UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 

 
FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the year ended December 31, 2008
 
Commission File Number 001-33711

SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
 
20-8523583
(IRS Employer Identification Number)

590 Madison Avenue
32nd Floor
New York, New York 10022
(Address of principal executive offices)
 
(212) 520-2300
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
 

 
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class
 
Name of each exchange
on which registered
     
Units, each consisting of one share of Common Stock, $0.001 par value, and one Warrant
 
NYSE Alternext US
Common Stock included in the Units
 
NYSE Alternext US
Warrants included in the Units
 
NYSE Alternext US

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None
(Title of class)
 

 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  Yes ¨ No x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes ¨ No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment of this Form 10-K.  x
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “accelerated filer,” “large accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

¨ Large accelerated filer
x Accelerated filer
¨  Non-accelerated filer
¨ Smaller reporting company
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Act).  Yes x  No ¨

The aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant computed by reference to the closing sales price for the registrant’s common stock as of June 30, 2008, the last day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, as reported on the NYSE Alternext US was approximately $402,593,280.

In determining the market value of the voting stock held by any non-affiliates, shares of common stock of the registrant beneficially owned by directors, officers and holders of more than 10% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the registrant have been excluded. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of March 9, 2009 was 54,112,000.
 
 

 
 

 

Forward-Looking Statements
 
This report, and the information incorporated by reference in it, include “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our management’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipates,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this report may include, for example, statements about our:
 
·
ability to complete our initial business combination;
 
·
success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;
 
·
officers and directors allocating their time to other business and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;
 
·
potential inability to obtain additional financing to complete a business combination;
 
·
ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities;
 
·
potential change in control if we acquire one or more target businesses for stock;
 
·
our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading; listing or delisting of our securities from the NYSE Alternext US or the ability to have our securities listed on the NYSE Alternext US following our initial business combination;
 
·
use of proceeds not in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance; or
 
·
financial performance
 
The forward-looking statements contained or incorporated by reference in this report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors.” Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

References in this report to “we,” “us” or “our company” refer to SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc. References to “public stockholders” refer to purchasers of our securities by persons other than our founders in, or subsequent to, our initial public offering.
 
Except as otherwise indicated herein, all unit amounts reflect dividends paid by the company of (i) 0.15 units for each unit outstanding on August 8, 2007 and (ii) one third of a unit for each unit outstanding on September 4, 2007.

 
 

 
 
Table of Contents
 
   
Page
     
ITEM 1.
Business
1
ITEM 1A.
Risk Factors
19
ITEM 1B.
Unresolved Staff Comments
37
ITEM 2.
Properties
37
ITEM 3.
Legal Proceedings
37
ITEM 4.
Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
37
ITEM 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
38
ITEM 6.
Selected Financial Data
40
ITEM 7.
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
40
ITEM 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
42
ITEM 8.
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
43
ITEM 9.
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
58
ITEM 9A.
Controls and Procedures
58
ITEM 9B.
Other Information
60
ITEM 10.
Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
60
ITEM 11.
Executive Compensation
67
ITEM 12.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
68
ITEM 13.
Certain Relationships, Related Transactions and Director Independence
72
ITEM 14.
Principal Accounting Fees and Services
75
ITEM 15.
Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
76
Exhibit Index
   
Signatures
   
Certifications
   
 
 
i

 

PART I
 
ITEM 1.   Business
 
General
 
We are a blank check company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware on February 14, 2007. We were formed for the purpose of acquiring, through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination, one or more businesses or assets, which we refer to as our “initial business combination.” Our efforts in identifying a prospective target business are not limited to a particular industry.

A registration statement for our initial public offering was declared effective on October 10, 2007. On October 16, 2007, we sold 40,000,000 units in our initial public offering, and on October 31, 2007 the underwriters for our initial public offering purchased an additional 3,289,600 units pursuant to an over-allotment option. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $7.50 commencing on consummation of a business combination, provided that there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of common stock underlying the warrants in effect. The warrants expire on October 10, 2012, unless earlier redeemed.
 
On March 22, 2007, SP Acq LLC, which is controlled by Warren G. Lichtenstein, our Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, purchased 11,500,000 of our units, which we refer to as founder’s units (and the shares of common stock and warrants comprising the founder’s units are referred to founder’s shares and initial founder’s warrants, respectively). SP Acq LLC subsequently purchased on October 16, 2007 an aggregate of 7,000,000 warrants, which we refer to as additional founder’s warrants, at a price of $1.00 per warrant ($7.0 million in the aggregate) in a private placement that occurred immediately prior to our initial public offering. In addition, Steel Partners II, L.P., an affiliate of SP Acq LLC, has entered into an agreement with us requiring it to purchase 3,000,000 of our units, which we refer to as the co-investment units, from us at a price of $10.00 per unit ($30.0 million in the aggregate) in a private placement that will occur immediately prior to the consummation of our initial business combination.
 
We received gross proceeds of approximately $439,896,000 from our initial public offering and sale of the additional founder’s warrants. Of those gross proceeds, approximately $17,315,840 is attributable to the portion of the underwriters’ discount, which has been deferred until the consummation of our initial business combination. Net proceeds of approximately $425,909,120 were deposited into a trust account and will be part of the funds distributed to our public stockholders in the event we are unable to complete a business combination. Unless and until a business combination is consummated, the proceeds held in the trust account will not be available to us. For a more complete discussion of our financial information, see the section appearing elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K entitled “Selected Financial Data.”
 
Our efforts in identifying a prospective acquisition target are not limited to a particular industry. Instead, we focus on industries and target businesses in the United States, Europe, and Asia, that may provide significant opportunity for value creation. Our investment philosophy is based on the strategies employed by Steel Partners, which reflect a value-orientation and investment discipline that are the result of having investments in public and private debt and equity, as well as distressed debt over 18 years in a diverse range of industries. This includes investments where Steel Partners has exercised control over the portfolio company. Steel Partners focuses on maintaining discipline with respect to purchase price, analyzing the business based on long-term value creation that can be achieved, extensive business and financial analysis and utilizing numerous resources to maximize value post-acquisition.
 
 
 

 

Similar to those strategies employed by Steel Partners, we have identified certain criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. However, we may decide to enter into an initial business combination with a target business or businesses that do not meet all of these criteria and guidelines.
 
We intend to benefit from the investment criteria employed by Steel Partners. We seek to acquire established businesses that are easy to understand. Additionally, we target businesses that we believe are fundamentally sound but potentially in need of certain financial, operational, strategic or managerial redirection to maximize value. We do not intend to acquire start-up companies, companies with speculative business plans or companies that are excessively leveraged.
 
Competitive Strengths
 
We believe that we have the following competitive strengths:
 
Experienced management.
 
Warren G. Lichtenstein , Co-Founder of Steel Partners II, L.P.
 
·
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.

·
More than 20 years of experience investing globally in public and private companies, including debt and equity securities.

·
Co-Founded and manages Steel Partners II, L.P., Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore), L.P., Steel Partners China Access I L.P.

·
Managing Member of Steel Partners II GP LLC, general partner of Steel Partners II, L.P.

·
Chief Executive Officer of Steel Partners LLC, a global investment management firm.

·
Extensive global experience serving on and leading boards of directors, including serving in Chairman and Chief Executive Officer positions of portfolio companies.
 
Jack L. Howard , Co-Founder of Steel Partners II, L.P.
 
·
Chief Operating Officer and Secretary of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.

·
More than 23 years of experience in sourcing, evaluating, structuring and managing investments.

·
Co-Founded Steel Partners II, L.P.

·
President of Steel Partners LLC, a global investment management firm.

·
Extensive experience serving on and leading boards of directors, including serving in Chairman and Chief Executive Officer positions of portfolio companies.
 
 
2

 

James R. Henderson , Managing Director and operating partner of Steel Partners LLC
 
·
Executive Vice President of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.

·
More than 27 years of experience as an operating executive in various companies, including serving in senior executive capacities.

·
Extensive experience serving on and leading boards of directors, including serving in Chairman and Chief Executive Officer positions of portfolio companies.
 
Access to Steel Partners investment platform.
 
The senior investment professionals of Steel Partners have extensive experience investing in public and private equity and debt, including distressed debt, with various degrees of control. We will have access to the broad capabilities of Steel Partners and its professionals based in New York, Los Angeles and London.
 
Deal sourcing network.
 
We believe we are well positioned to source a business combination as a result of our access to Steel Partners’ extensive infrastructure, which includes its offices located in New York, Los Angeles and London and 14 investment professionals. We intend to capitalize on the diverse deal-sourcing opportunities that we believe Steel Partners brings to us as a result of its investment experience, track record and extensive network of relationships including private equity sponsors, management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, commercial bankers, brokers, attorneys, accountants and investors throughout the United States, Asia and Europe.
 
Disciplined investment process.
 
In identifying potential target businesses, we apply Steel Partners’ investment process. This includes analysis of, among other things: (i) the acquisition multiple; (ii) historic and projected financials; (iii) the key drivers of revenues and the balance between unit volume and pricing factors; (iv) key cost components, including raw materials, labor, overhead, insurance, etc.; (v) capital expenditures; (vi) working capital needs; (vii) micro and macroeconomic trends that impact the business and the industry; (viii) the business’s products and its sales channels; (ix) qualitative analysis of company management; (x) the competitive dynamics of the industry and the target company’s position; and (xi) input from third-party consultants.
 
Experience with middle market companies.
 
We expect to benefit from Steel Partners’ experience, which has historically been focused on investments in middle market companies. We use Steel Partners’ network of relationships including private equity sponsors, management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, commercial bankers, brokers, attorneys, accountants and investors throughout the United States, Asia and Europe to locate potential target businesses. Through Steel Partners’ experience of investing in numerous companies, most of which are middle-market, it has developed an extensive network of relationships and possesses valuable insights into industry trends.
 
 
3

 

Access to Steel Partners’ infrastructure.
 
Steel Partners’ offices in New York, Los Angeles and London have more than 25 employees, including 14 investment and operating professionals, who are available to support our operations. Steel Partners’ finance and administration function which addresses legal, compliance, and operational matters will also be available to us.
 
Steel Partners Senior Management
 
In addition to Messrs. Lichtenstein, Howard and Henderson, the following members of Steel Partners senior management are involved in helping us to source, analyze and execute a business combination. We have no agreements or understandings between us and Steel Partners regarding the use of Steel Partners employees (and we incur no additional costs with respect to the use of such employees). None of such employees is required to devote a specific amount of time to efforts on our behalf.
 
Sanford Antignas, Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Secretary, and investment professional of Steel Partners LLC — Mr. Antignas has been associated with Steel Partners LLC, a global management firm, and its affiliates since November 2006. He has served as director of Barbican Group Holdings, a property and casualty insurance and reinsurance company, since November 2007. From 1996 to February 2005 he served as a senior investment professional of Bassini, Playfair and Associates LLC, an emerging markets private equity firm, in various capacities where his last position was Managing Director. While there he served as its Chief Financial Officer from 1996 to 2003 and as a director of eleven of its portfolio companies in various countries, and as the interim Chief Executive Officer of one such company. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Antignas was Director of International Investments at American International Group Inc. and served as a Managing Director of its AIG Capital Partners subsidiary. From 1987 to 1993, he served in various capacities with GE Capital Corporation in its Corporate Finance Group where his last position was Vice President. From 1983 to 1985, Mr. Antignas was with the Middle/Emerging Markets Business Services practice at Deloitte Haskins and Sells, a public accounting firm, and then served on the staff of its national office until 1987. Mr. Antignas graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.S. in Business Administration. He earned an M.B.A. from New York University. Mr. Antignas is also a degree candidate for a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
 
Glen M. Kassan, Managing Director and operating partner of Steel Partners LLC — Mr. Kassan has been associated with Steel Partners LLC, a global management firm, and its affiliates since August 1999. He has served as a director of SL Industries, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of power electronics, power motion equipment, power protection equipment, and teleprotection and specialized communication equipment, since January 2002, its Chairman since May 2008, its Vice Chairman from August 2005 to May 2008 and its President from February 2002 to August 2005.  Mr. Kassan has served as a director of WHX Corporation, a holding company, since July 2005 and as its Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary since October 2005. He served as the Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of a predecessor entity of WebFinancial L.P., a diversified holding company with interests in a variety of businesses, from June 2000 until April 2007. Mr. Kassan has previously served as a director of American Magnetics Corporation, Damon Corporation, Puroflow Incorporated, Tandycrafts Inc., United Industrial Corporation and U.S. Diagnostic Labs, Inc. Mr. Kassan graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in Accounting. He earned a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and an LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law. Mr. Kassan is a Certified Public Accountant.
 
