb) Except as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus and as preapproved in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 10A of the Exchange Act, the Auditor has not been engaged by the Company to perform any prohibited activities (as defined in Section 10A of the Exchange Act).
(cc) Except as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no material off-balance sheet arrangements (as defined in Item 303 of Regulation S-K) that have or are reasonably likely to have a material current or future effect on the Companys financial condition, revenues or expenses, changes in financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
(dd) The Companys Board of Directors has validly appointed an audit committee whose composition satisfies the requirements of Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules and the Board of Directors and/or the audit committee has adopted a charter that satisfies the requirements of Rule 5605 of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules.
(ee) There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of its directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any applicable provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including, without limitation, Section 402 related to loans.
(ff) Each approval, consent, order, authorization, designation, declaration or filing of, by or with any regulatory, administrative or other governmental body necessary in connection with the execution and delivery by the Company of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions herein contemplated required to be obtained or performed by the Company (except such additional steps as may be required by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or may be necessary to qualify the Public Securities for public offering by the Underwriters under the state securities or Blue Sky laws) has been obtained or made and is in full force and effect.
(gg) There are no affiliations with FINRA among the Companys officers, directors or, to the best of the knowledge of the Company, any five percent or greater stockholder of the Company (each such person, a Company Affiliate), except as set forth in the Registration Statement or otherwise disclosed in writing to the Representatives.
14
(hh) Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, there are no claims, payments, arrangements, contracts, agreements or understandings relating to the payment of a brokerage commission or finders, consulting, origination or similar fee by the Company or the Sponsor with respect to the sale of the Public Securities hereunder or any other arrangements, agreements or understandings of the Company, the Sponsor or any officer or director of the Company, or their respective affiliates, that may affect the Underwriters compensation, as determined by FINRA.
(ii) The Company has not made any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or any other item of value as defined in Rule 5110(c)(3) of FINRAs Conduct Rules): (i) to any person, as a finders fee, consulting fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised or provided capital to the Company; (ii) to any person that, to the Companys knowledge, has been accepted by FINRA as a member of FINRA (a Member); or (iii) to any person or entity that, to the Companys knowledge, has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any Member, within the twelve months prior to the Effective Date, other than payments to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement.
(jj) Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, during the period beginning 180 days prior to the initial filing of the Registration Statement and ending on the Effective Date, no Member and/or any person associated or affiliated with a Member has provided any investment banking, financial advisory and/or consulting services to the Company.
(kk) Except as disclosed in the Questionnaires (as defined below), to the Companys knowledge, no Company Affiliate is an owner of shares or other securities of any Member (other than securities purchased on the open market).
(ll) No Company Affiliate has made a subordinated loan to any Member.
(mm) Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, no proceeds from the sale of the Units (excluding underwriting compensation as disclosed in the Registration Statement, Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus) will be paid by the Company to any Member, or any persons associated or affiliated with a Member.
(nn) To the Companys knowledge, no Member intending to participate in the Offering has a conflict of interest with the Company. For this purpose, a conflict of interest means, if at the time of the Members participation in the Offering, any of the following applies: (A) the securities are to be issued by the Member; (B) the Company controls, is controlled by or is under common control with the Member or the Members associated persons; (C) at least 5% of the net offering proceeds, not including underwriting compensation, are intended to be: (i) used to reduce or retire the balance of a loan or credit facility extended by the Member, its affiliates and its associated persons, in the aggregate; or (ii) otherwise directed to the Member, its affiliates and associated persons, in the aggregate; or (D) as a result of the Offering and any transactions contemplated at the time of the Offering: (i) the Member will be an affiliate of the Company; (ii) the Member will become publicly owned; or (iii) the Company will become a Member or form a broker-dealer subsidiary.
15
(oo) The Company does not expect to be a Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) within the meaning of Section 1297(a) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder for the year ending December 31, 2018, and has no plan or intention to conduct its business in a manner that would be reasonably expected to result in the Company becoming a PFIC in the future under current laws and regulations.
(pp) The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Public Securities and the application of proceeds thereof as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, will not be an investment company within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Investment Company Act).
(qq) The Company or any other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company including, without limitation, any director, officer, agent or employee of the Company, has not, directly or indirectly, while acting on behalf of the Company (i) used any corporate funds for unlawful contributions, gifts, entertainment or other unlawful expenses relating to political activity; (ii) made any unlawful payment to foreign or domestic government officials or employees or to foreign or domestic political parties or campaigns from corporate funds; (iii) violated any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended; or (iv) made any other unlawful payment.
(rr) The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the Money Laundering Laws), the Company has instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure continued compliance with such laws, and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending, or to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(ss) Neither the Company nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC); and the Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.
(tt) Neither the Company nor any other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company including, without limitation, any director, officer, agent or employee of the Company has offered or caused the Underwriters to offer any of the Units to any person pursuant to the Friends and Family Program with the specific intent to unlawfully influence (i) a
16
customer or supplier of the Company to alter the customers or suppliers level or type of business with the Company or (ii) a trade journalist or publication to write or publish favorable information about the Company or its business.
Except as described in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, the Company has not sold or issued any shares of Common Stock during the six-month period preceding the date of the Prospectus, including any sales pursuant to Rule 144A under, or Regulations D or S of, the Securities Act, other than shares issued pursuant to employee benefit plans, qualified stock options plans or other employee compensation plans or pursuant to outstanding options, rights or warrants.
(uu) None of the Company, its directors or its officers has distributed nor will distribute prior to the later of (i) the Firm Units Closing Date, or the Option Units Closing Date, and (ii) completion of the distribution of the Units, any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Units other than any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, the Registration Statement and other materials, if any, permitted by the Securities Act and consistent with Section 3(d) below.
(vv) Since that date of the preliminary prospectus included in the Registration Statement filed with the Commission on [●], 2018 (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged directly or through any Person authorized to act on its behalf in any Testing-the-Waters Communication (as defined herein)) through the date hereof, the Company has been and is an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an Emerging Growth Company). Testing-the-Waters Communication means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Securities Act.
