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Item 1A. Risk Factors.
As a smaller reporting company under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. For additional risks relating to our operations, see other than as set forth below, see the section titled Risk Factors contained in our (i) IPO Registration Statement and (ii) 2023 Annual Report. Any of these factors could result in a significant or material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Additional risks could arise that may also affect our business or ability to consummate an initial Business Combination. We may disclose changes to such risk factors or disclose additional risk factors from time to time in our future filings with the SEC.
If our initial Business Combination involves a company organized under the laws of a state of the United States, it is possible a 1% U.S. federal excise tax will be imposed on us in connection with redemptions of our ordinary shares after or in connection with such initial Business Combination.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 became law in the United States, which, among other things, imposes a 1% excise tax (the Excise Tax) on the fair market value of certain repurchases (including certain redemptions) of stock by publicly traded domestic (i.e., United States) corporations (and certain non-U.S. corporations treated as surrogate foreign corporations). The Excise Tax will apply to stock repurchases occurring in 2023 and beyond. The amount of the Excise Tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares of stock repurchased at the time of the repurchase. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the Treasury) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of, the Excise Tax. In April 2024, the Treasury issued proposed regulations providing guidance with respect to the Excise Tax. Taxpayers may rely on these proposed regulations until final regulations are issued. Under the proposed regulations, liquidating distributions made by publicly traded domestic corporations are exempt from the Excise Tax. In addition, any redemptions that occur in the same taxable year as a liquidation is completed will also be exempt from such tax.
As an entity incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company, the 1% Excise Tax is not expected to apply to redemptions of our Class A Ordinary Shares (absent any regulations and other additional guidance that may be issued in the future with retroactive effect).
However, in connection with an initial Business Combination if involving a company organized under the laws of the United States, it is possible that we domesticate and continue as a Delaware corporation prior to certain redemptions and, because our securities are trading on NYSE, it is possible that we will be subject to the Excise Tax with respect to any subsequent redemptions, including redemptions in connection with the initial Business Combination, that are treated as repurchases for this purpose (other than, pursuant to recently issued guidance from the Treasury Department, redemptions in complete liquidation of the company). In all cases, the extent of the Excise Tax that may be incurred will depend on a number of factors, including the fair market value of our stock redeemed, the extent such redemptions could be treated as dividends and not repurchases, and the content of any regulations and other additional guidance from the Treasury that may be issued and applicable to the redemptions. Issuances of stock by a repurchasing corporation in a year in which such corporation repurchases stock may reduce the amount of Excise Tax imposed with respect to such repurchase. The Excise Tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not the shareholders from which stock is repurchased. The imposition of the Excise Tax as a result of redemptions in connection with the initial Business Combination could, however, reduce the amount of cash available to pay redemptions or reduce the cash contribution to the target business in connection with our initial Business Combination, which could cause the other shareholders of the combined company to economically bear the impact of such Excise Tax.
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