John McNamara, Managing Director-Head Capital Markets and investment professional of Steel Partners LLC — Mr. McNamara has been associated with Steel Partners LLC a global management firm, and its affiliates since May 2006. Mr. McNamara currently serves as a director of the Fox and Hound Restaurant Group, an entertainment restaurant group, since April 2008, SL Industries, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of power electronics, power motion equipment, power protection equipment, and teleprotection and specialized communication equipment, since May 2008 and WHX Corporation, a holding company, since February 2008. He served as a director and the CEO of a predecessor entity of WebFinancial L.P., a diversified holding company with interests in a variety of businesses from June 2008 to December 2008. From 1995 until April 2006 Mr. McNamara served in various capacities at Imperial Capital, an investment banking firm, where his last position was Managing Director and Partner. As a member of Imperial Capital’s Corporate Finance Group, he provided advisory services for middle market companies in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and financings. From 1988 to 1995, Mr. McNamara held various positions with Bay Banks, Inc., a commercial bank, where he served in lending and work-out capacities. Mr. McNamara graduated from Ithaca College with a B.S. in Economics.
 
 
4

 

John J. Quicke, Managing Director and operating partner of Steel Partners LLC — Mr. Quicke has been associated with Steel Partners LLC, a global management firm, and its affiliates since September 2005. Mr. Quicke has served as a director of Adaptec, Inc., a storage solutions provider, since December 2007. He has served as a director of Collins Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of BNS Holding, Inc., a manufacturer of school buses, ambulances and terminal trucks, since October 2006.  He has served as Chairman of the Board of NOVT Corporation, a former developer of advanced medical treatments for coronary and vascular disease, from January 2008 and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of NOVT from April 2006 to November 2006. He has served as a director of WHX Corporation, a holding company, since July 2005 and as a Vice President since October 2005.  He served as a director of Angelica Corporation, a provider of health care linen management services, from August 2006 to July 2008. Mr. Quicke served as a director of Layne Christensen Company, a provider of products and services for the water, mineral construction and energy markets, from October 2006 to June 2007. Mr. Quicke served as a director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Sequa Corporation, a diversified industrial company, from 1993 to March 2004, and Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of Sequa from March 2004 to March 2005. As Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of Sequa, Mr. Quicke was responsible for the Automotive, Metal Coating, Specialty Chemicals, Industrial Machinery and Other Product operating segments of the company. From March 2005 to August 2005, Mr. Quicke occasionally served as a consultant to Steel Partners II, L.P. and explored other business opportunities. Mr. Quicke graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.S. in Business Administration. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA.
 
Joshua Schechter, Managing Director and investment professional of Steel Partners LLC — Mr. Schechter has been associated with Steel Partners LLC, a global management firm, and its affiliates since June 2001. Mr. Schechter has been a director of Aderans Holdings Ltd., a manufacturer of hair care products, since August 2008. He served as a director of Jackson Products, Inc., a safety products manufacturer, from February 2004 to December 2007 and WHX Corporation, a holding company, from July 2005 to February 2008.  Mr. Schechter from 1998 to 2001 held various positions in the Corporate Finance Group of Imperial Capital LLC, an investment banking firm. From 1997 to 1998, he was an Analyst with Leifer Capital Inc., an investment bank. From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Schechter was a Tax Consultant at Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Schechter previously served as a director of Puroflow Incorporated. Mr. Schechter graduated from the University of Texas, Austin with both a B.B.A. in Accounting and a Master of Professional Accounting.
  
Luke Wiseman, Managing Director and investment professional of Steel Partners (UK) Limited — Mr. Wiseman has been associated with Steel Partners (UK) Limited, the London based research subsidiary of an affiliate of Steel Partners LLC, since April 2005. He has certain responsibilities related to the firm’s European investments. Since September 2006 he has served as a non-executive director of API plc, a packaging materials manufacturer.  Mr. Wiseman has served as director of Barbican Group Holdings, a property and casualty insurance and reinsurance company, since November 2007. From October 2000 to April 2005, Mr. Wiseman was an Analyst and Portfolio Manager at Carlson Capital, a Hedge Fund, where he managed an equity long/short portfolio of European consumer and industrial stocks. From 1998 to 2000, he was an Analyst with Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette in London in equity research covering European retail stocks. From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Wiseman served in the European equity sales group of UBS Securities in London. From 1991 to 1994, he was with Tayrich Ltd., a privately owned commercial carpet distributor in the United Kingdom, where he served as a Board Member and was responsible for developing sales in continental Europe. From 1989 to 1991, he was with the Institutional Sales, European Markets area, of Morgan Stanley. From 1986 to 1988, he was with Hoare Govette, a brokerage firm in London where he worked in institutional equity sales. From December 2005 to September 2006 he was a non-executive director of Nettec plc.
 
 
5

 

Effecting a Business Combination
 
General
 
We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time. While substantially all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering are allocated to completing an initial business combination, the proceeds are not otherwise designated for more specific purposes. Accordingly, there is no current basis for shareholders to evaluate the specific merits or risks of one or more target businesses at the time of your investment. If we engage in an initial business combination with a target business using our capital stock or debt financing to fund the combination, proceeds from our initial public offering, the sale of the additional founder’s warrants and the sale of the co-investment units will then be used to undertake additional acquisitions or to fund the operations of the target business on a post-combination basis. We may engage in an initial business combination with a company that does not require significant additional capital but is seeking a public trading market for its shares, and which wants to merge with an already public company to avoid the uncertainties associated with undertaking its own public offering. These uncertainties include time delays, compliance and governance issues, significant expense, a possible loss of voting control, and the risk that market conditions will not be favorable for an initial public offering at the time its initial public offering is ready to be commenced. We may seek to effect a business combination with more than one target business, although our limited resources may serve as a practical limitation on our ability to do so.
 
We have not identified a target business
 
We are currently in the process of identifying and evaluating targets for a potential transaction. We have not entered into any definitive business combination agreement.
 
Subject to the requirement that a target business or businesses have a fair market value of at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of our initial business combination, we have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses. Accordingly, there is no current basis for shareholders to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the target business with which we may ultimately complete our initial business combination. Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.
 
 
6

 

Sources of target businesses
 
We expect that our principal means of identifying potential target businesses will be through the extensive contacts and relationships of our officers and directors and Steel Partners. While our officers are not required to commit to our business on a full-time basis and our directors have no commitment to spend any time in identifying or performing due diligence on potential target businesses, our officers and directors believe that the relationships they have developed over their careers and their access to Steel Partners professionals will generate a number of potential business combination opportunities that will warrant further investigation. Various unaffiliated parties, such as private equity sponsors, management teams of public and private companies, investment bankers, commercial bankers, brokers, attorneys, accountants and investors throughout the United States, Asia and Europe and similar sources, may also bring potential target businesses to our attention.
 
We may pay fees or compensation to third parties for their efforts in introducing us to potential target businesses that we have not previously identified. Such fees or compensation may be calculated as a percentage of the dollar value of the transaction and/or may involve monthly retainer payments. We will seek to negotiate the lowest reasonable percentage fee consistent with the attractiveness of the opportunity and the alternatives, if any, that are then available to us. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction. Although it is possible that we may pay finder’s fees in the case of an uncompleted transaction, we consider this possibility to be extremely remote. In no event will we pay any of our officers or directors or any entity with which they or we are affiliated, including Steel Partners, any finder’s fee or other compensation for services rendered to us prior to or in connection with the consummation of an initial business combination, other than reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, including travel expenses, and an aggregate of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative services. In addition, none of our officers or directors or any entity with which they are affiliated, including Steel Partners, will receive any finder’s fee, consulting fees or any similar fees from any person or entity in connection with any initial business combination involving us other than any compensation or fees that may be received for any services provided following such initial business combination.
 
Selection of a target business and structuring of a business combination
 
Subject to the requirement that our initial business combination must be with a target business with a fair market value that is at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of such initial business combination, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting a prospective target business. We will only consummate a business combination in which we become the controlling shareholder of the target. The key factors that we will rely on in determining controlling shareholder status would be our acquisition of at least 51% of the voting equity interests of the target company and control of the majority of any governing body of the target company. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. In addition, we will not enter into our initial business combination with any entity in which any of our officers, directors or Steel Partners or its affiliates has a financial interest.
 
In evaluating a prospective target business, our management will consider a variety of criteria and guidelines, including the following:

·
financial condition and results of operations;

·
growth potential;

·
brand recognition and potential;

7

 
·
experience and skill of management and availability of additional personnel;

·
capital requirements;

·
stage of development of the business and its products or services;

·
existing distribution arrangements and the potential for expansion;

·
degree of current or potential market acceptance f the products or services;

·
proprietary aspects of products and the extent of intellectual property or other protection for products or formulas;

·
impact of regulation on the business;

·
seasonal sales fluctuations and the ability to offset these fluctuations through other business combinations, introduction of new products, or product line extensions;

·
costs associated with effecting the business combination;

·
industry leadership, sustainability of market share and attractiveness of market sectors in which target business participates;

·
degree to which Steel Partners professionals have investment and operating experience and have had success in the target business’s industry; and
 
·
macro competitive dynamics in the industry within which each company competes.
 
These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination will be based, to the extent relevant, on the above factors as well as other considerations deemed relevant by our management to our business objective. In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as review of financial and other information which will be made available to us.
 
The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete the initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. We expect that due diligence of prospective target businesses will be performed by some or all of our officers, directors and Steel Partners professionals. We may engage market research firms or third-party consultants to assist us with performing due diligence and valuations of the target company. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which a potential or initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete an initial business combination.
 
Fair market value of target business or businesses and determination of offering amount
 
The initial target business or businesses with which we combine must have a collective fair market value equal to at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of such initial business combination. Accordingly, there is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans that would allow us to acquire a target business or businesses with a fair market value considerably greater than 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions as described above) at the time of our initial business combination. If we acquire less than 100% of one or more target businesses in our initial business combination, the aggregate fair market value of the portion or portions we acquire must equal at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions as described above) at the time of such initial business combination. The fair market value of a portion of a target business will be calculated by multiplying the fair market value of the entire business by the percentage of the target business we acquire. We may seek to consummate our initial business combination with a target business or businesses with a collective fair market value in excess of the balance in the trust account. However, we would need to obtain additional financing to consummate such an initial business combination, and there is no assurance we would be able to obtain such financing.
 
 
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In determining the size of our initial public offering, our management concluded, based on their collective experience, that the size of our initial public offering, together with the proceeds from the sale of the additional founder’s warrants and the sale of the co-investment units, will provide us with sufficient equity capital to execute our business plan. We believe that this amount of equity capital, plus our ability to finance an acquisition using stock or debt in addition to the cash held in the trust account, will give us substantial flexibility in selecting an acquisition target and structuring our initial business combination. This belief is not based on any research, analysis, evaluations, discussions, or compilations of information with respect to any particular investment or any such action undertaken in connection with our organization. We cannot assure you that our belief is correct, that we will be able to successfully identify acquisition candidates, that we will be able to obtain any necessary financing or that we will be able to consummate a transaction with one or more target businesses whose fair market value, collectively, is equal to at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of the initial business combination.
 
In contrast to many other blank check companies that must combine with one or more target businesses that have a fair market value equal to 80% or more of the acquiring company’s net assets, we will not combine with a target business or businesses unless the fair market value of such entity or entities meets a minimum valuation threshold of 80% of the sum of the amount in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million). We have used this criterion to provide investors and our officers and directors with greater certainty as to the fair market value that a target business or businesses must have in order to qualify for our initial business combination. The determination of net assets requires an acquiring company to have deducted all liabilities from total assets to arrive at the balance of net assets. Given the ongoing nature of legal, accounting, stockholder meeting and other expenses that will be incurred immediately before and at the time of an initial business combination, the balance of an acquiring company’s total liabilities may be difficult to ascertain at a particular point in time with a high degree of certainty. Accordingly, we have determined to use the valuation threshold of 80% of the sum of the amount in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) for the fair market value of the target business or businesses with which we combine so that our officers and directors will have greater certainty when selecting, and our investors will have greater certainty when voting to approve or disapprove, a proposed initial business combination with a target business or businesses that such target business or businesses will meet the minimum valuation criterion for our initial business combination.
 