(ww) The Company (a) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication and (b) has not authorized anyone other than the Representatives to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representatives have been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications (as defined herein) other than those listed on Schedule II hereto. Written Testing-the-Waters Communication means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act.
(xx) All information contained in the questionnaires (the Questionnaires) completed by the Sponsor and, to the knowledge, of the Company, the Companys officers, directors and director nominees and provided to the Underwriters, is true and correct and the Company has not become aware of any information that would cause the information disclosed in the Questionnaires completed by the Sponsor or the Companys officers, directors and director nominees to become inaccurate and incorrect.
(yy) Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus, prior to the date hereof, the Company has not identified any acquisition target and has not, nor, to its knowledge, has anyone on its behalf, initiated contact with any prospective acquisition target or had any substantive discussions, formal or otherwise, with
17
respect to a possible initial Business Combination, or undertaken, or engaged or retained any agent or other representative to undertake, any research, diligence, evaluations or similar activities to identify, locate or contact any suitable acquisition candidate.
(zz) Upon delivery and payment for the Units on each Closing Date, the Company will not be subject to Rule 419 and none of the Companys outstanding securities will be deemed to be a penny stock as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act.
Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company and delivered to the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters in connection with the Offering shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company, as to matters covered thereby, to each Underwriter.
3. Conditions of the Underwriters Obligations. The obligations of the Underwriters under this Agreement are several and not joint. The respective obligations of the Underwriters to purchase the Units are subject to each of the following terms and conditions:
(a) Notification the Registration Statement has become effective shall have been received by the Representatives and the Prospectus shall have been timely filed with the Commission in accordance with Section 4(a) of this Agreement and any material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules shall have been timely filed with the Commission in accordance with such rule.
(b) No order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus shall be in effect and no order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall be in effect and no proceedings for such purpose shall be pending before or threatened by the Commission, and any requests for additional information on the part of the Commission (to be included in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or otherwise) shall have been complied with to the satisfaction of the Commission and the Representatives. If the Company has elected to rely upon Rule 430A, Rule 430A information previously omitted from the effective Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430A shall have been transmitted to the Commission for filing pursuant to Rule 424(b) within the prescribed time period and the Company shall have provided evidence satisfactory to the Underwriters of such timely filing, or a post-effective amendment providing such information shall have been promptly filed and declared effective in accordance with the requirements of Rule 430A.
(c) The representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement and in the certificates delivered pursuant to Section 3(d) shall be true and correct when made and on and as of each Closing Date as if made on such date. The Company shall have performed all covenants and agreements and satisfied all the conditions contained in this Agreement required to be performed or satisfied by it at or before such Closing Date.
(d) The Representatives shall have received on each Closing Date a certificate, addressed to the Representatives and dated such Closing Date, of the chief executive or chief operating officer and the chief financial officer or chief accounting officer of the Company to the effect that: (i) the representations, warranties and agreements of the Company in this Agreement were true and correct when made and are true and correct as of such Closing
18
Date; (ii) the Company has performed all covenants and agreements and satisfied all conditions contained herein; (iii) they have examined the Registration Statement, the Prospectus and the General Disclosure Package and, in their opinion (A) as of the Effective Date the Registration Statement and Prospectus did not include, and as of the Applicable Time, the General Disclosure Package did not include, any untrue statement of a material fact and did not omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and (B) since the Effective Date no event has occurred which should have been set forth in a supplement or otherwise required an amendment to the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus; (iv) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued and, to their knowledge, no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending under the Securities Act and (v) there has not occurred any material adverse change in the assets, properties, condition, financial or otherwise, or in the results of operations, business affairs or business prospects of the Company considered as a whole.
(e) The Representatives shall have received: (i) simultaneously with the execution of this Agreement a signed letter from the Auditor addressed to the Representatives and dated the date of this Agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives, containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants comfort letters to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement and the Disclosure Package, and (ii) on each Closing Date, a signed letter from the Auditor addressed to the Representatives and dated the date of such Closing Date(s), in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representatives containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants comfort letters to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.
(f) The Representatives shall have received on each Closing Date from Thompson & Knight, LLP, counsel for the Company, an opinion, addressed to the Representatives and dated such Closing Date, in a customary form reasonably acceptable to the Representatives.
(g) The Representatives shall have received on each Closing Date from Greenberg Traurig, LLP, counsel for the Representatives, an opinion, addressed to the Representatives and dated such Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Representatives, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they may reasonably request to enable them to pass upon such matters.
To the extent deemed advisable by such counsel, such counsel may rely as to matters of fact on certificates of responsible officers of the Company and public officials and on the opinions of other counsel satisfactory to the Representatives as to matters which are governed by laws other than the laws of the State of New York, the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware and the Federal laws of the United States; provided that such counsel shall state that in their opinion the Underwriters and they are justified in relying on such other opinions. Copies of such certificates and other opinions shall be furnished to the Representatives.
19
In addition, such counsel shall state that such counsel has participated in conferences with officers and other representatives of the Company, representatives of the Representatives and representatives of the independent certified public accountants of the Company, at which conferences the contents of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and related matters were discussed and, although such counsel is not passing upon and does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the statements contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus (except as specified in the foregoing opinion), on the basis of the foregoing, no facts have come to the attention of such counsel which lead such counsel to believe that (i) the Registration Statement at the time it became effective (except with respect to the financial statements and notes and schedules thereto and other financial data, as to which such counsel need express no belief) contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, or that the Prospectus as amended or supplemented (except with respect to the financial statements, notes and schedules thereto and other financial data, as to which such counsel need make no statement) on the date thereof and as of the date hereof contained or contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, or (ii) the Statutory Prospectus, when considered together with the price to the public and the number of Units as set forth on the cover page of the Prospectus, as of the Applicable Time, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(h) All proceedings taken in connection with the sale of the Firm Units and the Option Units as herein contemplated shall be reasonably satisfactory in form and substance to the Representatives, and their counsel.
