Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Organization, Business Operations

v3.23.3
Organization, Business Operations
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization, Business Operations
Note 1 — Organization, Business Operations
Direct Selling Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation on March 9, 2021, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar Business Combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company may pursue an initial Business Combination target in any business or industry.
As of September 30, 2023, the Company had not commenced operations. All activity for the period from March 9, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2023 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (the “Public Offering”). The Company will not generate operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate
non-operating
income in the form of interest income from the proceeds derived from the Public Offering.
The Company’s Sponsor is DSAC Partners LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”). On September 28, 2021, the Company consummated its Public Offering of 23,000,000 units (the “Units” and with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “Public Shares”). Each Unit consists of one share of Class A common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), and
one-half
of one redeemable warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a “Public Warrant”), with each Public Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock for $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The Units were sold at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $230,000,000.
Simultaneously with the closing of the Public Offering, pursuant to the Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, the Company completed the private sale of 11,700,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) to the Sponsor at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $11,700,000. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants included as part of the Units sold in the Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants, so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, (i) are not redeemable by the Company, (ii) may not (including the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold until 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, (iii) may be exercised on a cashless basis and (iv) are entitled to registration rights. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sale. The issuance of the Private Placement Warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), as amended.
A total of $234,600,000 was placed in a U.S.-based trust account maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee (the “Trust Account”).
The Business Combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (net of amounts disbursed to management for working capital purposes and excluding the amount of any deferred underwriting commissions held in trust) at the time of signing the agreement to enter into the Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete such Business Combination if the post transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
Upon the closing of the Public Offering, $10.20 per Unit sold in the Public Offering, including the proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, is held in a Trust Account and invested only in U.S. government securities 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 which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to the Company to pay its taxes, the proceeds from the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants will not be released from the Trust Account until the earliest of (i) the completion of the initial Business Combination, (ii) the redemption of the public shares if the Company is unable to complete the initial Business Combination by the Termination Date , subject to applicable law, and (iii) the redemption of the public shares properly submitted in connection with a stockholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (“Charter”) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the public shares if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination by the Termination Date or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or
pre-initial
Business Combination activity. The proceeds deposited in the Trust Account could become subject to the claims of the Company’s creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of the Company’s public stockholders.
 
The Company will provide its public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) without a stockholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek stockholder approval of a proposed Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in the Company’s discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require the Company to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. The Company will provide its public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations and on the conditions described herein.
The shares of common stock subject to redemption are recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity, in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks stockholder approval, a majority of the issued and outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination.
With the December 28, 2022 deposit into the Trust Account for a three-month extension of $2,300,000 ($0.10 per share), the Company had 18 months (or March 28, 2023) from the closing of the Public Offering, or any extended period of time that the Company may have, to consummate an initial Business Combination as a result of an amendment to the Company’s Charter (the “Combination Period”) to complete the initial Business Combination. If the Company is unable to complete the initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, 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 business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at aper-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest (which interest shall be net of taxes payable and less up to $100,000 to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining stockholders and the Company’s board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject, in each case, to the Company’s obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the warrants, which will expire worthless if the Company fails to complete its initial Business Combination within the Combination Period.
On March 17, 2023, the Company announced that it entered into a
non-binding
letter of intent (“LOI”) for a potential business combination with a private company in the urban mobility sector. No assurances can be made that the Company will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement for a business combination or that the Company will be successful in completing the business combination. On March 24, 2023 the Company’s stockholders voted to amend the Company’s Charter to extend the date (the “Termination Date”) by which the Company has to consummate a Business Combination (the “Charter Extension”) from March 28, 2023 (the “Original Termination Date”) to June 28, 2023 (the “Charter Extension Date”) and to allow the Company, without another stockholder vote, to elect to extend the Termination Date to consummate a Business Combination on a monthly basis up to nine times by an additional one month each time after the Charter Extension Date, by resolution of the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”), if requested by the Sponsor, and upon five days’ advance notice prior to the applicable Termination Date, until March 28, 2024 (each, an “Additional Charter Extension Date”) or a total of up to twelve months after the Original Termination Date, unless the closing of a Business Combination shall have occurred prior thereto (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”). For each monthly extension of the Charter Extension Date the Company will deposit $160,000 into the Trust Account.
In connection with the Company’s stockholders’ vote on March 24, 2023, the holders of 17,404,506 Class A common stock of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for an aggregate price of approximately $10.48 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $182,460,109. After the satisfaction of such redemptions, the balance in the Company’s trust account was approximately $58,660,352 (including interest not previously released to the Company but net of expected franchise and income taxes payable). For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, $1,120,000 has been deposited in the Trust Account to extend the Termination Date to October 28, 2023. On October 27, 2023, $160,000 was deposited in the Trust Account to extend the Termination Date to November 28, 2023.
The initial stockholders, Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and Public Shares they hold in connection with the completion of the initial Business Combination, (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and Public Shares they hold in connection with a stockholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s Charter to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within the Combination Period or with respect to any other material provisions relating to stockholders’
rights or pre-initial Business Combination
activity and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any founder shares they hold if the Company fails to complete its initial Business Combination within the Combination Period or any extended period of time that the Company may have to consummate an initial Business Combination as a result of an amendment to the Company’s Charter (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Public Shares they hold if the Company fails to complete its initial Business Combination within the prescribed time frame) and (iv) vote any founder shares held by them and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Public Offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of the initial Business Combination.
The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or Business Combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.20 per Public Share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor did it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. However, the Company has not asked the Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor has the Company independently verified whether the Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and the Company believes that the Sponsor’s only assets are securities of the Company. Therefore, the Company cannot assure you that the Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations.
 