 
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Our board of directors will perform its own valuations and analyses in seeking to determine that the target has a fair market value of at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of the proposed business combination. Whether or not the fair market value of a target business or businesses is in excess of 80% of the sum of the proceeds in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment will be determined by our board of directors based upon standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as actual and potential gross margins, the values of comparable businesses, earnings and cash flow, and book value. The board of directors will make its valuation assessment based on all relevant information available at the time, which may differ on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific nature of the target and the structure of the transaction, including the projected performance of the target based on its potential under our business plan (as determined based upon standards generally accepted by the financial community, as well as the criteria discussed under “Selection of a target business and structuring of a business combination” above). Accordingly, we cannot predict at this time the precise information that the board of directors intends to provide to stockholders regarding the valuation of a particular target, other than whether it meets the 80% threshold criterion. If our board is not able to determine independently that the target business has a sufficient fair market value to meet the threshold criterion, we will obtain an opinion in that regard from an unaffiliated, independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. We expect that any such opinion would be included in our proxy soliciting materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with the stockholder vote on our initial business combination, and that such independent investment banking firm will be a consenting expert. Although management has not consulted with any investment banker in connection with such an opinion, it is possible that the opinion would only be able to be relied upon by our board of directors and not by our stockholders. We will need to consider the cost in making a determination as to whether to hire an investment bank that will allow our stockholders to rely on its opinion, and will do so unless the cost is substantially (approximately $50,000) in excess of what it would be otherwise. In the event that we obtain an opinion that we and the investment banker believe cannot be relied on by our stockholders, we will include disclosure in the proxy statement providing support for that belief. While our stockholders might not have legal recourse against the investment banking firm in such case, the fact that an independent expert has evaluated, and passed upon, the fairness of the transaction is a factor our stockholders may consider in determining whether or not to vote in favor of the potential business combination. We will not be required to obtain an opinion from an investment banking firm as to the fair market value of the business if our board of directors independently determines that the target business or businesses has sufficient fair market value to meet the threshold criterion. In addition, if our board of directors has informed stockholders that it believes that a target business meets the 80% threshold criterion, the board will provide stockholders with valuations or quantify the value of any target. Further, in the event that we issue shares in order to acquire a target and such issuance causes the investors in our initial public offering to collectively become minority stockholders, we will not be required to obtain an opinion or independently opine on whether the transaction is fair to our stockholders. However, any such issuance shall not affect the requirement that a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our public stockholders must approve any initial business combination.
 
Lack of business diversification
 
While we may seek to effect business combinations with more than one target business, our initial business combination must involve one or more target businesses whose collective fair market value meets the criteria discussed above at the time of such initial business combination. Consequently, we expect to complete only a single initial business combination, although this may entail a simultaneous combination with several operating businesses. At the time of our initial business combination, we may not be able to acquire more than one target business because of various factors, including complex accounting or financial reporting issues. For example, we may need to present pro forma financial statements reflecting the operations of several target businesses as if they had been combined historically.
 
 
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A simultaneous combination with several target businesses also presents logistical issues, such as the need to coordinate the timing of negotiations, proxy statement disclosure and closings. In addition, if conditions to closings with respect to one or more of the target businesses are not satisfied, the fair market value of the businesses could fall below the required fair market value threshold described above.
 
Accordingly, while it is possible that our initial business combination may involve more than one target business, we are more likely to choose a single target business if all other factors appear equal. This means that for an indefinite period of time, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single target business. Unlike other entities that have the resources to complete business combinations with multiple entities in one or several industries, it is probable that we will not have the resources to diversify our operations and mitigate the risks of being in a single line of business. By consummating our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, in the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination.
 
If we complete our initial business combination structured as a merger in which the consideration is our stock, we could have a significant amount of cash available to make subsequent add-on acquisitions.
 
Limited ability to evaluate the target business’s management
 
We will independently evaluate the quality and experience of the existing management of a target business and will make an assessment as to whether or not they should be replaced on a case-by-case basis. As an example, a company in weak financial condition may be experiencing difficulties because of its capitalization and not because of its operations, in which case operating management may not need to be replaced.
 
Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting an initial business combination with that business, we cannot assure you that our assessment of the target business’s management will prove to be correct. In addition, we cannot assure you that management of the target business will have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of our officers and directors, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. While it is possible that one or more of our officers and directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, a final determination of their continued involvement with the business upon completion of an initial business combination will be made jointly with our board of directors and based on the facts and circumstances at the time. The goal of our board of directors will be to ensure that they select the best management team to pursue our business strategy. If they determine that the incumbent management of an acquired business should be replaced and that one or more of our officers and directors is the best available replacement, it is possible that some of our officers or directors will devote some or all of their efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination.
 
Following our initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.
 
Opportunity for stockholder approval of business combination
 
Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we will submit the transaction to our stockholders for approval, even if the nature of the transaction is such as would not ordinarily require stockholder approval under applicable state law. At the same time, we will submit to our stockholders for approval a proposal to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to permit our continued corporate existence if the initial business combination is approved and consummated. The quorum required to constitute this meeting, as for all meetings of our stockholders in accordance with our bylaws, is a majority of our issued and outstanding common stock (whether or not held by public stockholders). We will consummate our initial business combination only if the required number of shares are voted in favor of both the initial business combination and the amendment to extend our corporate life. If a majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders are not voted in favor of a proposed initial business combination, we may continue to seek other target businesses with which to effect our initial business combination until October 10, 2009, the date that is 24 months from the date of our final prospectus. In connection with seeking stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will furnish our stockholders with proxy solicitation materials prepared in accordance with the Exchange Act, which, among other matters, will include a description of the operations of the target business and audited historical financial statements of the target business based on United States generally accepted accounting principles.
 
 
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In connection with the stockholder vote required to approve our initial business combination, SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Anthony Bergamo, Ronald LaBow, Howard M. Lorber, Leonard Toboroff and S. Nicholas Walker, each a director of our company, have agreed to vote all of their founder’s shares either for or against a business combination, as determined by the totality of the public stockholder vote. SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker and each of our officers and directors have also agreed that if it, he or she acquires shares of common stock, it, he or she will vote all such acquired shares in favor of our initial business combination. Any such purchases of common stock will be based solely upon the judgment of such person or entity (and may be made to impact the shareholder vote to approve a business combination) and are expected to be effected through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions. As a result, neither SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. nor any of our officers or directors will be able to exercise the conversion rights with respect to any of our shares that it, he or she may acquire. However, with the exception of the co-investment none of SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P., our officers or our directors has indicated to us any intent to purchase our securities. We believe that SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and our officers and directors will often be in possession of material non-public information about us that will restrict their ability to make purchases of our securities. We will proceed with our initial business combination only if a quorum is present at the stockholders’ meeting and, as required by our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, a majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders are voted, in person or by proxy, in favor of our initial business combination and stockholders owning no more than 30% of the shares sold in our initial public offering (minus one share) vote against the business combination and exercise their conversion rights. Under the terms of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, this provision may not be amended without the unanimous consent of the Company’s stockholders prior to consummation of an initial business consummation. Even though the validity of unanimous consent provisions under Delaware law has not been settled, neither we nor our board of directors will propose any amendment to this 30% threshold, or support, endorse or recommend any proposal that stockholders amend this threshold (subject to any fiduciary obligations our management or board may have). In addition, we believe we have an obligation in every case to structure our initial business combination so that up to 30% of the shares sold in our initial public offering (minus one share) may be converted to cash by public stockholders exercising their conversion rights and the business combination will still go forward. Provided that a quorum is in attendance at the meeting, in person or by proxy, a failure to vote on the initial business combination at the stockholders’ meeting will have no outcome on the transaction. Voting against our initial business combination alone will not result in conversion of a stockholder’s shares into a pro rata share of the trust account. In order to convert its shares, a stockholder must have also exercised the conversion rights described below.
 
 
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Conversion rights
 
At the time we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, we will offer our public stockholders the right to have their shares of common stock converted to cash if they vote against the business combination and the business combination is approved and completed. Stockholders who wish to exercise their conversion rights must (i) vote against the business combination, (ii) demand that the company convert their shares into cash, (iii) continue to hold their shares through the closing of the business combination and (iv) then deliver their shares to our transfer agent. In lieu of delivering their certificate, shareholders may deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System. The actual per-share conversion price will be equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account (before payment of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions and including accrued interest, net of any income taxes payable on such interest, which shall be paid from the trust account, and net of interest income of up to $3.5 million previously released to us to fund our working capital requirements), calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the proposed initial business combination, divided by the number of shares sold in our initial public offering. The per-share conversion price is expected to be approximately $9.87, or $0.13 less than the per-unit offering price of $10.00. A public stockholder may request conversion at any time after the mailing to our stockholders of the proxy statement and prior to the vote taken with respect to a proposed initial business combination at a meeting held for that purpose, but the request will not be granted unless the stockholder votes against our initial business combination and our initial business combination is approved and completed. If stockholders vote against our initial business combination but do not properly exercise their conversion rights, such stockholders will not be able to convert their shares of common stock into cash at the conversion price. Additionally, we may require public stockholders, whether they are a record holder or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent at any time through the vote on the business combination or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option. The proxy solicitation materials that we will furnish to stockholders in connection with the vote for any proposed business combination will indicate whether we are requiring stockholders to satisfy such certification and delivery requirements. Accordingly, a stockholder would have from the time we send out our proxy statement through the vote on the business combination (which we intend would be a minimum interval of 20 days) to tender his shares if he wishes to seek to exercise his conversion rights. This time period varies depending on the specific facts of each transaction. However, as the delivery process can be accomplished by the stockholder, whether or not he is a record holder or his shares are held in “street name,” in a matter of hours by simply contacting the transfer agent or his broker and requesting delivery of his shares through the DWAC System, we believe this time period is sufficient for an average investor. However, because we do not have any control over this process, it may take significantly longer than we anticipated. Traditionally, in order to perfect conversion rights in connection with a blank check company’s business combination, a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to convert. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him to deliver his certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the consummation of the business combination during which he could monitor the price of the stock in the market. If the price rose above the conversion price, he could sell his shares in the open market before actually delivering his shares to the company for cancellation. Thus, the conversion right, to which stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would survive past the consummation of the business combination until the converting holder delivered his certificate. For the avoidance of any doubt we will not allow the traditional method of conversion for a blank check company. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a converting holder’s election to convert is irrevocable once the business combination is approved. There is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $35 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the converting holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise conversion rights to tender their shares prior to the meeting — the need to deliver shares is a requirement of conversion regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated. Accordingly, assuming a business combination is approved, the exercise of conversion rights would not result in any increased cost to shareholders when compared to the traditional process. However, if a business combination is not approved, shareholders will have incurred additional costs that they would not have otherwise incurred as a result of having already converted their shares.
 
 
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Any request for conversion, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the vote taken with respect to the proposed business combination. Furthermore, if a stockholder delivered his certificate for conversion and subsequently decided prior to the meeting not to elect conversion, he may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to stockholders entitled to convert their shares who elect conversion will be distributed promptly after completion of a business combination. Public stockholders who obtained their stock in the form of units and who subsequently convert their stock into their pro rata share of the trust account will still have the right to exercise the warrants that they received as part of the units. We will not complete our proposed initial business combination if public stockholders owning 30% or more of the shares sold in our initial public offering exercise their conversion rights.
 
In connection with a vote on our initial business combination, public stockholders may elect to vote a portion of their shares for and a portion of their shares against the initial business combination. If the initial business combination is approved and consummated, public stockholders who elected to convert the portion of their shares voted against the initial business combination will receive the conversion price with respect to those shares and may retain any other shares they own.
 
We expect the conversion price to be approximately $9.87 per share. As this amount is lower than the $10.00 per unit offering price and it may be less than the market price of a share of our common stock on the date of conversion, there may be a disincentive to public stockholders to exercise their conversion rights.
 
If a vote on an initial business combination is held and the business combination is not approved, we may continue to try to consummate an initial business combination with a different target until October 10, 2009. If the initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then public stockholders voting against our initial business combination who exercised their conversion rights would not be entitled to convert their shares of common stock into a pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account. Those public stockholders would be entitled to receive their pro rata share of the aggregate amount on deposit in the trust account only in the event that the initial business combination they voted against was duly approved and subsequently completed, or in connection with our dissolution and liquidation.
 
Liquidation if no business combination
 
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will continue in existence only until October 10, 2009. If we consummate our initial business combination prior to that date, we will seek to amend this provision in order to permit our continued existence. If we have not completed our initial business combination by that date, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating pursuant to Section 278 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Because of this provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, no resolution by our board of directors and no vote by our stockholders to approve our dissolution would be required for us to dissolve and liquidate. Instead, we will notify the Delaware Secretary of State in writing on the termination date that our corporate existence is ceasing, and include with such notice payment of any franchise taxes then due to or assessable by the state.
 
 
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We will continue to seek to consummate an initial business combination until October 10, 2009. If we are unable to complete a business combination, we will automatically dissolve and as promptly as practicable thereafter adopt a plan of distribution in accordance with Section 281(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Section 278 provides that our existence will continue for at least three years after its expiration for the purpose of prosecuting and defending suits, whether civil, criminal or administrative, by or against us, and of enabling us gradually to settle and close our business, to dispose of and convey our property, to discharge our liabilities and to distribute to our stockholders any remaining assets, but not for the purpose of continuing the business for which we were organized. Our existence will continue automatically even beyond the three-year period for the purpose of completing the prosecution or defense of suits begun prior to the expiration of the three-year period, until such time as any judgments, orders or decrees resulting from such suits are fully executed. Section 281(b) will require us to pay or make reasonable provision for all then-existing claims and obligations, including all contingent, conditional, or unmatured contractual claims known to us, and to make such provision as will be reasonably likely to be sufficient to provide compensation for any then-pending claims and for claims that have not been made known to us or that have not arisen but that, based on facts known to us at the time, are likely to arise or to become known to us within 10 years after the date of dissolution. Under Section 281(b), the plan of distribution must provide for all of such claims to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. If there are insufficient assets, the plan must provide that such claims and obligations be paid or provided for according to their priority and, among claims of equal priority, ratably to the extent of legally available assets. Any remaining assets will be available for distribution to our stockholders.
 