(i) The Company shall have delivered to the Representatives executed copies of the Trust Agreement, the Warrant Agreement, the Forward Purchase Agreement, the Stock Escrow Agreement, the Cash Escrow Agreement, the Founders Purchase Agreement, the Warrant Subscription Agreement, the Insider Letters, the Registration Rights Agreement, the Business Combination Marketing Agreement and the Administrative Services Agreement.
(j) The shares of Common Stock, Units and Warrants shall have been approved for listing on Nasdaq, subject only to official notice of issuance.
(k) The Representatives shall be reasonably satisfied that since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (i) there shall not have been any material change in the capital stock of the Company or any material change in the indebtedness (other than in the ordinary course of business) of the Company, (ii) except as set forth or contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, no material oral or written agreement or other transaction shall have been entered into by the Company that is not in the ordinary course of business or that could reasonably be expected to result in a material reduction in the future earnings of the Company, (iii) no legal or governmental action, suit or proceeding affecting the Company that is material to the Company or that affects or could reasonably be expected to affect the transactions contemplated by this
20
Agreement shall have been instituted or threatened and (iv) there shall not have been any material change in the assets, properties, condition (financial or otherwise), or in the results of operations, business affairs or business prospects of the Company that makes it impractical or inadvisable in the Representatives judgment to proceed with the purchase or offering of the Units as contemplated hereby.
(l) Prior to the Firm Shares Closing Date, FINRA shall have confirmed that it has not raised any objection with respect to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and agreements in connection with the offering of the Units.
(m) The Company shall have furnished or caused to be furnished to the Representatives such further certificates or documents as the Representatives shall have reasonably requested.
(n) The Company shall have caused the applicable purchase price for the Private Placement Warrants to be deposited into the Trust Account,
4. Covenants and other Agreements of the Company and the Underwriters.
(a) The Company covenants and agrees as follows:
(i) The Company shall prepare the Prospectus in a form approved by the Representatives and file such Prospectus pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act not later than the Commissions close of business on the second business day following the execution and delivery of this Agreement, or, if applicable, such earlier time as may be required by the Rules.
(ii) The Company shall promptly advise the Representatives in writing (A) when any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement shall have become effective or any supplement to the Prospectus shall have been filed, (B) of any request by the Commission for any amendment of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or for any additional information, (C) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus, or the institution or threatening of any proceeding for that purpose and (D) of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of any Public Securities for sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose. The Company shall not file any amendment to the Registration Statement or supplement to the Prospectus unless the Company has furnished the Representatives a copy for its review prior to filing and shall not file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which the Representatives reasonably object. The Company shall use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any such stop order and, if issued, to obtain as soon as possible the withdrawal thereof.
(iii) If, at any time when a prospectus relating to the Shares (or, in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Rules) is required to be delivered under the Securities Act and any event occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit
21
to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein in the light of the circumstances under which they were made not misleading, or if it shall be necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus to comply with the Securities Act or the Rules, the Company promptly shall prepare and file with the Commission, subject to the second sentence of paragraph (ii) of this Section 4(a), an amendment or supplement which shall correct such statement or omission or an amendment which shall effect such compliance.
(iv) The Company shall not prepare or use any free writing prospectus (as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Rules) in connection with the Offering.
(v) The Company shall make generally available to its security holders and to the Representatives as soon as practicable, but not later than 45 days after the end of the 12-month period beginning at the end of the fiscal quarter of the Company during which the Effective Date occurs (or 90 days if such 12-month period coincides with the Companys fiscal year), an earning statement (which need not be audited) of the Company, covering such 12-month period, which shall satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act or Rule 158 of the Rules; provided that the Company will be deemed to have furnished such statements to its security holders and the Representatives to the extent they are filed on EDGAR.
(vi) The Company shall furnish to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement (including all exhibits thereto and amendments thereof) and to each other Underwriter a copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto) and all amendments thereof and, so long as delivery of a prospectus by an Underwriter or dealer may be required by the Securities Act or the Rules, as many copies of any Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments thereof and supplements thereto as the Representatives may reasonably request. If applicable, the copies of the Registration Statement, preliminary prospectus and Prospectus and each amendment and supplement thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
(vii) The Company shall cooperate with the Representatives and their counsel in endeavoring to qualify the Public Securities for offer and sale in connection with the offering under the laws of such jurisdictions as the Representatives may designate and shall maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Public Securities; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required in connection therewith, as a condition thereof, to qualify as a foreign corporation or to execute a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction or subject itself to taxation as doing business in any jurisdiction.
(viii) The Company, during the period when the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof, the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Rules) is required to be delivered under the Securities Act and the Rules or the Exchange Act, will file all reports and other documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15 of the Exchange Act within the time periods required by the Exchange Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
22
(ix) Without the prior written consent of the Representatives, for a period of 180 days after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall not issue, sell or register with the Commission (other than on Form S-8 or on any successor form), or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any equity securities of the Company (or any securities convertible into, exercisable for or exchangeable for equity securities of the Company), except for the issuance of the Public Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement, the Private Placement Warrants and the Forward Purchase Units as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (x) during the last 17 days of the 180 day period described in this Section 4(a)(ix) the Company issues an earnings release or material news or a material event relating to the Company occurs; or (y) prior to the expiration of such 180 day period, the Company announces that it will release earnings results during the 16 day period beginning on the last day of the 180 day period; the restrictions imposed during this Section 4(a)(ix) shall continue to apply until the expiration of the 18-day period beginning on the issuance of the earnings release or the occurrence of the material news or material event; provided, however, this sentence shall not apply if the research published or distributed on the Company is compliant under Rule 139 of the Securities Act and the Companys securities are actively traded as defined in Rule 101(c)(1) of Regulation M of the Exchange Act.