Emerging Growth Company
The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to
non-emerging
growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Risks and Uncertainties
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions and economically similar transactions) of stock by publicly traded U.S. corporations on or after January 1, 2023. Because we are a Delaware corporation and our securities are trading on the New York Stock Exchange, we are a “covered corporation” within the meaning of the IR Act. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which shares are repurchased (although it may reduce the amount of cash distributable in a current or subsequent redemption). The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased, determined at the time of the repurchase. Corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances by such corporation against the fair market value of stock repurchases (or deemed repurchases) during the same taxable year to reduce or eliminate the amount of excise tax that would otherwise apply. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of, the excise tax.
Whether and to what extent we would be subject to the excise tax will depend on a number of factors, including (i) whether the redemption is treated as a repurchase of stock for purposes of the excise tax, (ii) the fair market value of the redemptions treated as repurchases in connection with a Business Combination, (iii) the structure of a Business Combination and whether any such transaction closes, (iv) the nature and amount of any private investment in public equity (“PIPE”) or other equity issuances in connection with a Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a Business Combination but issued within the same taxable year of a Business Combination), (v) whether we consummate a Business Combination, and (vi) the content of regulations and other guidance issued by the Treasury. It is possible that the Company will be subject to the excise tax with respect to any subsequent redemptions, including redemptions in connection with a Business Combination, that are treated as repurchases for this purpose (other than, pursuant to recently issued guidance from the Treasury, redemptions in complete liquidation of the Company). As mentioned, the excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not the stockholders from which stock is repurchased. The imposition of the excise tax (including as a result of holders of public shares electing to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a Business Combination) could, however, reduce the amount of cash available to the Company to pay redemptions (or the cash contribution to the target business in connection with a Business combination, which could hinder the Company’s ability to complete a Business Combination or cause the other shareholders of the combined company to economically bear the impact of such excise tax). At the time of the redemptions, management believed the company would consummate a Business Combination by December 31, 2023, thus negating much, if not all, of the potential excise tax liability related to the redemptions of the Company’s common stock in March 2023. At September 30, 2023,
the parties to the LOI are actively working through the LOI and the Company’s management believes there is uncertainty that a Business Combination will be consummated as of December 31, 2023. Based on this change in the outlook for the Company, an excise tax liability was recognized. Any reduction in the tax liability due to a subsequent stock issuance, or an event giving rise to an exception, that occurs within a tax year should be recorded in the period of such stock issuance or event giving rise to an exception. For
the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company has recognized $1,829,791 and $0, respectively, in excise tax payable related to share redemptions. In accordance with ASC
340-10-S99-1,
the liability does not impact the condensed statements of operations and is offset against accumulated deficit because additional
paid-in
capital is not available.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of September 30, 2023, the Company had $859,286 in its operating bank account and a working capital deficit of $8,566,019.
In order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination or any extension of the deadline by which the Company must consummate its initial Business Combination or liquidate, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligation to, loan the Company funds as may be required (the “Working Capital Loans”). The Company has entered into promissory notes (“Promissory Notes”) with the Sponsor for a total of $3,775,719. These Notes bear no interest and are due upon liquidation or consummation of an initial Business Combination. If the Company completes an initial Business Combination, the Company would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, such loans would be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that the initial Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay such loaned amounts. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender.
As of the date of this filing, the Company has until November 28, 2023, unless otherwise extended pursuant to the Charter and with a monthly additional deposit of $160,000 to the Trust Account, to consummate an initial Business Combination.
It is uncertain that the Company will be able to consummate an initial Business Combination within 12 months from the issuance date of these financial statements or obtain additional working capital loans from the Sponsor. If an initial Business Combination is not consummated by the required date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution. In the event of a dissolution, we anticipate a shortfall of liquidity. Our anticipated shortfall of sufficient liquidity to meet our current and future estimated financial obligations raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a period of time within one year after the date that the accompanying financial statements are issued. We plan to address this uncertainty through working capital loans and through consummation of our initial Business Combination. There is no assurance that working capital loans will be available to us or that our plans to consummate an initial Business Combination will be successful.
Proxy Meeting
On March 24, 2023, the Company held an Extension Meeting to, in part, amend its charter to extend its Termination Date from March 28, 2023 (the “Original Termination Date”) to June 28, 2023 (the “Charter Extension Date”) and to allow the Company, without another stockholder vote, to elect to extend the Termination Date to consummate a Business Combination on a monthly basis up to nine times by an additional one month each time after the Charter Extension Date, by resolution of our board of directors (the “Board”), if requested by the Sponsor, and upon five days’ advance notice prior to the applicable Termination Date, until March 28, 2024 (each, an “Additional Charter Extension Date”) or a total of up to twelve months after the Original Termination Date, unless the closing of a Business Combination shall have occurred prior thereto (the “Extension Amendment Proposal”). For each monthly extension of the Charter Extension Date the Company will deposit $160,000 into the Trust Account. In connection with that vote, the holders of 17,404,506 Class A common stock of the Company properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for an aggregate price of approximately $10.48 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $182,460,109. After the satisfaction of such redemptions, the balance in the Company’s trust account was approximately $58,660,352 (including interest not previously released to the Company but net of expected franchise and income taxes payable). As of the filing of this Form
10-Q,
the Company has deposited funds into the Trust Account such that the Termination Date is November 28, 2023.