We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of distribution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $100,000 of proceeds held outside the trust account and from the $3.5 million in interest income on the balance of the trust account that may be released to us to fund our working capital requirements. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of distribution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request that the trustee release to us an additional amount of up to $75,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses. Should there be no such interest available or should those funds still not be sufficient, SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein have agreed to reimburse us for our out-of-pocket costs associated with our dissolution and liquidation, excluding any special, indirect or consequential costs, such as litigation, pertaining to the dissolution and liquidation.
 
Upon its receipt of notice from counsel that our existence has terminated, the trustee will commence liquidating the investments constituting the trust account and distribute the proceeds to our public stockholders. SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker have waived their right to participate in any liquidation distribution with respect to the founder’s shares. As the proceeds from the sale of the co-investment units will not be received by us until immediately prior to our consummation of a business combination, these proceeds will not be deposited into the trust account and will not be available for distribution to our public stockholders in the event of a dissolution and liquidation. Additionally, if we do not complete an initial business combination and the trustee must distribute the balance of the trust account, the underwriters have agreed to forfeit any rights or claims to their deferred underwriting discounts and commissions then in the trust account, and those funds will be included in the pro rata liquidation distribution to the public stockholders. There will be no distribution from the trust account with respect to any of our warrants, which will expire worthless if we are liquidated, and as a result purchasers of our units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the share of common stock included in each unit.
 
 
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The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to claims of our creditors that are in preference to the claims of our stockholders, and we therefore cannot assure you that the actual per-share liquidation price will not be less than approximately $9.87, the conversion price based upon restricted amounts held in trust at December 31, 2008. Although prior to completion of our initial business combination, we will seek to have all third parties (including any vendors or other entities we engage) and any prospective target businesses enter into valid and enforceable agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements. We have not engaged any such third parties or asked for or obtained any such waiver agreements at this time. It is also possible that such waiver agreements would be held unenforceable, and there is no guarantee that the third parties would not otherwise challenge the agreements and later bring claims against the trust account for monies owed them. If a target business or other third party were to refuse to enter into such a waiver, we would enter into discussions with such target business or engage such other third party only if our management determined that we could not obtain, on a reasonable basis, substantially similar services or opportunities from another entity willing to enter into such a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason.
 
SP Acq LLC has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent claims by third parties reduce the amounts in the trust account available for payment to our stockholders in the event of a liquidation and the claims are made by a vendor for services rendered, or products sold, to us, or by a prospective target business. A “vendor” refers to a third party that enters into an agreement with us to provide goods or services to us. However, the agreement entered into by SP Acq LLC specifically provides for two exceptions to the indemnity given: there will be no liability (1) as to any claimed amounts owed to a third party who executed a legally enforceable waiver, or (2) as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Furthermore, there could be claims from parties other than vendors, third parties with which we entered into a contractual relationship or target businesses that would not be covered by the indemnity from SP Acq LLC, such as shareholders and other claimants who are not parties in contract with us who file a claim for damages against us. To the extent that SP Acq LLC refuses to indemnify us for a claim we believe should be indemnified, our officers and directors by virtue of their fiduciary obligation will be obligated to bring a claim against SP Acq LLC to enforce such indemnification. Based on the representation as to its accredited investor status (as such term is defined in Regulation D under the Securities Act), we currently believe that SP Acq LLC is capable of funding its indemnity obligations, even though we have not asked it to reserve for such an eventuality. We cannot assure you, however, that it would be able to satisfy those obligations.
 
Under Delaware law, creditors of a corporation have a superior right to stockholders in the distribution of assets upon liquidation. Consequently, if the trust account is liquidated and paid out to our public stockholders shares prior to satisfaction of the claims of all of our creditors, it is possible that our stockholders may be held liable for third parties’ claims against us to the extent of the distributions received by them.
 
If we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you that we will be able to return at least approximately $9.87 per share to our public stockholders.
 
 
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A public stockholder will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only in the event that we do not consummate an initial business combination or if the stockholder converts its shares into cash after voting against an initial business combination that is actually completed by us and exercising its conversion rights. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. Prior to our completing an initial business combination or liquidating, we are permitted to have released from the trust account only (i) interest income to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance and (ii) interest income earned of up to $3.5 million to fund our working capital requirements.
 
Certificate of Incorporation
 
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation sets forth certain provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections to our stockholders prior to the consummation of a business combination, including that:
 
·
prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall submit the initial business combination to our stockholders for approval;

·
we may consummate our initial business combination if approved by a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our public stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting, and public stockholders owning up to 30% of the shares (minus one share) sold in our initial public offering vote against the business combination and exercise their conversion rights;

·
if a proposed initial business combination is approved and consummated, public stockholders who exercised their conversion rights and voted against the initial business combination may convert their shares into cash at the conversion price on the closing date of the initial business combination;

·
if our initial business combination is not consummated by October 10, 2009, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account (except for such amounts as are paid to creditors or reserved for payment to creditors in accordance with Delaware law) and any net assets remaining outside the trust account on a pro rata basis to all of our public stockholders;

·
we may not consummate any other business combination, merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction prior to our initial business combination;

·
prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional stock that participates in any manner in the proceeds of the trust account, or that votes as a class with the common stock sold in our initial public offering on a business combination;

·
our audit committee shall monitor compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, the audit committee is charged with the immediate responsibility to take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise cause compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and

·
the audit committee shall review and approve all payments made to our officers, directors and our and their affiliates, other than the payment of an aggregate of $10,000 per month to Steel Partners, Ltd. for office space, secretarial and administrative services, and any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.
 
 
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires that prior to the consummation of our initial business combination we obtain unanimous consent of our stockholders to amend these provisions. However, the validity of unanimous consent provisions under Delaware law has not been settled. A court could conclude that the unanimous consent requirement constitutes a practical prohibition on amendment in violation of the stockholders’ statutory rights to amend the corporate charter. In that case, these provisions could be amended without unanimous consent, and any such amendment could reduce or eliminate the protection these provisions afford to our stockholders. However, we view all of the foregoing provisions as obligations to our stockholders (subject to any fiduciary obligations our management or board may have). In addition, we believe we have an obligation in every case to structure our initial business combination so that not less than 30% of the shares sold in our initial public offering (minus one share) have the ability to be converted to cash by public stockholders exercising their conversion rights and the business combination will still go forward
 
Competition
 
In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we may encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, as well as operating businesses seeking acquisitions. Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Moreover, many of these competitors possess greater financial, technical, human and other resources than us. While we believe there are numerous potential target businesses with which we could combine, our ability to acquire larger target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of a target business. Furthermore:
 
·
our obligation to seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination or obtain necessary financial information may delay the completion of a transaction;

·
our obligation to convert into cash shares of common stock held by our public stockholders who vote against the initial business combination and exercise their conversion rights may reduce the resources available to us for an initial business combination;

·
our outstanding warrants and the future dilution they potentially represent may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses; and

·
the requirement to acquire an operating business that has a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the sum of the balance of the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment at the time of the acquisition (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) could require us to acquire the assets of several operating businesses at the same time, all of which sales would be contingent on the closings of the other sales, which could make it more difficult to consummate the business combination.
 
Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination.
 
 
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Employees
 
We currently have three officers. These individuals are not our employees and are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our business and intend to devote only as much time as they deem necessary to our business. We do not expect to have any full-time employees prior to the consummation of a business combination.
 
ITEM 1A.   Risk Factors
 
An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully all of the material risks described below, together with the other information contained in this report before making a decision to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. This report also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks described below.
 
We may proceed with a business combination if public stockholders owning less than 30% of the shares sold in our initial public offering properly exercise their conversion rights. This requirement may make it easier for us to have a business combination approved over stockholder dissent.
 
When we seek stockholder approval of a business combination or any extension of the time period within which we must complete our business combination, we will offer each public stockholder the right to have his, her or its shares of common stock converted to cash if the stockholder votes against the business combination or extension and the business combination is approved and consummated or the extension is approved. We will consummate the business combination only if the following two conditions are met: (i) a majority of the shares of common stock voted by the public stockholders are voted in favor of the business combination and (ii) public stockholders owning less than 30% of the shares sold in our initial public offering cumulatively vote against the business combination or an extension of the time period within which we must consummate our business combination and exercise their conversion rights. There can be no assurance that any converting stockholder will receive an amount that is equal to or more than his, her or its full invested amount.
 
We are a development stage company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.
 
We are a recently incorporated development stage company with no operating results to date. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing an initial business combination with one or more target businesses, as described in this report. We are currently in the process of evaluating and identifying prospective target businesses concerning an initial business combination but may be unable to complete an initial business combination. We will not generate any revenues from operating activities until, at the earliest, after completing an initial business combination. We cannot assure you as to when, or if, an initial business combination will occur. If we expend all of the $100,000 in proceeds from our initial public offering not held in trust and interest income earned of up to $3.5 million on the balance of the trust account that may be released to us to fund our working capital requirements in seeking an initial business combination, but fail to complete such an initial combination, we may never generate any operating revenues.
 
 
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We may not be able to consummate our initial business combination, in which case we would be forced to dissolve and liquidate.
 
We must complete our initial business combination with one or more target businesses that have a fair market value of at least 80% of the sum of the amount held in our trust account at the time of the initial business combination plus the proceeds of the co-investment at the time of our initial business combination (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million). If we fail to consummate a business combination, we will be forced to dissolve and liquidate. We may not be able to find suitable target businesses within the required time frame. In addition, our negotiating position and our ability to conduct adequate due diligence on any potential target may be reduced as we approach the deadline for the consummation of an initial business combination.
 
If we liquidate before concluding an initial business combination, our public stockholders will receive less than $10.00 per share on distribution of trust account funds and our warrants will expire worthless.
 
If we are unable to complete an initial business combination and must liquidate our assets, the per-share liquidation distribution will be less than $10.00 because of the expenses of our initial public offering, our general and administrative expenses and the planned costs of seeking an initial business combination. Furthermore, our outstanding warrants are not entitled to participate in a liquidation distribution and the warrants will therefore expire worthless if we liquidate before completing an initial business combination; and as a result purchasers of our units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the share of common stock included in each unit.
 
An effective registration statement must be in place in order for a warrant holder to be able to exercise the warrants.
 
No warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock upon exercise of warrants by a holder unless, at the time of such exercise, we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. Although we have undertaken in the warrant agreement, and therefore have a contractual obligation, to use our best efforts to have an effective registration statement covering shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants from the date the warrants become exercisable and to maintain a current prospectus relating to that common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, and we intend to comply with our undertaking, we cannot assure you that we will be able to do so. Our initial founder’s warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our initial public offering except that (i) they only become exercisable after our consummation of our initial business combination if and when the last sales price of our common stock exceeds $14.25 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period beginning 90 days after such business combination and (ii) they are non-redeemable. Our additional founder’s warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our initial public offering except that they are non-redeemable. Our co-investment warrants are identical to the warrants sold in our initial public offering except that they will be non-redeemable. Holders of warrants may not be able to exercise their warrants, the market for the warrants may be limited and the warrants may be deprived of any value if there is no effective registration statement covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants or the prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon the exercise of the warrants is not current. In such event, the holder of a unit will have paid the entire unit purchase price for the common stock contained in the unit as the warrant will be worthless. Holders of warrants will not be entitled to a cash settlement for their warrants if we fail to have an effective registration statement or a current prospectus available relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and the holders’ only remedies in such event will be those available if we are found by a court of law to have breached our contractual obligation to them by failing to do so.
 
 
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An investor will only be able to exercise a warrant if the issuance of common stock upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or is deemed exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants.
 
No warrants will be exercisable and we will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock unless the common stock issuable upon such exercise has been registered or qualified or deemed to be exempt under the securities laws of the state of residence of the holder of the warrants. Because the exemptions from qualification in certain states for resales of warrants and for issuances of common stock by the issuer upon exercise of a warrant may be different, a warrant may be held by a holder in a state where an exemption is not available for issuance of common stock upon an exercise and the holder will be precluded from exercise of the warrant. Nevertheless, we expect that resales of the warrants as well as issuances of common stock by us upon exercise of a warrant may be made in every state because at the time that the warrants become exercisable (following our completion of an initial business combination), we expect to either continue to be listed on a national securities exchange, which would provide an exemption from registration in every state, or we would register the warrants in every state (or seek another exemption from registration in such states). To the extent an exemption is not available, we will use our best efforts to register the underlying common stock in all states where the holders of our warrants reside. Accordingly, we believe holders in every state will be able to exercise their warrants as long as our prospectus relating to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants is current. However, we cannot assure you of this fact. As a result, the warrants may be deprived of any value, the market for the warrants may be limited and the holders of warrants may not be able to exercise their warrants and they may expire worthless if the common stock issuable upon such exercise is not qualified or exempt from qualification in the jurisdictions in which the holders of the warrants reside.
 