(x) On or before completion of this offering, the Company shall make all filings required under applicable securities laws and by Nasdaq (including any required registration under the Exchange Act).
(xi) The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would constitute or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under the Exchange Act or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Units.
(xii) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation (as hereinafter defined) occurs, the Company will use its best efforts to maintain the registration of the Units, shares of Common Stock and Warrants under the provisions of the Exchange Act, except after giving effect to a going private transaction after the completion of a Business Combination. The Company will not deregister the Units, shares of Common Stock or Warrants under the Exchange Act (except in connection with a going private transaction after the completion of a Business Combination) without the prior written consent of the Representatives. Liquidation means distributions of the Trust Account to the holders of the Common Stock included in the Units sold pursuant to this Agreement (the Public Stockholders) in connection with the redemption of Common Stock held by the Public Stockholders pursuant to the terms of the Companys Certificate of Incorporation if the Company fails to consummate a Business Combination.
23
(xiii) The Company shall, on the date hereof, retain its independent registered public accounting firm to audit the balance sheet of the Company as of the Firm Units Closing Date (the Audited Balance Sheet) reflecting the receipt by the Company of the proceeds of the Offering on the Firm Units Closing Date. As soon as the Audited Balance Sheet becomes available, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four Business Days after the Firm Units Closing Date, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which Report shall contain the Audited Balance Sheet. Additionally, upon the Companys receipt of the proceeds from the exercise of all or any portion of the over-allotment option for the Option Units, the Company shall promptly, but not later than four business days after the receipt of such proceeds, file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission, which report shall disclose the Companys sale of the Option Units and its receipt of the proceeds therefrom.
(xiv) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the shares of Common Stock and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company, at its expense, shall cause its regularly engaged independent registered public accounting firm to review (but not audit) the Companys financial statements for each of the first three fiscal quarters prior to the announcement of quarterly financial information, the filing of the Companys Form 10-Q quarterly report and the mailing, if any, of quarterly financial information to stockholders.
(xv) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs, the Company shall, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from the Representatives, furnish to the Representatives copies of such financial statements and other periodic and special reports as the Company from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any class of securities, and, to the extent such information or documents are not otherwise publicly available, upon written request from the Representatives promptly furnish to the Representatives: (i) a copy of such registration statements, financial statements and periodic and special reports as the Company shall be required to file with the Commission and from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any such class of its securities; and (ii) such additional documents and information with respect to the Company and the affairs of any future subsidiaries of the Company as the Representatives may from time to time reasonably request, all subject to the execution of a satisfactory confidentiality agreement. Any registration statements, financial statements, periodic and special reports or other additional documents referred to in the preceding sentence filed on the Commissions EDGAR website will be considered furnished for the purposes of this section.
(xvi) For a period commencing on the Effective Date and ending five (5) years from the date of the consummation of the Business Combination or until such earlier time at which the Liquidation occurs or the shares of Common Stock and Warrants cease to be publicly traded, the Company shall retain a transfer and warrant agent.
24
(xvii) The Company shall not pay the Sponsor or its affiliates or any of the Companys officers, directors or any of their respective affiliates any fees or compensation for services rendered to the Company prior to, or in connection with, the consummation of a Business Combination; provided however, that such officers, directors and affiliates (i) may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them in connection with activities on the Companys behalf to the extent that such expenses do not exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the Trust Account; (ii) may be repaid loans as described in the Registration Statement; and (iii) may be paid $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services pursuant to the Administrative Services Agreement.
(xviii) For a period of 90 days following the Effective Date, in the event any person or entity (regardless of any FINRA affiliation or association) is engaged to assist the Company in its search for a merger candidate or to provide any other merger and acquisition services, or has provided or will provide any investment banking, financial, advisory and/or consulting services to the Company, the Company agrees that it shall promptly provide to FINRA (via a FINRA submission), the Representatives and their counsel a notification prior to entering into the agreement or transaction relating to a potential Business Combination: (i) the identity of the person or entity providing any such services; (ii) complete details of all such services and copies of all agreements governing such services prior to entering into the agreement or transaction; and (iii) justification as to why the value received by any person or entity for such services is not underwriting compensation for the Offering. The Company also agrees that proper disclosure of such arrangement or potential arrangement will be made in the tender offer materials or proxy statement, as applicable, which the Company may file in connection with the Business Combination for purposes of offering redemption of shares held by its stockholders or for soliciting stockholder approval, as applicable.
(xix) The Company shall advise FINRA, the Representatives and their counsel if it is aware that any 5% or greater stockholder of the Company becomes an affiliate or associated person of a Member participating in the distribution of the Public Securities.
(xx) The Company shall cause the proceeds of the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants required to be held in the Trust Account pursuant to the Trust Agreement to be invested only in United States government treasury obligations with a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act as set forth in the Trust Agreement and disclosed in the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus. The Company will otherwise conduct its business in a manner so that it will not become subject to the Investment Company Act. Furthermore, once the Company consummates a Business Combination, it will not be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act.
25
(xxi) During the period prior to the Companys initial Business Combination or Liquidation, the Company may instruct the trustee under the Trust Agreement to release interest from the Trust Account (A) in such amounts necessary to pay income tax and franchise tax obligations and (B) in such amounts, not to exceed $10,000 per month, needed for office space, utilities and secretarial and administrative support. Otherwise, all funds held in the Trust Account (including any interest income earned on the amounts held in the Trust Account (net of taxes payable thereon)) will remain in the Trust Account until the earlier of the consummation of the Companys initial Business Combination or the Liquidation; provided, however, that in the event of the Liquidation, up to $50,000 of interest income may be released to the Company to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing the Companys plan of dissolution.
(xxii) The Company will reserve and keep available that maximum number of its authorized but unissued securities that are issuable upon purchase of the Forward Purchase Units (and any of their underlying securities) and the exercise of any of the Warrants and the Private Placement Warrants outstanding from time to time and the conversion of the Founder Shares.
