Concord Acquisition Corp II: Form 10-Q for the period ended Sep 30, 2022

References in this report (the “Quarterly Report”) to “we,” “us” or the “Company” refer to Concord Acquisition Corp II. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, references to the “Sponsors” refer to Concord Sponsor Group II LLC and CA2 Co-Investment, LLC. The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the condensed financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Quarterly Report.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expected and projected. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included in this Quarterly Report including, without limitation, statements in this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” regarding the Company’s financial position, the business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations, and the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the Company’s search for a Business Combination (as defined below), are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “seek” and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance, but reflect management’s current beliefs, based on information currently available. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. For information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, please refer to the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company’s securities filings can be accessed on the EDGAR section of the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov). Except as expressly required by applicable securities law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated on February 18, 2021, for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (a “Business Combination”). We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our shares, debt or a combination of cash, equity and debt.

We expect to continue to incur significant costs in the pursuit of our acquisition plans. We cannot assure you that our plans to complete a Business Combination will be successful.

Results of Operations

We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. Our only activities since inception have been organizational activities and those necessary for our initial public offering (“IPO”) and activities related to seeking and consummating an acquisition target. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination. Until such time that a business combination occurs, we will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents in the form of specified U.S. government treasury bills or specified money market funds after the IPO and non-operating income or expense from the changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities. There has been no significant change in our financial or trading position and no material adverse change has occurred since the date of our audited financial statements. Until the completion of our initial business combination, we expect to incur increased expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, we had net income of $11,500,638, which consisted of formation and operating costs of $883,350 and income taxes of $293,686 offset by the change in the fair value of the warrant liability of $10,992,894 and income from investments held in the Trust Account of $1,684,780.

For the period from February 18, 2021 (inception) through September 30, 2021, we had a net income of $ $4,638,326, which consisted of formation and operating costs of $191,047 and offering costs attributable to warrant liability of $1,029,225 offset by the change in the fair value of the warrant liability of $5,853,167 and income from investments held in the Trust Account of $5,431.

For the three months ended September 30, 2022, we had net income of $883,364, which consisted of formation and operating costs of $270,213 and income taxes of $255,041 offset by the change in the fair value of the warrant liability of $144,138 and income from investments held in the Trust Account of $1,264,480.

For the three months ended September 30, 2021, we had net income of $4,638,799, which consisted of formation and operating costs of $190,574 and offering costs attributable to warrant liability of $1,029,225 offset by the change in the fair value of the warrant liability of $5,853,167 and income from investments held in the Trust Account of $5,431.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Until the consummation of the Initial Public Offering, as described below, our only source of liquidity was an initial purchase of shares of our Class B common stock by Concord Sponsor Group II LLC (the “Sponsor”) and loans from our Sponsor.

On September 3, 2021, the Company consummated the IPO of 25,000,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A common stock included in the Units sold, the “public shares”) at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $250,000,000.

Simultaneously with the closing of the IPO, the Company consummated the private placement of 4,262,121 warrants to the Sponsor, 587,879 warrants to CA2 Co-Investment LLC (an affiliate of one of the underwriters of the IPO) (“CA2 Co-Investment”), and 75,000 warrants each to two of our anchor investors (together, the “Private Warrants”), each at a price of $1.50 per Private Warrant, generating total proceeds of $7,500,000.

The Company had granted the underwriters in the Initial Public Offering (the “Underwriters”) a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,750,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any. On September 27, 2021, the Underwriters partially exercised the over-allotment option and, on September 28, 2021, purchased an additional 3,009,750 Units (the “Over-Allotment Units”), generating gross proceeds of $30,097,500, and incurred $601,950 in cash underwriting fees and deferred underwriting fees of $1,053,413.

Simultaneously with the closing of the exercise of the over-allotment option, the Company consummated the sale of 401,300 warrants (the “Over-Allotment Warrants”) at a purchase price of $1.50 per warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor and CA2 Co-Investment, which generated gross proceeds of $601,950.

Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, the sale of the Over-Allotment Warrants, and the sale of the Over-Allotment Units, a total of $280,097,500 ($10.00 per Unit) was placed in a U.S.-based trust account, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and invested only in U.S. government securities, within the meaning set forth in Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, with a maturity of 185 days or less or in any open-ended investment company that holds itself out as a money market fund selected by the Company meeting certain conditions of Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act, as determined by the Company, until the earlier of: (i) the completion of a Business Combination and (ii) the distribution of the funds held in the Trust Account.

As of September 30, 2022, we had available to us $985,388 of proceeds held outside the Trust Account. We will use these funds primarily to identify and evaluate target businesses, perform business due diligence on prospective target businesses, travel to and from the offices or similar locations of prospective target businesses or their representatives or owners, review corporate documents and material agreements of prospective target businesses, structure, negotiate and complete a business combination, and to pay taxes to the extent the interest earned on the Trust Account is not sufficient to pay our taxes.

If the estimate of the costs of identifying a target business, undertaking in-depth due diligence and negotiating a Business Combination are less than the actual amount necessary to do so, the Company may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to a Business Combination. Moreover, the Company may need to obtain additional financing either to complete a Business Combination or because the Company becomes obligated to redeem a significant number of public shares upon consummation of a Business Combination, in which case the Company may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such Business Combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, the Company would only complete such financing simultaneously with the completion of a Business Combination. If the Company is unable to complete a Business Combination because it does not have sufficient funds available, the Company will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the Trust Account. In addition, following a Business Combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, the Company may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet its obligations.

In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC Subtopic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern”, the Company has until September 3, 2023 to consummate a Business Combination. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolution of the Company. Although the Company intends to consummate a Business Combination on or before September 3, 2023, it is uncertain whether the Company will be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur and potential subsequent dissolution, as well as the potential for the Company to have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to a Business Combination, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. It is uncertain whether the Company will be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after September 3, 2023.

Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements

We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of September 30, 2022. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets.

Contractual Obligations

We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay an affiliate of the Sponsor a monthly fee of $20,000 for office space, administrative and support services. We began incurring these fees on August 31, 2021 and will continue to incur these fees monthly until the earlier of the completion of our initial Business Combination and our liquidation.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates

We prepare our financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of financial statements also requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by our management.

There have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates from those disclosed in our financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, on file with the SEC.

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

We do not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all errors and all instances of fraud. Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the disclosure controls and procedures are met. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.

As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30, 2022. Based upon their evaluation, and due to a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting over the accounting for complex financial instruments, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective as of September 30, 2022.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2022, covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting except for the below.

The Company has made changes in its internal control over financial reporting to enhance our processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements to better evaluate and understand the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements, including providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. The Company can offer no assurance that these changes will ultimately have the intended effects.

Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in this Quarterly Report are any of the risks described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 11, 2022 (the “Annual Report”), and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on May 10, 2022 (the “2022 Q1 Report”). Any of these factors could result in a significant or material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Additional risk factors not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business or results of operations. As of the date of this Quarterly Report, there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in our Annual Report and the 2022 Q1 Report, except for the below.

A new 1% U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with redemptions.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into federal law. The IRA provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded U.S. corporations and certain U.S. subsidiaries of publicly traded non-U.S. corporations (each, a “covered corporation”). Because we are a Delaware corporation and our securities are trading on the NYSE, we are a “covered corporation” for this purpose. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of Treasury has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax. The IRA applies only to repurchases that occur after December 31, 2022.

If a Business Combination is completed on or before December 31, 2022, we would not be subject to the excise tax as a result of stockholders exercising their redemption rights. However, if such Business Combination occurs any time after December 31, 2022, any redemption or other repurchase that occurs in connection with the Business Combination may be subject to the excise tax. Whether and to what extent we would be subject to the excise tax would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the Business Combination, (ii) the nature and amount of the equity issued in connection with the Business Combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with the Business Combination but issued within the same taxable year of the Business Combination), and (iii) the content of regulations and other guidance from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by us, and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete the Business Combination.