You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors in blank check companies.
 
Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering are intended to be used to complete a business combination with a target business that has not been identified, we may be deemed a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because upon the consummation of our initial public offering we had net tangible assets in excess of $5 million and at that time filed a Form 8-K with the SEC that included an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, the SEC has taken the position that we are exempt from Rule 419 under the Securities Act which is designed to protect investors in blank check companies. Accordingly, our public stockholders will not receive the benefits or protections of Rule 419. Among other things, this means we will have a longer period of time to complete a business combination in some circumstances than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, offerings subject to Rule 419 would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our consummation of an initial business combination.
 
 
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Under Delaware law, a court could invalidate the requirement that certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation be amended only by unanimous consent of our stockholders; amendment of those provisions could reduce or eliminate the protections they afford to our stockholders.
 
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains certain requirements and restrictions that will apply to us until the consummation of our initial business combination. Specifically, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that:
 
·
prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, we shall submit the initial business combination to our stockholders for approval;

·
we may consummate our initial business combination if approved by a majority of the shares of common stock voted by our public stockholders at a duly held stockholders meeting, and public stockholders owning up to 30% of the shares (minus one share) sold in our initial public offering vote against the business combination and exercise their conversion rights;

·
if a proposed initial business combination is approved and consummated, public stockholders who exercised their conversion rights and voted against the initial business combination may convert their shares into cash at the conversion price on the closing date of the initial business combination;

·
if our initial business combination is not consummated by October 10, 2009, then our existence will terminate and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account (except for such amounts as are paid to creditors or reserved for payment to creditors in accordance with Delaware law) and any net assets remaining outside the trust account on a pro rata basis to all of our public stockholders;

·
we may not consummate any other business combination, merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar transaction prior to our initial business combination;

·
prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional stock that participates in any manner in the proceeds of the trust account, or that votes as a class with the common stock sold in our initial public offering on a business combination;

·
our audit committee shall monitor compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, the audit committee is charged with the immediate responsibility to take all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise cause compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and

·
the audit committee shall review and approve all payments made to our officers, directors and our and their affiliates, other than the payment of an aggregate of $10,000 per month to Steel Partners, Ltd. for office space, secretarial and administrative services, and any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with any interested director abstaining from such review and approval.
 
 
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires that prior to the consummation of our initial business combination we obtain unanimous consent of our stockholders to amend these provisions. However, the validity of unanimous consent provisions under Delaware law has not been settled. A court could conclude that the unanimous consent requirement constitutes a practical prohibition on amendment in violation of the stockholders’ statutory rights to amend the corporate charter. In that case, these provisions could be amended without unanimous consent, and any such amendment could reduce or eliminate the protection these provisions afford to our stockholders. However, we view all of the foregoing provisions as obligations to our stockholders (subject to any fiduciary obligations our management or board may have). In addition, we believe we have an obligation in every case to structure our initial business combination so that not less than 30% of the shares sold in our initial public offering (minus one share) have the ability to be converted to cash by public stockholders exercising their conversion rights and the business combination will still go forward.
 
If third parties bring claims against us, or if we go bankrupt, the proceeds held in trust could be reduced and the per-share liquidation price received by you will be less than approximately $9.87 per share.
 
Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although prior to completion of our initial business combination, we will seek to have all third parties (including any vendors or other entities we engage) and any prospective target businesses enter into valid and enforceable agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements. It is possible that such waiver agreements would be held unenforceable and there is no guarantee that the third parties would not otherwise challenge the agreements and later bring claims against the trust account for monies owed them. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Accordingly, the proceeds held in trust could be subject to claims that would take priority over the claims of our public stockholders and, as a result, the per-share liquidation price could be less than approximately $9.87, the conversion price based upon restricted amounts held in trust at December 31, 2008. SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein have agreed that they will be liable to the company if and to the extent claims by third parties reduce the amounts in the trust account available for payment to our stockholders in the event of a liquidation and the claims are made by a vendor for services rendered, or products sold, to us or by a prospective business target. However, the agreement entered into by SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein specifically provides for two exceptions to the indemnity given: there will be no liability (1) as to any claimed amounts owed to a third party who executed a legally enforceable waiver, or (2) as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Furthermore, there could be claims from parties other than vendors, third parties with which we entered into a contractual relationship or target businesses that would not be covered by the indemnity from SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein, such as shareholders and other claimants who are not parties in contract with us who file a claim for damages against us. To the extent that SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein refuse to indemnify us for a claim we believe should be indemnified, our officers and directors by virtue of their fiduciary obligations will be obligated to bring a claim against SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein to enforce such indemnification. Based on representations as to its status as an accredited investor (as such term is defined in Regulation D under the Securities Act), we currently believe that SP Acq LLC and Mr. Lichtenstein are capable of funding their indemnity obligations, even though we have not asked them to reserve for such an eventuality. We cannot assure you, however, that they would be able to satisfy those obligations.
 
 
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In addition, if we are forced to file a bankruptcy case or an involuntary bankruptcy case is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you that we will be able to return at least approximately $9.87 per share to our public stockholders.
 
Since we have not yet selected a particular industry or any target business with which to complete our initial business combination, you will be unable to currently ascertain the merits or risks of the industry or business in which we may ultimately operate.
 
We may consummate an initial business combination with a company in any industry we choose and we are not limited to any particular industry or type of business. Accordingly, there is no current basis for you to evaluate the possible merits or risks of the particular industry in which we may ultimately operate or the target business or businesses with which we may ultimately enter an initial business combination. Although the members of our management team will evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risks present in that target business. Even if we properly assess those risks, some of them may be outside of our control or ability to affect. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable our public stockholders than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a target business.
 
Our stockholders may be held liable for third parties’ claims against us to the extent of distributions received by them following our dissolution.
 
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we will continue in existence only until October 10, 2009. If we consummate our initial business combination prior to that date, we will seek to amend this provision to permit our continued existence. If we have not completed our initial business combination by that date, our corporate existence will cease except for the purposes of winding up our affairs and liquidating pursuant to Section 278 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by those stockholders in a dissolution. However, if the corporation complies with certain procedures intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, the liability of stockholders with respect to any claim against the corporation is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder. In addition, if the corporation undertakes additional specified procedures, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidation distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders would be barred with respect to any claim on which an action, suit or proceeding is not brought by the third anniversary of the dissolution (or such longer period directed by the Delaware Court of Chancery). While we intend to adopt a plan of distribution making reasonable provision for claims against the company in compliance with the Delaware General Corporation Law, we do not intend to comply with these additional procedures, as we instead intend to distribute the balance in the trust account to our public stockholders as promptly as practicable following termination of our corporate existence. Accordingly, any liability our stockholders may have could extend beyond the third anniversary of our dissolution. We cannot assure you that any reserves for claims and liabilities that we believe to be reasonably adequate when we adopt our plan of dissolution and distribution will suffice. If such reserves are insufficient, stockholders who receive liquidation distributions may subsequently be held liable for claims by creditors of the company to the extent of such distributions.
 
 
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We depend on the limited funds available outside of the trust account and a portion of the interest earned on the trust account balance to fund our search for a target business or businesses and to complete our initial business combination.
 
Of the net proceeds of our initial public offering, $100,000 was available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to provide us with the additional working capital we will need to identify one or more target businesses and to complete our initial business combination. While we are entitled to have released to us for such purposes interest income of up to a maximum of $3.5 million, a substantial decline in interest rates may result in our having insufficient funds available with which to structure, negotiate or close an initial business combination. In such event, we could seek to borrow funds or raise additional investments from our officers and directors or others to operate, although our officers and directors are under no obligation to advance funds to, or to invest in, us. If we have insufficient funds available, we may be forced to liquidate.
 
Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities we may not be able to consummate an attractive initial business combination.
 
We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including venture capital funds, leveraged buyout funds, private equity funds and public and private companies (including blank check companies like ours). Many of these entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting business combinations directly or through affiliates. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe that there are numerous potential target businesses that we could acquire our ability to compete in acquiring certain sizable target businesses will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. In addition, the fact that only a limited number of blank check companies have completed a business combination may be an indication that there are only a limited number of attractive target businesses available to such entities or that many privately held target businesses may not be inclined to enter into business combinations with publicly held blank check companies like ours. Further:
 
·
our obligation to seek shareholder approval of a business combination may materially delay the consummation of a transaction;

·
our obligation to convert into cash up to 30% of the shares of common stock held by public stockholders (minus one share) in certain instances may materially reduce the resources available for a business combination; and

·
our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses.
 
Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully compete for an attractive business combination. Additionally, because of these factors, we cannot assure you that we will be able to effectuate a business combination within the required time periods. If we are unable to find a suitable target business within the required time periods, we will be forced to liquidate.
 
 
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We may be unable to obtain additional financing if necessary to complete our initial business combination or to fund the operations and growth of a target business, which could compel us to restructure or abandon a particular business combination.
 
We believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering, the sale of the founder’s units and the sale of the additional founder’s warrants and the proceeds we will receive from the sale of the co-investment units will be sufficient to allow us to consummate our initial business combination. However, because we have no oral or written agreements or letters of intent to engage in a business combination with any entity, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete our initial business combination or that we will have sufficient capital with which to complete a combination with a particular target business. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering, and the sale of the additional founder’s warrants and the proceeds we will receive from the sale of the co-investment units are not sufficient to facilitate a particular business combination because:
 
·
of the size of the target business;

·
the offering proceeds not in trust and funds available to us from interest earned on the trust account balance are insufficient to fund our search for and negotiations with a target business; or

·
the amount of cash that we will have available to be used as consideration in connection with our initial business combination will be directly affected by the amount of cash we must use to convert into cash the number of shares of common stock owned by public stockholders who elect to exercise their conversion rights,
 
we will be required to seek additional financing. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If additional financing is unavailable to consummate a particular business combination, we would be compelled to restructure or abandon the business combination and seek an alternative target business.
 
In addition, it is possible that we could use a portion of the funds not in the trust account (including amounts we borrowed, if any) to make a deposit, down payment or fund a “no-shop” provision with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. In the event that we were ultimately required to forfeit such funds, and we had already used up the funds allocated to due diligence and related expenses in connection with the aborted transaction, we could be left with insufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, other potential target businesses.
 
Even if we do not need additional financing to consummate an initial business combination, we may require additional capital — in the form of debt, equity, or a combination of both — to operate or grow any potential business we may acquire. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such additional capital if it is required. If we fail to secure such financing, this failure could have a material adverse effect on the operations or growth of the target business. Other than the co-investment, none of our officers or directors or any other party is required to provide any financing to us in connection with, or following, our initial business combination.
 
 
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If we issue capital stock or convertible debt securities to complete our initial business combination, your equity interest in us could be reduced or there may be a change in control of our company.
 
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. There are 84,776,000 authorized but unissued shares of our common stock available for issuance (after appropriate reservation for the issuance of shares upon full exercise of our outstanding warrants, including the initial founder’s warrants and the additional founder’s warrants), and all of the shares of preferred stock available for issuance. Upon consummation of the co-investment, there will be 78,776,000 authorized but unissued shares of our common stock available for issuance (after appropriate reservation for the issuance of shares upon full exercise of our outstanding warrants, including the initial founder’s warrants, the additional founder’s warrants and the co-investment warrants). We have no other commitments to date to issue any additional securities. We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of our common stock or may issue preferred stock, or a combination of both, including through convertible debt securities, to complete an initial business combination. Our issuance of additional shares of common stock or any preferred stock:
 
·
may significantly reduce your equity interest in us;

·
will likely cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of common stock are issued, which may among other things limit our ability to use any net operating loss carry forwards we have, and may result in the resignation or removal of our officers and directors; and

·
may adversely affect the then-prevailing market price for our common stock.
 
The value of your investment in us may decline if any of these events occur.
 
If we issue debt securities to acquire or finance a target business, our liquidity may be adversely affected and the combined business may face significant interest expense.
 
We may elect to enter into a business combination that requires us to issue debt securities as part of the purchase price for a target business. If we issue debt securities, such issuances may result in an increase in interest expense for the post-combination business and may adversely affect our liquidity in the event of:
 
·
a default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating cash flow after a business combination were insufficient to pay principal and interest obligations on our debt;

·
an acceleration, which could occur even if we are then current in our debt service obligations if the debt securities have covenants that require us to meet certain financial ratios or maintain designated reserves, and such covenants are breached without waiver or renegotiation;

·
a required immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt securities are payable on demand; or

·
our inability to obtain any additional financing, if necessary, if the debt securities contain covenants restricting our ability to incur indebtedness.
 