(xxiii) Prior to the consummation of a Business Combination or the Liquidation, the Company shall not issue any shares of Common Stock, Warrants or any options or other securities convertible into shares of Common Stock, or any preferred shares, in each case, that participate in any manner in the Trust Account or that vote as a class with the shares of Common Stock on a Business Combination.
(xxiv) Prior to the consummation of a Business Combination or the Liquidation, the Companys audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments made to the Sponsor, to the Companys officers or directors, or to the Companys or any of such other persons respective affiliates.
(xxv) The Company agrees it will use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the Company from becoming subject to Rule 419 prior to the consummation of any Business Combination, including, but not limited to, using its best efforts to prevent any of the Companys outstanding securities from being deemed to be a penny stock as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Exchange Act during such period.
(xxvi) To the extent required by Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act, the Company will maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined under Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) and a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with managements general or specific authorization, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with managements general or specific authorization, and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.
26
(xxvii) As soon as legally required to do so, the Company and its directors and officers, in their capacities as such, shall take all actions necessary to comply with any applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications, and to comply with the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules.
(xxviii) The Company shall not take any action or omit to take any action that would cause the Company to be in breach or violation of its Certificate of Incorporation or bylaws.
(xxix) The Company will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than independent accountants), prospective target businesses, lenders or other entities with which it does business enter into agreements waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust Account for the benefit of the Public Stockholders.
(xxx) The Company may consummate the initial Business Combination and conduct redemptions of shares of Common Stock for cash upon consummation of such Business Combination without a stockholder vote pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E under the Exchange Act, including the filing of tender offer documents with the Commission. Such tender offer documents will contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial Business Combination and the redemption rights as is required under the Commissions proxy rules and will provide each stockholder of the Company with the opportunity prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination to redeem the shares of Common Stock held by such stockholder for an amount of cash equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (x) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (y) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account not previously released to pay franchise and income taxes or up to $10,000 per month for administrative services, divided by (B) the total number of shares of Common Stock sold as part of the Units in the Offering (the Public Stock) then outstanding. If, however, a stockholder vote is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement in connection with the initial Business Combination or the Company decides to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, the Company will submit such Business Combination to the Companys stockholders for their approval (Business Combination Vote). With respect to the initial Business Combination Vote, if any, the Sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote all of their Founder Shares and any other shares of Common Stock purchased during or after the Offering in favor of the Companys initial Business Combination. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company will offer to each Public Stockholder holding shares of Common Stock the right to have its shares redeemed in conjunction with a proxy
27
solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules of the Commission at a per share redemption price (the Redemption Price) equal to (I) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, representing (1) the proceeds held in the Trust Account from the Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants and (2) any interest income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account not previously released to pay franchise and income taxes and up to $10,000 per month for administrative services, divided by (II) the total number of Public Stock then outstanding. If the Company seeks stockholder approval of the initial Business Combination, the Company may proceed with such Business Combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock voted by the stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting are voted to approve such Business Combination. If, after seeking and receiving such stockholder approval, the Company elects to so proceed, it will redeem shares, at the Redemption Price, from those Public Stockholders who affirmatively requested such redemption. Only Public Stockholders holding shares of Common Stock who properly exercise their redemption rights, in accordance with the applicable tender offer or proxy materials related to such Business Combination and the Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws of the Company, shall be entitled to receive distributions from the Trust Account in connection with an initial Business Combination, and the Company shall pay no distributions with respect to any other holders of shares of capital stock of the Company in connection therewith. In the event the Company does not effect a Business Combination by eighteen (18) months from the closing of the Offering, the Company will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten (10) business days thereafter, subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem 100% of the Public Stock, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account (including interest not previously released to the Company as described above (less franchise and income taxes then owing and up to $50,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding shares of Public Stock, which redemption will completely extinguish Public Stockholders rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Companys remaining stockholders and the Companys board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to the Companys obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Only Public Stockholders holding shares of Common Stock included in the Public Securities shall be entitled to receive such redemption amounts and the Company shall pay no such redemption amounts or any distributions in liquidation with respect to any other shares of the Company. The Sponsor and the Companys officers and directors have agreed they will not propose any amendment to the Companys Certificate of Incorporation that would affect the substance or timing of the Companys obligation to redeem 100% of the outstanding Public Stock if the Company has not consummated a Business Combination within eighteen (18) months from the closing of the Offering unless the Company offers to redeem the Public Stock in connection with such amendment, as described in the Statutory Prospectus and Prospectus.
28
(xxxi) In the event the Company desires or is required by an applicable law or regulation to cause an announcement (Business Combination Announcement) to be placed in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or any other news or media publication or outlet or to be made via a public filing with the Commission announcing the consummation of the Business Combination that indicates the Underwriters were the underwriters in the Offering, the Company shall supply the Representatives with a draft of the Business Combination Announcement and provide the Representatives with a reasonable advance opportunity to comment thereon, subject to the agreement of the Underwriters to keep confidential such draft announcement in accordance with the Representatives standard policies regarding confidential information.
(xxxii) If the Representatives, in their sole discretion, agree to release or waive the transfer restrictions set forth in the Insider Letter for an officer or director of the Company and provide the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver at least three business days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver by a press release substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto through a major news service at least two business days before the effective date of the release or waiver.
(xxxiii) Upon the earlier to occur of the expiration or termination of the Underwriters over-allotment option, the Company shall cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of Founder Shares from the Sponsor in an aggregate amount equal to the number of Founder Shares determined by multiplying (a) 1,125,000 by (b) a fraction, (i) the numerator of which is 4,500,000 minus the number of Option Units purchased by the Underwriters upon the exercise of their over-allotment option, and (ii) the denominator of which is 4,500,000. For the avoidance of doubt, if the Underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the Company shall not cancel or otherwise effect the forfeiture of the Founder Shares pursuant to this subsection.
