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How to Plan for the First Days As a Public Company After a SPAC Merger

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How to Plan for the First Days As a Public Company After a SPAC Merger How to plan for the first days as a public company after a SPAC merger The special purpose acquisition company reporting, builds internal controls over place just prior to the first day its shares (SPAC) process demands significant financial reporting, validates processes are traded. And the company must attention and energy for all parties, critical to cyber security and information also report accurate financials on time; especially the CFO of the target company. technology, and prepares critical filings for depending on filing status, this could be in It is tempting to see the process of regulators and investor review. as few as 40 days after the end of its most winning investor approval, communicating recent financial quarter. These form the your story to potential investors, raising The SPAC process involves many of these initial deadlines for the post-SPAC process. private investment in public equity (PIPE) same hurdles, but the target company’s funds, and timely completion of the management must remain focused on Some post-SPAC companies already have transaction as the end of a strategic and executing the transaction first before many of the structures and policies of a monumental task—and it is. However, tackling post-SPAC processes. Therefore, public company in place. But not all do. In another set of challenges awaits just this post-SPAC work falls to the post-SPAC fact, for some post-SPAC companies, it will beyond as the target company is launched company and its officers, who must be a fresh-build challenge. as a newly public company. play catch-up. Since no two post-SPAC companies are In a traditional initial public offering (IPO), The one undeniable fact of this catch-up the same, the plan and workload will need the company builds toward the first day of process is that there can be no missed to be tailored for each company, with trading as a consequence of the pre-IPO deadlines. Failure can imperil the success likely many of the work streams running process. A traditional pre-IPO company and credibility of the newly public company. on parallel tracks. produces SEC-compliant audited financial statements, designs and implements A post-SPAC company must be ready with systems to facilitate timely and reliable certain filings, processes, and policies in How to plan for the first days as a public company after a SPAC merger Each post-SPAC company must address a number of matters that can be broadly categorized into six work streams. The matters are: Finance and accounting Closing financial reporting and quarterly earnings and other in a timely manner to the investing public through investor financial disclosures on time. relations and SEC filings. • Preparing Form 10-Q and 10-K filings requires a disciplined • Accounting policies and benchmarks need to be defined and timely process for collecting accurate data from the and implemented, which may require support from business, reviewing the reports, and communicating dedicated professionals. them to the public. This may likely include accelerating the • Integration of various key functions, including investor company’s quarterly close calendar. relations, financial planning and analysis, and accounting. • Major and/or material financial events need to be disclosed Corporate governance Corporate board oversight is essential prior to listing; a portion policies that are required by law and various regulations. of the board must be independent and nonmanagement, and Certain compliance standards depend on the presence of board members need to understand their responsibilities and a rigorous self-reporting mechanism for regulatory failures, fiduciary duties from day one. Overall governance measures for example. need to be in place throughout the organization. • Enterprise risk management (ERM) is central to all • Selecting a board strategically that brings the right skill set governance structures. Executives and board members and preparing its members for their responsibilities and require strategic risk management programs and detailing key committee assignments is important; so are processes. Regulations require directors to disclose their protocols for sharing information with the board by key role in risk oversight—and therefore, identification and executives, especially the CFO. prioritization of risks, assessment of an organization’s risk capabilities, and building risk management programs is a • Compliance is a critical function for the establishment board-level and management-level concern. and implementation of a range of internal controls and Internal processes and controls Even prior to reporting the first quarter of earnings as a procedures. As such, meeting Section 404(a) requirements is publicly traded company, controls and processes need to tied closely to other post-SPAC responsibilities. be in place to meet regulatory requirements. These center • Sections 302 and 906 of SOX require certain leaders in around rules, often in the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act of a public company to certify that financial reporting fairly 2002, to create internal controls and related policies aimed presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and at safeguarding of assets, reliable financial reporting, and results of operations. Organizations need to have a process mitigating risk. to review the accuracy and completeness of all disclosures. • Section 404(a) of SOX requires management to conduct • As part of any internal control structure, key functions an annual evaluation of the operational effectiveness of must be established to have segregated and reportable its internal control over financial reporting, among other processes and policies covering a range of core functions, activities. Meeting these requirements should start before including finance and accounting, IT, treasury, compliance becoming a public company in order to mitigate risks for and legal, and human resources. These functions meet both recording of nonroutine, complex, and unusual transactions; operational and regulatory requirements and therefore place controls over information technology (IT) and related should be viewed as essential for a publicly traded company. technologies; put formal reviews over financial statements; and set out clear and consistent accounting policies and 2 How to plan for the first days as a public company after a SPAC merger Information technology With information being a crucial asset in the modern crucial early step. Current cloud-based software-as-a-service corporation, IT as the custodian and protector of this offerings, properly built and implemented, are an effective information has a front-row seat for major executive-level and efficient way to help a business benefit from digitation. issues and discussions. But many organizations in the post- • Pervasive and ubiquitous threats to the availability, integrity, SPAC phase have comparatively bare IT organizations and and confidentiality of a company’s information systems has capabilities in place. The following should be considered: resulted in investors, regulators, stakeholders, and clients • Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are information demanding effective oversight and controls over these enablers to key departments such as finance, human systems. This requires an integrated approach to managing resources, and operations as an organization seeks greater IT risks, overseeing internal controls, efficient compliance performance and sustainable growth. Selecting and systems, and automation of controls monitoring and testing. implementing the appropriate scalable ERP solution is a Cyber Related to IT, an organization’s cyber capabilities will be • Most organizations face meaningful cyber threats; tested every day. But because so much of an organization’s understanding the current vulnerabilities is a first step operations and value is tied with its ability to protect data and toward correcting them. Performing a cyber security maintain operations after a cyber threat is discovered, this assessment that includes components such as application capability can’t be delayed. and network security, threat intel, and software vulnerability is important to assess the cyber posture and • Business continuity and disaster recovery plans are hygiene and begin the process of building defenses and essential protocols to guide executives and the board recovery plans. during a cyber incident. Because cyber threats are constantly evolving, these protocols must be robust and take into account the expanding threat landscape. Tax Tax is often central to financial reporting and transaction remaining, resulting in the need for income tax provision planning. The post-SPAC company can emerge in a calculations for the addition of a corporate entity. much more complex tax situation than prior to the SPAC • The Up-C structure is likely to include additional transaction. Many of these complexities relate to the complexities, maintenance, and reporting requirements resulting tax structure, which is designed to accommodate around tax receivable agreements between sellers of the both the legacy owners of the company and the partnership interests and the public corporation. shareholders of the SPAC. • The change in control may cause potential limitations on • The tax provision reporting requirements for a public tax attributes, such as net operating losses and credits, as company increase considerably. well as public company limitations on the deductibility of • Companies previously operating in passthrough status executive compensation.
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