 
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SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and our Directors collectively own approximately 20% of our shares of common stock and may influence certain actions requiring a stockholder vote.
 
SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker collectively own approximately 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock (and together with its affiliate Steel Partners II, L.P., SP Acq LLC will own approximately 24.2% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock upon consummation of the co-investment). SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker have agreed, in connection with the stockholder vote required to approve our initial business combination, to vote all of their founder’s shares either for or against the initial business combination as determined by the totality of the stockholder vote and each of them together with our officers and directors has agreed that if it, he or she acquires additional shares of common stock, it, he or she will vote all such acquired shares in favor of our initial business combination. Accordingly, shares of common stock owned by SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker will not have the same voting or conversion rights as our public stockholders with respect to a potential initial business combination, and none of SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P., nor any of our officers or directors will be able to exercise the conversion rights with respect to any of our shares that it, he or she may acquire. Any purchases of stock will be based solely upon the judgment of such person or entity (and may be made to impact the shareholder vote to approve a business combination) and are expected to be effected through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions. However, with the exception of the co-investment none of SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P., our officers or our directors has indicated to us any intent to purchase our securities We believe that SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and our officers and directors will often be in possession of material non-public information about us that will restrict their ability to make purchases of our securities.
 
Some of our current officers and directors may resign upon consummation of our initial business combination.
 
Our ability to effect our initial business combination successfully will be largely dependent upon the efforts of our officers and directors. However, while it is possible that some of our officers and directors will remain associated with us in various capacities following our initial business combination, some of them may resign and some or all of the management of the target business may remain in place.
 
We may have only limited ability to evaluate the management of the target business.
 
We may have only limited ability to evaluate the management of the target business. Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business in connection with evaluating the desirability of effecting a business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of management will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a public company and the securities laws, which could increase the time and resources we must expend to assist them in becoming familiar with the complex disclosure and financial reporting requirements imposed on U.S. public companies, including the requirement to maintain an effective system of internal controls. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues that may adversely affect the price of our stock.
 
We may seek to effect our initial business combination with one or more privately held companies, which may present certain challenges to us, including the lack of available information about these companies.
 
In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effect our initial business combination with one or more privately held companies. By definition, very little public information exists about these companies, and we could be required to make our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination on the basis of limited information.
 
 
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We will not be required to obtain an opinion from an investment banking firm as to the fair market value of a proposed business combination if our board of directors independently determines that the target business has sufficient fair market value and it is possible that any opinion that we obtain would only be able to be relied upon by our board of directors and not by our stockholders.
 
The initial target business that we acquire must have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of our initial business combination. There is no limitation on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans that would allow us to acquire a target business or businesses with a fair market value in an amount considerably greater than 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions as described above) at the time of our initial business combination. Other than the co-investment, we have not had any preliminary discussions, nor have any plans, agreements or commitments, with respect to financing arrangements with any third party. The fair market value of such business will be determined by our board of directors based on all relevant information available at the time, which may differ on a case-by-case basis depending on the specific nature of the target and the structure of the transaction, including the projected performance of the target based on its potential under our business plan (as determined in part upon standards generally accepted by the financial community). If our board is not able to independently determine that the target business has a sufficient fair market value, we will obtain an opinion from an unaffiliated, independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We expect that any such opinion would be included in our proxy solicitation materials furnished to our stockholders in connection with the stockholder vote on our initial business combination, and that such independent investment banking firm will be a consenting expert. Although management has not consulted with any investment banker in connection with such an opinion, it is possible that the opinion would only be able to be relied upon by our board of directors and not by our stockholders. We will need to consider the cost in making a determination as to whether to hire an investment bank that will allow our stockholders to rely on its opinion, and will do so unless the cost is substantially (approximately $50,000) in excess of what it would be otherwise. In the event that we obtain an opinion that we and the investment banker believe cannot be relied on by our stockholders, we will include disclosure in the proxy statement providing support for that belief. While our stockholders might not have legal recourse against the investment banking firm in such case, the fact that an independent expert has evaluated, and passed upon, the fairness of the transaction is a factor our stockholders may consider in determining whether or not to vote in favor of the potential business combination. We will not be required to obtain an opinion from an investment banking firm as to the fair market value of the business if our board of directors independently determines that the target business or businesses has sufficient fair market value to meet the threshold criteria. In addition, if our board of directors has informed stockholders that it believes that a target business meets the 80% threshold criterion, the board will provide stockholders with valuations or quantify the value of any target. Further, in the event that we issue shares in order to acquire a target and such issuance causes our public stockholders to collectively become minority stockholders, we will not be required to obtain an opinion or independently opine on whether the transaction is fair to our stockholders.
 
We may require stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to comply with specific requirements for conversion that may make it more difficult for them to exercise their conversion rights prior to the deadline for exercising their rights.
 
We may require public stockholders who wish to convert their shares in connection with a proposed business combination to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent at any time prior to the vote taken at the stockholder meeting relating to such initial business combination or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian) System. In order to obtain a physical stock certificate, a stockholder’s broker and/or clearing broker, DTC and our transfer agent will need to act to facilitate this request. It is our understanding that stockholders should generally allot at least two weeks to obtain physical certificates from the transfer agent. However, because we do not have any control over this process or over the brokers or DTC, it may take significantly longer than two weeks to obtain a physical stock certificate. While we have been advised that it takes a short time to deliver shares through the DWAC System, we cannot assure you of this fact. Accordingly, if it takes longer than we anticipate for stockholders to deliver their shares, stockholders who wish to convert may be unable to meet the deadline for exercising their conversion rights and thus may be unable to convert their shares. In addition, there is a nominal cost associated with the above-referenced tendering process and the act of certificating the shares or delivering them through the DWAC system. The transfer agent will typically charge the tendering broker $35 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the converting holder.
 
 
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We may compete with investment vehicles of Steel Partners for access to Steel Partners.
 
Certain of the entities comprising Steel Partners sponsor and currently manage various investment vehicles, and may in the future sponsor or manage additional investment vehicles which, in each case, could result in us competing for access to the benefits that we expect our relationship with Steel Partners to provide to us.
 
We expect to rely upon our access to Steel Partners investment professionals in completing an initial business combination.
 
We expect that we will depend, to a significant extent, on our access to the investment professionals of Steel Partners and the information and deal flow generated by Steel Partners investment professionals in the course of their investment and portfolio management activities to identify and complete our initial business combination. Consequently, the departure of a significant number of the investment professionals of Steel Partners, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to consummate an initial business combination.
 
Members of our management team and our directors are and may in the future become affiliated with entities engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us, and may have conflicts of interest in allocating their time and business opportunities.
 
Members of our management and our directors may in the future become affiliated with other entities including other blank check companies engaged in business activities similar to those intended to be conducted by us. As a result, members of our management team may become aware of business opportunities that may be appropriate for presentation to us as well as the other entities with which they are or may be affiliated. Moreover, members of our management team are not obligated to expend a specific number of hours per week or month on our affairs.
 
 
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Our business opportunity right of first review agreement with Mr. Lichtenstein and Steel Partners II GP LLC (formerly Steel Partners, L.L.C.), does not apply to companies targeted for acquisition by any business in which Steel Partners II, L.P. directly or indirectly has an investment.
 
We have entered into a business opportunity right of first review agreement with Mr. Lichtenstein and Steel Partners II GP LLC (formerly Steel Partners, L.L.C.) that provides that from the date of our initial public offering until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation in the event we do not consummate an initial business combination, we will have a right of first review with respect to business combination opportunities of Steel Partners relating to companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange or over-the-counter market with an enterprise value of between $300 million and $1.5 billion. However, this right of first review does not apply to companies targeted for acquisition by any businesses in which Steel Partners II, L.P. directly or indirectly has an investment (including Steel Partners Japan Strategic Fund (Offshore), L.P. or businesses headquartered in or organized under the laws of China. Currently, members of our management team are officers or directors of the following entities in which Steel Partners II, L.P., directly or indirectly, has an investment: Adaptec, Inc., BNS Holding, Inc., Collins Industries, Inc., CoSine Communications, Inc., Del Global Technologies Corp., Gateway Industries, Inc., GenCorp, Inc., Nathan’s Famous Inc., NOVT Corporation, Point Blank Solutions, Inc., Rowan Companies, Inc., SL Industries, Inc., Vector Group Ltd., WebBank, WebFinancial L.P. and WHX Corporation. In addition, such members of our management team could in the future become officers or directors of other entities in which Steel Partners II, L.P., directly or indirectly, has an investment. Due to those existing and future affiliations, members of our management team and our directors may have fiduciary obligations to present potential business opportunities to those entities prior to presenting them to us which could cause additional conflicts of interest. Accordingly, members of our management team may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.
 
We may use resources in researching acquisitions that are not consummated, which could materially and adversely affect subsequent attempts to effect our initial business combination.
 
We expect that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting, and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents, and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys, and others. If a decision is made not to complete a specific business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, even if an agreement is reached relating to a specific target business, we may fail to consummate the transaction for any number of reasons, including reasons beyond our control, such as that 30% or more of our public stockholders vote against the transaction and opt to convert their stock into a pro rata share of the trust account even if a majority of our stockholders approve the transaction. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred, which could materially and adversely affect subsequent attempts to consummate an initial business combination.
 
Because the founder’s shares will not participate in liquidation distributions by us, SP Acq LLC, directors and our management team may have a conflict of interest in deciding if a particular target business is a good candidate for an initial business combination.
 
SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker have waived their right to receive distributions with respect to the founder’s shares if we liquidate because we fail to complete a business combination. Those shares of common stock and all of the warrants owned by SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker will be worthless if we do not consummate our initial business combination. Since Mr. Lichtenstein may be deemed the beneficial owner of shares held by SP Acq LLC and Steel Partners II, L.P., he may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for us and our stockholders. This ownership interest may influence his motivation in identifying and selecting a target business and timely completing an initial business combination.
 
 
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The exercise of discretion by our officers and directors in identifying and selecting one or more suitable target businesses may result in a conflict of interest when determining whether the terms, conditions and timing of a particular business combination are appropriate and in our stockholders’ best interest.
 
Our officers’ and directors’ interests in obtaining reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them may lead to a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is appropriate for an initial business combination and in the public stockholders’ best interest.
 
Unless we consummate our initial business combination, our officers and directors and Steel Partners and its employees will not receive reimbursement for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them to the extent that such expenses exceed the amount of available proceeds not deposited in the trust account and the amount of interest income from the trust account up to a maximum of $3.5 million that may be released to us as working capital. These amounts are based on management’s estimates of the funds needed to finance our operations until the consummation of our initial business combination and to pay expenses in identifying and consummating our initial business combination. Those estimates may prove to be inaccurate, especially if a portion of the available proceeds is used to make a down payment in connection with our initial business combination or pay exclusivity or similar fees or if we expend a significant portion in pursuit of an initial business combination that is not consummated. Our officers and directors may, as part of any business combination, negotiate the repayment of some or all of any such expenses. If the target business’s owners do not agree to such repayment, this could cause our management to view such potential business combination unfavorably, thereby resulting in a conflict of interest. The financial interest of our officers and directors and Steel Partners could influence our officers’ and directors’ motivation in selecting a target business and therefore there may be a conflict of interest when determining whether a particular business combination is in the stockholders’ best interest. In addition, the proceeds we receive from the co-investment (as well as the proceeds of our initial public offering not being placed in the trust account or the income interest earned on the trust account balance) may be used to repay the expenses for which our directors may negotiate repayment as part of our initial business combination.
 
We will probably complete only one business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the additional founder’s warrants and the co-investment units, meaning our operations will depend on a single business.
 
The net proceeds from our initial public offering and the sale of the additional founder’s warrants provided us with approximately $408,497,676 that we may use to complete our initial business combination ($438,497,676 after the consummation of the co-investment). Our initial business combination must be with a target business or businesses with a fair market value of at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment at the time of such business combination (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million). We may not be able to acquire more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issues and the requirement that we prepare and file pro forma financial statements with the SEC that present operating results and the financial condition of several target businesses as if they had been operated on a combined basis. Additionally, we may encounter numerous logistical issues if we pursue multiple target businesses, including the difficulty of coordinating the timing of negotiations, proxy statement disclosure and closings. We may also be exposed to the risk that our inability to satisfy conditions to closing with one or more target businesses would reduce the fair market value of the remaining target businesses in the combination below the required threshold of 80% of the sum of the amount held in our trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million). Due to these added risks, we are more likely to choose a single target business with which to pursue a business combination than multiple target businesses. Unless we combine with a target business in a transaction in which the purchase price consists substantially of common stock and/or preferred stock, it is likely we will complete only our initial business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the additional founder’s warrants and the co-investment units. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may depend solely on the performance of a single business. If this occurs, our operations will be highly concentrated and we will be exposed to higher risk than other entities that have the resources to complete several business combinations, or that operate in diversified industries or industry segments.
 