(xxxiv) The Company will comply with all applicable securities laws and other applicable laws, rules and regulations in each foreign jurisdiction in which the Directed Units are offered in connection with the Friends and Family Program.
(xxxv) The Company will ensure the Directed Units (and the securities underlying the Directed Units) will be restricted, to the extent required by FINRA or FINRA rules, from sale, transfer, assignment, pledge or hypothecation for a period of three months following the date of the effectiveness of the Registration Statement. The Representatives will notify the Company as to which Participants will need to be so restricted. The Company shall direct the transfer agent to place stop transfer restrictions upon such securities for such period of time.
(xxxvi) The Company will promptly notify the Representatives if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (a) completion of the distribution of the Units within the meaning of the Securities Act and (b) completion of the 180-day restricted period referred to in Section 4(a)(ix) hereof.
29
(xxxvii) If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission.
(b) The Company agrees to pay, or reimburse if paid by the Representatives, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, all costs and expenses incident to the public offering of the Units and the performance of the obligations of the Company under this Agreement including those relating to: (i) the preparation, printing, reproduction filing and distribution of the Registration Statement including all exhibits thereto, each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, all amendments and supplements thereto, and the printing, filing and distribution of this Agreement; (ii) the preparation and delivery of certificates for the Units, shares of Common Stock and Warrants to the Underwriters; (iii) the registration or qualification of the Public Securities for offer and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of the various jurisdictions referred to in Section 4(a)(vii), including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such registration and qualification and the preparation, printing, distribution and shipment of preliminary and supplementary Blue Sky memoranda; (iv) the furnishing (including costs of shipping and mailing) to the Representatives and to the Underwriters of copies of each Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and all amendments or supplements to the Prospectus, and of the several documents required by this Section to be so furnished, as may be reasonably requested for use in connection with the offering and sale of the Units by the Underwriters or by dealers to whom Units may be sold; (v) the filing fees of FINRA in connection with its review of the terms of the public offering and reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such review; (vi) payments to counsel for costs incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Friends and Family Program and payment of any stamp duties, similar taxes or duties or other taxes, if any, incurred by the Underwriters in connection with the Friends and Family Program (vii) the reasonable out-of-pocket costs and expenses incident to the performance of the obligations of the Underwriters in connection with the offering of the Public Securities (including, without limitation, the reasonable and documented fees and expenses of the Underwriters outside attorneys, including legal fees described in clauses (iii) and (vi) above, in an amount not to exceed $150,000 in the aggregate); (viii) inclusion of the Units, shares of Common Stock and Warrants for listing on Nasdaq; and (ix) all transfer taxes, if any, with respect to the sale and delivery of the Units by the Company to the Underwriters. The Company acknowledges and agrees each of the Underwriters has acted and is acting solely in the capacity of a principal in an arms length transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, with respect to the offering of Units contemplated hereby (including in connection with determining the terms of the offering) and not as a financial advisor, agent or fiduciary to the Company or any other person. Additionally, the Company acknowledges and agrees the Underwriters have not and will not advise the Company or any other person as to any legal, tax, investment, accounting or regulatory matters in any jurisdiction. The Company has consulted with its own advisors concerning such matters and shall be
30
responsible for making its own independent investigation and appraisal of the transactions contemplated hereby, and the Underwriters shall have no responsibility or liability to the Company or any other person with respect thereto, whether arising prior to or after the date hereof. Any review by the Underwriters of the Company, the transactions contemplated hereby or other matters relating to such transactions have been and will be performed solely for the benefit of the Underwriters and shall not be on behalf of the Company. The Company agrees it will not claim the Underwriters, or any of them, has rendered advisory services of any nature or respect, or owes a fiduciary duty to the company or any other person in connection with any such transaction or the process leading thereto.
(c) The Company represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Representative, and each Underwriter represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Company and the Representative, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Units that would constitute an issuer free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 433, or that would otherwise constitute a free writing prospectus, as defined in Rule 405, required to be filed with the Commission. The Company represents that it has satisfied and agrees it will satisfy the conditions set forth in Rule 433 of the Rules to avoid a requirement to file with the Commission any road show.
5. Indemnification.
(a) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its officers and employees and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities, joint or several (including any reasonable investigation, legal and other expenses incurred in connection with, and any amount paid in settlement of, any action, suit or proceeding or any claim asserted), to which they, or any of them, may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or other Federal or state law or regulation, at common law or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of or are based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any preliminary prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus, the Prospectus or any issuer-information filed or required to be filed pursuant to Rule 433(d) of the Rules, any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, or in any Blue Sky application or other information or other documents executed by the Company filed in any state or other jurisdiction to qualify any or all of the Public Securities under the securities laws thereof (any such application, document or information being hereinafter referred to as a Blue Sky Application) or arise out of or are based upon any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, such indemnity shall not inure to the benefit of any Underwriter (or any person controlling such Underwriter) on account of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities arising from the sale of the Units to any person by such Underwriter if such untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission was made in such preliminary prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus or such amendment or supplement thereto, any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, or in any Blue Sky Application in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability which the Company may otherwise have.
31
The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Representatives, their officers and employees and each person, if any, who controls any Representative within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act against any and all losses, claims, damages, expenses and liabilities (including any reasonable investigation, legal and other expenses incurred in connection with, and any amount paid in settlement of, any action, suit or proceeding or any claim asserted) (i) arising out of or based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any material prepared by or with the consent of the Company for distribution to Participants in connection with the Friends and Family Program or arising out of or based upon any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, (ii) arising out of or based upon the failure of any Participant to pay for and accept delivery of Directed Units otherwise reserved for such Participant pursuant to the Friends and Family Program, and (iii) related to, arising out of, or in connection with the Friends and Family Program, other than losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or expenses relating thereto) that are finally judicially determined to have resulted from the bad faith, gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Representatives or any such person controlling such Representatives.
(b) Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company and each person, if any, who controls the Company, within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, each director of the Company, and each officer of the Company who signs the Registration Statement, against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which such party may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any preliminary prospectus, the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus or any such amendment or supplement in reliance upon and in conformity with the Underwriter Information; provided, however, that the obligation of each Underwriter to indemnify the Company (including any controlling person, director or officer thereof) shall be limited to the amount of the underwriting discount and commissions applicable to the Units to be purchased by such Underwriter hereunder.
(c) Any party that proposes to assert the right to be indemnified under this Section will, promptly after receipt of notice of commencement of any action, suit or proceeding against such party in respect of which a claim is to be made against an indemnifying party or parties under this Section, notify each such indemnifying party of the commencement of such action, suit or proceeding, enclosing a copy of all papers served. No indemnification provided for in Section 5(a) or 5(b) shall be available to any party who shall fail to give notice as provided in this Section 5(c) if the party to whom notice was not given was unaware of the proceeding to which such notice would have related and was prejudiced by the failure to give such notice but the omission so to notify such indemnifying party of any such action, suit or proceeding shall not relieve it from any liability that it may have to any indemnified party for contribution or otherwise than under this Section. In case any such action, suit or proceeding shall be brought
32
against any indemnified party and it shall notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate in, and, to the extent it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party, and after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof and the approval by the indemnified party of such counsel, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party for any legal or other expenses, except as provided below and except for the reasonable costs of investigation subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof. The indemnified party shall have the right to employ its counsel in any such action, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such indemnified party unless (i) the employment of counsel by such indemnified party has been authorized in writing by the indemnifying parties, (ii) the indemnified party shall have been advised by counsel there may be one or more legal defenses available to it which are different from or in addition to those available to the indemnifying party (in which case the indemnifying parties shall not have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the indemnified party) or (iii) the indemnifying parties shall not have employed counsel to assume the defense of such action within a reasonable time after notice of the commencement thereof, in each of which cases the fees and expenses of counsel shall be at the expense of the indemnifying parties. An indemnifying party shall not be liable for any settlement of any action, suit, and proceeding or claim effected without its written consent, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. No indemnifying party shall, without the written consent of the indemnified party, effect the settlement or compromise of, or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to, any pending or threatened action or claim in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified party is an actual or potential party to such action or claim) unless such settlement, compromise or judgment (i) includes an unconditional release of the indemnified party from all liability arising out of such action or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any indemnified party.
6. Contribution. To provide for just and equitable contribution in circumstances in which the indemnification provided for in Section 5(a) or 5(b) is due in accordance with its terms but for any reason is unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect to any losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the aggregate losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses (including any investigation, legal and other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with, and any amount paid in settlement of, any action, suit or proceeding or any claims asserted, but after deducting any contribution received by any person entitled hereunder to contribution from any person who may be liable for contribution) incurred by such indemnified party, as incurred, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand from the offering of the Units pursuant to this Agreement or, if such allocation is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the statements or omissions, or in connection with any violation of the nature referred to in Section 5(a) hereof with respect to Directed Units, which resulted in such losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. Benefits received by the Company shall be deemed to be equal to the total net proceeds from the
33
Offering (before deducting expenses) received by it, and benefits received by the Underwriters shall be deemed to be equal to the total underwriting discounts and commissions, in each case as set forth on the cover page of the Prospectus. Relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any untrue or any alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information provided by the Company on the one hand or the Underwriters on the other, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 6 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above. The aggregate amount of losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by an indemnified party and referred to above shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 6, no Underwriter (except as may be provided in the Agreement Among Underwriters) shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the underwriting discounts and commissions applicable to the Units purchased by such Underwriter. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. For purposes of this Section 6, each person, if any, who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each director of the Company including any person who, with his or her consent, is named in the Registration Statement as about to become a director of the Company, each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of the Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company. Any party entitled to contribution will, promptly after receipt of notice of commencement of any action, suit or proceeding against such party in respect of which a claim for contribution may be made against another party or parties under this Section 6, notify such party or parties from whom contribution may be sought, but the omission so to notify such party or parties from whom contribution may be sought shall not relieve the party or parties from whom contribution may be sought from any other obligation it or they may have hereunder or otherwise than under this Section 6. No party shall be liable for contribution with respect to any action, suit, proceeding or claim settled without its written consent. The Underwriters obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 6 are several in proportion to their respective underwriting commitments and not joint.
7. Termination.
(a) This Agreement may be terminated with respect to the Units to be purchased on a Closing Date by the Representatives by notifying the Company at any time at or before a Closing Date in the absolute discretion of the Representatives if: (i) there has occurred any material adverse change in the securities markets or any event, act or occurrence that has materially disrupted, or in the opinion of the Representatives, will in the future materially
34
disrupt, the securities markets or there shall be such a material adverse change in general financial, political or economic conditions or the effect of international conditions on the financial markets in the United States is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, inadvisable or impracticable to market the Units or enforce contracts for the sale of the Units; (ii) there has occurred any outbreak or material escalation of hostilities or acts of terrorism or other calamity or crisis the effect of which on the financial markets of the United States is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, inadvisable or impracticable to market the Units or enforce contracts for the sale of the Units; (iii) trading in the Units or any securities of the Company has been suspended or materially limited by the Commission or trading generally on the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. or Nasdaq has been suspended or materially limited, or minimum or maximum ranges for prices for securities shall have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices for securities have been required, by any of said exchanges or by such system or by order of the Commission, FINRA, or any other governmental or regulatory authority; (iv) a banking moratorium has been declared by any state or Federal authority; or (v) in the judgment of the Representatives, there has been, since the time of execution of this Agreement or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Prospectus, any material adverse change in the assets, properties, condition, financial or otherwise, or in the results of operations, business affairs or business prospects of the Company, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business.