 
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If we do not conduct an adequate due diligence investigation of a target business with which we combine, we may be required subsequently to take write downs or write-offs, restructuring, and impairment or other charges that could have a significant negative effect on our financial condition, results of operations and our stock price, which could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.
 
In order to meet our disclosure and financial reporting obligations under the federal securities laws, and in order to develop and seek to execute strategic plans for how we can increase the profitability of a target business, realize operating synergies or capitalize on market opportunities, we must conduct a due diligence investigation of one or more target businesses. Intensive due diligence is time consuming and expensive due to the operations, accounting, finance and legal professionals who must be involved in the due diligence process. We may have limited time to conduct such due diligence due to the provision in our Certificate of Incorporation that we complete our initial business combination by October 10, 2009. Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will uncover all material issues relating to a particular target business, or that factors outside of the target business and outside of our control will not later arise. If our diligence fails to identify issues specific to a target business or the environment in which the target business operates, we may be forced to write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other charges that could result in our reporting losses. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impact on our liquidity, the fact that we report charges of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our common stock. In addition, charges of this nature may cause us to violate net worth or other covenants to which we may be subject as a result of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue of our obtaining post-combination debt financing.
 
Our outstanding warrants may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and make it more difficult to effect our initial business combination.
 
The units sold in our initial public offering included warrants to purchase 43,289,600 shares of common stock. SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker collectively hold warrants to purchase an aggregate of 17,822,400 shares of our common stock (comprising the shares of stock purchasable upon exercise of the 10,822,400 initial founder’s warrants and the shares of common stock purchasable upon exercise of the 7,000,000 additional founder’s warrants), and upon consummation of the co-investment Steel Partners II, L.P. will hold an additional 3,000,000 co-investment warrants to purchase shares of our common stock. If we issue common stock to complete our initial business combination, the potential issuance of additional shares of common stock on exercise of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to some target businesses. This is because exercise of any warrants will increase the number of issued and outstanding shares of our common stock and reduce the value of the shares issued to complete our initial business combination. Our warrants may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination or increase the purchase price sought by one or more target businesses. Additionally, the sale or possibility of the sale of the shares underlying the warrants could have an adverse effect on the market price for our common stock or our units, or on our ability to obtain other financing. If and to the extent these warrants are exercised, you may experience dilution to your holdings.
 
 
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The grant of registration rights to SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and certain of our directors may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
 
Pursuant to an agreement we have entered into, (i) SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker can demand that we register the resale of the founder’s units, the founder’s shares and the initial founder’s warrants, and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the initial founder’s warrants, (ii) SP Acq LLC and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker can demand that we register the additional founder’s warrants and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the additional founder’s warrants and (iii) Steel Partners II, L.P. can demand that we register the resale of the co-investment units, the co-investment shares and the co-investment warrants and the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the co-investment warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder’s units, the founder’s shares, the initial founder’s warrants and shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants, the co-investment units, the co-investment shares and co-investment warrants and shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants at any time commencing three months prior to the date on which the relevant securities are no longer subject to transfer restrictions, and with respect to the additional founder’s warrants and the underlying shares of common stock at any time after the execution of a definitive agreement for an initial business combination. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. If SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker exercise their registration rights in full, there will be an additional 13,822,400 shares of common stock (including 3,000,000 co-investment shares) and up to 20,822,400 shares (including 3,000,000 shares issuable upon the exercise of co-investment warrants) of common stock issuable on exercise of the warrants eligible for trading in the public market. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to conclude. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our common stock that is expected when the securities owned by SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker are registered.
 
If adjustments are made to the warrants, you may be deemed to receive a taxable distribution without the receipt of any cash.
 
U.S. holders of units or warrants may, in certain circumstances, be deemed to have received distributions includible in income if adjustments are made to the warrants, even though holders would have not received any cash or property as a result of such adjustments. In certain circumstances, the failure to provide for such an adjustment may also result in a constructive distribution to you. In addition, non-U.S. holders of units or warrants may, in certain circumstances, be deemed to have received a distribution subject to U.S. federal withholding tax requirements.
 
 
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If we are deemed to be an investment company, we must meet burdensome compliance requirements and restrictions on our activities, which may increase the difficulty of completing a business combination.
 
If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”), the nature of our investments and the issuance of our securities may be subject to various restrictions. These restrictions may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. In addition, we may be subject to burdensome compliance requirements and may have to:
 
·
register as an investment company;

·
adopt a specific form of corporate structure; and

·
report, maintain records and adhere to voting, proxy, disclosure and other requirements.
 
We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. In this regard, our agreement with the trustee states that proceeds in the trust account will be invested only in “government securities” and one or more money market funds, selected by us, which invest principally in either short-term securities issued or guaranteed by the United States having a rating in the highest investment category granted thereby by a recognized credit rating agency at the time of acquisition or tax exempt municipal bonds issued by governmental entities located within the United States. This investment restriction is intended to facilitate our not being considered an investment company under the Investment Company Act. If we are deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would increase our operating expenses and could make our initial business combination more difficult to complete.
 
The loss of Mr. Lichtenstein could adversely affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.
 
Our ability to consummate a business combination is dependent to a large degree upon Mr. Lichtenstein. We believe that our success depends on his continued service to us, at least until we have consummated a business combination. Due to his ownership of SP Acq LLC and his relationship with Steel Partners II, L.P., Mr. Lichtenstein has incentives to remain with us. Nevertheless, we do not have an employment agreement with him, or key-man insurance on his life. He may choose to devote his time to other affairs, or may become unavailable to us for reasons beyond his control, such as death or disability. The unexpected loss of his services for any reason could have a detrimental effect on us.
 
The NYSE Alternext US may delist our securities, which could limit investors’ ability to transact in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.
 
While our securities are currently listed on the NYSE Alternext US, we cannot assure you that our securities will continue to be listed. Additionally, it is likely that the NYSE Alternext US would require us to file a new initial listing application and meet its initial listing requirements, as opposed to its more lenient continued listing requirements, at the time of our initial business combination. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements at that time.
 
If the NYSE Alternext US does not list our securities, or subsequently delists our securities from trading, we could face significant consequences, including:
 
·
a limited availability for market quotations for our securities;

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·
reduced liquidity with respect to our securities;

·
a determination that our common stock is a “penny stock,” which will require brokers trading in our common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our common stock;

·
limited amount of news and analyst coverage for our company; and

·
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
 
In addition, we would no longer be subject to NYSE Alternext US rules, including rules requiring us to have a certain number of independent directors and to meet other corporate governance standards.
 
If we acquire a target business with operations located outside the United States, we may encounter risks specific to other countries in which such target business operates.
 
If we acquire a company that has operations outside the United States, we will be exposed to risks that could negatively impact our future results of operations following our initial business combination. The additional risks we may be exposed to in these cases include, but are not limited to:
 
·
tariffs and trade barriers;

·
regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

·
tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the U.S.;

·
cultural and language differences;

·
foreign exchange controls;

·
crime, strikes, riots, civil disturbances, terrorist attacks and wars;

·
deterioration of political relations with the United States; and

·
new or more extensive environmental regulation.
 
Foreign currency fluctuations could adversely affect our business and financial results.
 
In addition, a target business with which we combine may do business and generate sales within other countries. Foreign currency fluctuations may affect the costs that we incur in such international operations. It is also possible that some or all of our operating expenses may be incurred in non-U.S. dollar currencies. The appreciation of non-U.S. dollar currencies in those countries where we have operations against the U.S. dollar would increase our costs and could harm our results of operations and financial condition.
 
 
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Because we must furnish our stockholders with target business financial statements prepared in accordance with and reconciled to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, we will not be able to complete an initial business combination with some prospective target businesses unless their financial statements are first reconciled to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
 
The federal securities laws require that a business combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historical and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports and proxy materials submitted to stockholders. Our initial business combination must be with a target business that has a fair market value of at least 80% of the sum of the balance in the trust account plus the proceeds of the co-investment (excluding deferred underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $17.3 million) at the time of our initial business combination. We will be required to provide historical and/or pro forma financial information to our stockholders when seeking approval of a business combination with one or more target businesses. These financial statements must be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, and the historical financial statements must be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), or PCAOB. If a proposed target business, including one located outside of the U.S., does not have financial statements that have been prepared in accordance with, or that can be reconciled to, U.S. GAAP and audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB, we will not be able to acquire that proposed target business. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses with which we may combine.
 
ITEM 1B.   Unresolved Staff Comments
 
Not applicable
 
ITEM 2.   Properties
 
We currently maintain our executive offices at 590 Madison Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10022. The cost for this space is included in the $10,000 per-month fee described above that Steel Partners, Ltd. charge us for office space, administrative services and secretarial support from the consummation of our initial public offering until the earlier of our consummation of a business combination or our liquidation. Prior to the consummation of our initial public offering, Steel Partners, Ltd. provided us with office space, administrative services and secretarial support at no charge. We believe, based on rents and fees for similar services in the New York City metropolitan area, that the fee that will be charged by Steel Partners, Ltd. is at least as favorable as we could have obtained from an unaffiliated person. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.
 
ITEM 3.   Legal Proceedings
 
None
 
ITEM 4.   Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
 
Not applicable.

 
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PART II
ITEM 5.   Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
 
Our equity securities trade on the NYSE Alternext US. Each of our units consists of one share of common stock and one warrant and trades on the NYSE Alternext US under the symbol “DSP.U.” On November 2, 2007, the warrants and common stock underlying our units began to trade separately on the NYSE Alternext US under the symbols “DSP.WS” and “DSP,” respectively. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $7.50 commencing on the consummation of a business combination, provided that there is an effective registration statement covering the shares of common stock underlying the warrants in effect. The warrants expire on October 10, 2012, unless earlier redeemed.
 
The following table sets forth, for the calendar quarters indicated, the high and low sales price of our units, common stock and warrants as reported on the NYSE Alternext US.

   
Units
   
Common Stock
   
Warrants
 
   
High
   
Low
   
High
   
Low
   
High
   
Low
 
Fourth Quarter of year ended December 31, 2007 (from October 10, 2007)
  $ 10.20     $ 9.76     $ 9.25     $ 9.00     $ 1.00     $ 0.85  
First Quarter of year ended December 31, 2008
    10.25       9.78       9.34       9.10       0.94       0.56  
Second Quarter of year ended December 31, 2008
    9.95       9.70       9.37       9.11       0.75       0.54  
Third Quarter of year ended December 31, 2008
    9.95       9.02       9.44       9.10       0.60       0.26  
Fourth Quarter of year ended December 31, 2008
  $ 9.50     $ 8.77     $ 9.29     $ 8.60     $ 0.30     $ 0.05  

Holders of Common Equity
 
On March 9, 2009, there were eight holders of record of our common stock, one holder of record of our units and eight holders of record of our warrants. Such numbers do not include beneficial owners holding shares, warrants or units through nominee names.
 
Dividends
 
Except for the unit dividend of 0.15 units for each unit outstanding that was effected on August 8, 2007 and the unit dividend of one-third of a unit for each unit that was outstanding that was effected on September 4, 2007, we have not paid any dividends on our common stock to date and we do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the consummation of a business combination. After we complete our initial business combination, the payment of dividends will depend on our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition. The payment of dividends after our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our then-board of directors. Our board of directors currently intends to retain any earnings for use in our business operations and, accordingly, we do not anticipate the board declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future.
 
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
 
            None

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
 
We have no compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.

 
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Use of Proceeds from our Initial Public Offering
 
On October 16, 2007, we closed our initial public offering of 40,000,000 units with each unit consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant, each to purchase one share of our common stock at a price of $7.50 per share. On October 31, 2007, the underwriters purchased an additional 3,289,600 units pursuant to an over-allotment option. All of the units registered were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit and generated gross proceeds of $432,896,000. The securities sold in our initial public offering were registered under the Securities Act of 1933 on a registration statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-142696). The SEC declared the registration statement effective on October 10, 2007. UBS Investment Bank acted as sole bookrunning manager and representative of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. and Jefferies & Company.
 