(b) If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to any of its provisions, the Company shall not be under any liability to any Underwriter, and no Underwriter shall be under any liability to the Company, except (y) if this Agreement is terminated by the Representatives or the Underwriters because of any failure, refusal or inability on the part of the Company to comply with the terms or to fulfill any of the conditions of this Agreement, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters for all out-of-pocket expenses (including the reasonable fees and disbursements of their counsel) incurred by them in connection with the proposed purchase and sale of the Units or in contemplation of performing their obligations hereunder and (z) no Underwriter who shall have failed or refused to purchase the Units agreed to be purchased by it under this Agreement, without some reason sufficient hereunder to justify cancellation or termination of its obligations under this Agreement, shall be relieved of liability to the Company or to the other Underwriters for damages occasioned by its failure or refusal.
8. Substitution of Underwriters. If any Underwriter shall default in its obligation to purchase on any Closing Date the Units agreed to be purchased hereunder on such Closing Date, the Representatives shall have the right, within 36 hours thereafter, to make arrangements for one or more of the non-defaulting Underwriters, or any other underwriters, to purchase such Units on the terms contained herein. If, however, the Representatives shall not have completed such arrangements within such 36-hour period, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of thirty-six hours within which to procure another party or other parties satisfactory to the Underwriters to purchase such Units on such terms. If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Units of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the Representatives and the Company as provided above, the aggregate number of Units which remains unpurchased on such Closing Date does not exceed one-eleventh of the aggregate number of all the Units all the Underwriters are obligated to purchase on such date, then the Company shall have the right to require each non-defaulting Underwriter to purchase the number of Units which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder at such date and, in addition, to require each non-
35
defaulting Underwriter to purchase its pro rata share (based on the number of Units which such Underwriter agreed to purchase hereunder) of the Units of such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters for which such arrangements have not been made; but nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter from liability for its default. The Company shall be permitted to terminate its obligations under the Business Combination Marketing Agreement with respect to such defaulting Underwriter in addition to any rights it shall be entitled to under this Agreement. In any such case, either the Representatives or the Company shall have the right to postpone the applicable Closing Date for a period of not more than seven days to effect any necessary changes and arrangements (including any necessary amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or Prospectus or any other documents), and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendments to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus which in the opinion of the Company and the Underwriters and their counsel may thereby be made necessary.
If, after giving effect to any arrangements for the purchase of the Units of a defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters by the Representatives and the Company as provided above, the aggregate number of such Units which remains unpurchased exceeds 10% of the aggregate number of all the Units to be purchased at such date, then this Agreement, or, with respect to a Closing Date which occurs after the First Closing Date, the obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and of the Company to sell the Option Units to be purchased and sold on such date, shall terminate, without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter to the Company, and without liability on the part of the Company, except as provided in Sections 4(b), 5, 6 and 7. The provisions of this Section 8 shall not in any way affect the liability of any defaulting Underwriter to the Company or the nondefaulting Underwriters arising out of such default. The term Underwriter as used in this Agreement shall include any person substituted under this Section 8 with like effect as if such person had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such Units.
9. Miscellaneous. The respective agreements, representations, warranties, indemnities and other statements of the Company and the several Underwriters, as set forth in this Agreement or made by or on behalf of them pursuant to this Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation (or any statement as to the results thereof) made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or the Company or any of their respective officers, directors or controlling persons referred to in Sections 5 and 6 hereof, and shall survive delivery of and payment for the Units. In addition, the provisions of Sections 4(b), 5, 6 and 7 shall survive the termination or cancellation of this Agreement.
This Agreement has been and is made for the benefit of the Underwriters, the Company and their respective successors and assigns, and, to the extent expressed herein, for the benefit of persons controlling any of the Underwriters, or the Company, and directors and officers of the Company, and their respective successors and assigns, and no other person shall acquire or have any right under or by virtue of this Agreement. The term successors and assigns shall not include any purchaser of Units from any Underwriter merely because of such purchase.
All notices and communications hereunder shall be in writing and mailed or delivered or by telephone or telegraph if subsequently confirmed in writing, (a) if to the Representatives, c/o Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, New York 10004 Attention: Equity Capital Markets, and EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., 366 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10017
36
Attention: Steven Levine, with a copy to Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., 85 Broad Street, New York, New York 10004 Attention: General Counsel, and to Greenberg Traurig, LLP, MetLife Building, 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166 Attention: Alan I. Annex and (b) if to the Company, to its agent for service as such agents address appears on the cover page of the Registration Statement with a copy to Thompson & Knight, 1722 Routh Street, Suite 1500, Dallas, Texas 75201, Attention: Joe Dannenmaier and Amy Curtis.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
This Agreement may be signed in any number of counterparts, each of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument.
37
Please confirm that the foregoing correctly sets forth the agreement among us.
Very truly yours, | ||
PURE ACQUISITION CORP. |
By: |
| |
Name: |
| |
Title: |
|
Confirmed:
OPPENHEIMER & CO. INC.
By: |
| |
Name: |
| |
Title: |
|
EARLYBIRDCAPITAL, INC.
By: |
| |
Name: |
| |
Title: |
|
38
SCHEDULE I
Name | Number of Firm Units to Be Purchased | |||
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. | ||||
EarlyBirdCapital,Inc. | ||||
| ||||
|
| |||
Total |
Sch I - 1
SCHEDULE II
Written Testing the Waters Communications
[Insert description]
Sch II - 1
Exhibit A
Form of Lock Up Waiver/Release Company Press Release
Pure Acquisition Corp.
[Date]
Pure Acquisition Corp. (Company) announced today that Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and EarlyBirdCapital, Inc., the joint book-running managers in the Companys recent public sale of Units, are [waiving] [releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to [ ] [shares of Common Stock] [Units] [Warrants] of the Company held by [ ], an [officer/director] of the Company. The [waiver] [release] will take effect on [ ], 20[ ], and the related shares may be sold on or after such date.
This press release is not an offer for sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Ex. A-1