We received net proceeds of $426,909,120 from our initial public offering (including proceeds from the exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option). Of those net proceeds, approximately $17,315,840 is attributable to the deferred underwriters’ discount. We retained $1,000,000 of the proceeds to pay offering expenses and for working capital purposes and deposited $425,909,120 into the Trust account. The funds in the Trust account will be part of the funds distributed to our public stockholders in the event we are unable to complete a business combination. Unless and until a business combination is consummated, and except for a portion of the interest earned on the funds in the Trust account that is available to the Company, the proceeds held in the Trust account will not be available to us. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust account remain on deposit in the Trust account and earned $9,320,699 in interest through December 31, 2008. Pursuant to the terms of the investment management trust agreement, $3,500,000 of Trust interest income has been released to the Company for working capital through December 31, 2008. Through December 31, 2008, the Company has paid a total of $4,525,000 in taxes, of which the $4,525,000 has been reimbursed by the Trust.  The balance in the Trust account plus restricted cash not held in trust at December 31, 2008 was $427,314,154.
 
 
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ITEM 6.   Selected Financial Data
 
The following table summarizes the relevant financial data for our business and should be read with our financial statements, which are included in this report.

Statement of Income Data:
 
For the year
ended
December 31,
2008
   
For the period
from

February 14,
2007

(date of
inception) to

December 31,
2007
 
Formation and operating costs
  $ 1,052,648     $ 264,373  
Loss from operations
    (1,052,648 )     (264,373 )
Interest income
    6,413,995       2,950,473  
Interest expense
    6,146       9,435  
Income before income taxes
    5,355,201       2,676,665  
Provision for income taxes
    (3,156,565 )     (1,210,372 )
Net income
    2,198,636       1,466,293  
Deferred interest, attributable to common stock subject to possible conversion
    (421,510 )      
Net income attributable to common stock
  $ 1,777,126     $ 1,466,293  
Net income per common share, basic and diluted
  $ 0.04     $ 0.09  
Shares used in computing net income per share, basic and diluted
    41,125,121       17,245,726  

 
Balance Sheet Data:
 
As of
December 31,
2008
   
As of
December 31,
2007
 
Working capital (1)
  $ 2,189,291     $ 1,270,283  
Total assets
    429,776,214       428,945,449  
Total liabilities
    17,588,609       18,956,480  
Value of common stock which may be redeemed for cash at conversion value
    127,772,726       127,772,726  
Deferred interest, attributable to common stock subject to possible conversion
    421,510        
Stockholders’ equity
    283,993,369       282,216,243  

(1)
Does not include deferred underwriters’ fee of $17,315,840 which will be paid from amounts held in trust only upon the consummation of a business combination.

ITEM 7.   Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
 
We are a blank check company organized under the laws of the State of Delaware on February 14, 2007. We were formed for the purpose of acquiring, through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or other similar business combination, one or more businesses or assets. We consummated our initial public offering on October 16, 2007. We are currently in the process of evaluating and identifying targets for a business combination. We intend to utilize cash from our initial public offering, our capital stock, debt or a combination of cash, capital stock and debt, in effecting a business combination. The issuance of additional shares of our capital stock:
 
·
may significantly reduce the equity interest of our stockholders;

·
will likely cause a change in control if a substantial number of our shares of common stock are issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and may also result in the resignation or removal of one or more of our current officers and directors; and

·
may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our common stock.
 
 
40

 

Similarly, if we issue debt securities, it could result in:
 
·
default and foreclosure on our assets if our operating revenues after a business combination were insufficient to pay our debt obligations;

·
acceleration of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we have made all principal and interest payments when due if the debt security contained covenants that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves and any such covenant were breached without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;

·
our immediate payment of all principal and accrued interest, if any, if the debt security were payable on demand; and

·
our inability to obtain additional financing, if necessary, if the debt security contained covenants restricting our ability to do so.
 
Results of Operations and Known Trends Or Future Events
 
We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date. We will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of our initial business combination, at the earliest. We will continue to generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2008 was $2,198,636, which consisted of $ 6,413,995 in interest income, partially offset by $1,052,648 in loss from operations, $6,146 in interest expense and $3,156,565 in income taxes and capital based taxes.  Net income for the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) through December 31, 2007 was $1,466,293, which consisted of $2,950,473 in interest income, partially offset by $264,373 in formation and operating expenses, $9,435 in interest expense and $1,210,372 in taxes on income.  Net income for the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) through December 31, 2008 was $3,664,929, which consisted of $9,364,468 in interest income partially offset by $1,317,021 in formation and loss from operations, $15,581 in interest expense and $4,366,937 in taxes on income. Through December 31, 2008, we did not engage in any significant operations.  Our entire activity from inception through December 31, 2008 was to prepare for our initial public offering and begin the identification of and negotiations with a suitable business combination candidate.

The trustee of the Trust account will pay any taxes resulting from interest accrued on the funds held in the Trust account out of the funds held in the Trust account. In addition, we will incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence expenses.
 
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
 
We have never entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements and have never established any special purpose entities. We have not guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities or entered into any options on non-financial assets.
 
Contractual Obligations
 
We do not have any long term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or other long-term liabilities.
 
Liquidity and Capital Resources
 
The net proceeds from (i) the sale of the units in our initial public offering (including the underwriters’ over-allotment option), after deducting offering expenses of $1,095,604 and underwriting discounts and commissions of $30,302,720, together (ii) with $7,000,000 from SP Acq LLC’s investment in the additional founder’s warrants, were $408,497,676. We expect that most of the proceeds held in the Trust account will be used as consideration to pay the sellers of a target business or businesses with which we ultimately complete our initial business combination. Due to the unavailability of short-term U.S. Treasury Bills because of the dislocation in the financial markets, as of December 31, 2008, assets of $426,754,319 held in the Trust account were held in a 100% FDIC guaranteed non-interest bearing account at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.  On January 12, 2009, $426,744,177 of the assets held in the Trust were invested in U.S. Treasury Bills, bearing a per annum interest rate of 0.04% which matured on March 5, 2009. On March 5, 2009, $426,459,219 of the assets held in the Trust were invested in U.S. Treasury Bills, bearing a per annum interest rate of 0.21% and maturing on May 7, 2009. We expect to use substantially all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering not in the Trust account to pay expenses in locating and acquiring a target business, including identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, selecting the target business, and structuring, negotiating and consummating our initial business combination. To the extent that our capital stock or debt financing is used in whole or in part as consideration to effect our initial business combination, any proceeds held in the Trust account as well as any other net proceeds not expended will be used to finance the operations of the target business.
 
 
41

 

We do not believe we will need additional financing in order to meet the expenditures required for operating our business prior to our initial business combination. However, we will rely on interest earned of up to $3.5 million on the Trust account to fund such expenditures and, to the extent that the interest earned is below our expectation, we may have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to our initial business combination. Moreover, in addition to the co-investment we may need to obtain additional financing to consummate our initial business combination. We may also need additional financing because we become obligated to convert into cash a significant number of shares of public stockholders voting against our initial business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. Following our initial business combination, if cash on hand is insufficient, we may need to obtain additional financing in order to meet our obligations.

Critical Accounting Policies

The Company’s significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note B to the financial statements.  However, certain accounting policies are particularly important to the portrayal of financial position and results of operations and require the application of significant judgment by management.  As a result, the financial statements are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty.  In applying those policies, management used its judgment to determine the appropriate assumptions to be used in the determination of certain estimates.  During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company recorded a full valuation allowance for its deferred tax assets, as the Company determined that it no longer met the more likely than not realization criteria of SFAS 109.  These estimates are based on the Company’s historical experience, terms of existing contracts, observance of trends in the industry and information available from outside sources, as appropriate.

ITEM 7A.   Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
 
As of December 31, 2008, our efforts were limited to organizational activities and activities relating to our initial public offering. Since our initial public offering, we have been identifying possible acquisition candidates. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues other than interest income.

Market risk is a broad term for the risk of economic loss due to adverse changes in the fair value of a financial instrument. These changes may be the result of various factors, including interest rates, foreign exchange rates, commodity prices and/or equity prices. $418,909,120 of the net Offering proceeds, including $17,315,840 of the proceeds attributable to the underwriters’ deferred fees from the Offering, as well as $7,000,000 of the proceeds of the private placement of 7,000,000 additional founders warrants were placed in a trust account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, acting as trustee. As of December 31, 2008, the balance in the trust account was $426,754,319. The proceeds held in trust have only been invested in U.S. Government securities having a maturity of 90 days or less or in money market funds which invest principally in either short term securities issued or guaranteed by the United States or having the highest rating from recognized credit rating agency or tax exempt municipal bonds issued by government entities located within the United States or otherwise meeting the conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. Thus, we are currently subject to market risk primarily through the effect of changes in interest rates on short-term government securities and other highly rated money-market instruments. Due to the unavailability of short-term U.S. Treasury Bills because of the dislocation in the financial markets, as of December 31, 2008, assets in the Trust account of $426,754,319 were held in a 100% FDIC guaranteed non-interest bearing account at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. On January 12, 2009, $426,744,177 of the assets held in the Trust were invested in U.S. Treasury Bills, bearing a per annum interest rate of 0.04%, which matured on March 5, 2009. On March 5, 2009, $426,459,219 of the assets held in the Trust were invested in U.S. Treasury Bills, bearing a per annum interest rate of 0.21% and maturing on May 7, 2009. A one percentage point change in the interest rate received on our cash of $426,754,319 at December 31, 2008 would result in an increase or decrease of up to approximately $1,000,000 in interest income over the following 90-day period. Management cannot provide any assurance about the actual effect of changes in interest rates on net interest income.  The estimate provided does not include the effects of possible strategic changes in the balances of various assets and liabilities throughout 2009 or additional actions the Company could undertake in response to changes in interest rates.
 
 
42

 

ITEM 8.   Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
 
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders
SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.

We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc. (a corporation in the development stage) as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and the related statements of operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2008, for the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) to December 31, 2007, and for the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) to December 31, 2008. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, such financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc. (a corporation in the development stage) as of December 31, 2008 and 2007, and its results of operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2008, for the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) to December 31, 2007, and for the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) to December 31, 2008, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the effectiveness of SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.'s (a corporation in the development stage) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008, based on criteria established in “Internal Control — Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated March 10, 2009 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.  
 
/s/ J.H. Cohn LLP  
 
March 10, 2009 
 
 
43

 
SP ACQUISITION HOLDINGS, INC.
(a corporation in the development stage)
 
BALANCE SHEETS

   
December 31,
2008
   
December 31,
2007
 
Current assets :
           
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 2,431,303     $ 1,317,688  
Trust account, interest available for working capital and taxes:
               
Cash and cash equivalents held in trust account, interest
available for working capital and taxes
          989,183  
Accrued interest receivable
          469,705  
Total trust account, interest available for working capital and taxes
          1,458,888  
Trust account attributable to deferred underwriter’s fee, restricted
    17,315,840       17,315,840  
Other receivable
          26,323  
Prepaid expenses
    30,757       108,024  
Total current assets
    19,777,900       20,226,763  
                 
Non current assets :
               
Cash and cash equivalents, restricted
    429,194        
Trust account, restricted
               
Cash and cash equivalents held in Trust account
    409,438,479       408,593,280  
Tax overpayment due to Trust account
    130,641        
Trust account, restricted
    409,569,120       408,593,280  
    Deferred tax assets
          125,406  
Total assets
  $ 429,776,214     $ 428,945,449  
                 
Current liabilities :
               
Accounts payable
  $ 22,743     $ 449,194  
Note payable to affiliate
          250,000  
Advances payable to affiliate
    5,132       26,818  
Interest payable to affiliate
          9,435  
Accrued expenses
    223,588       96,915  
Income taxes payable
    21,306       808,278  
Other payables - deferred underwriters’ fee
    17,315,840       17,315,840  
Total current liabilities
    17,588,609       18,956,480  
                 
Common stock, subject to possible conversion, 12,986,879 shares at conversion value:
    127,772,726       127,772,726  
                 
Deferred interest, attributable to common stock subject to possible conversion
    421,510        
                 
Commitments and contingencies:
               
                 
Stockholders’ equity :
               
Preferred stock, $.001 par value; 1,000,000 authorized, none issued
             
Common stock, $.001 par value, 200,000,000 shares authorized; 54,112,000 shares issued and outstanding (including 12,986,879 shares subject to possible conversion)
    41,125       41,125  
Additional paid-in capital
    280,287,315       280,708,825  
Retained earnings accumulated during the development stage
    3,664,929       1,466,293  
Total stockholders’ equity
    283,993,369       282,216,243  
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
  $ 429,776,214     $ 428,945,449  

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 
44

 

SP ACQUISITION HOLDINGS, INC.
(a corporation in the development stage)
 
STATEMENTS OF INCOME
 
   
For the Year
Ended
December 31,
2008
   
For the Period
from February 14,
2007 (inception) to
December 31,
2007
   
For the Period
from February 14,
2007 (inception) to
December 31,
2008
 
Formation and operating costs
  $ 1,052,648     $ 264,373     $ 1,317,021  
Loss from operations
    (1,052,648 )     (264,373 )     (1,317,021 )
Interest income – Trust
    6,376,306       2,944,393       9,320,699  
Interest income - other
    37,689       6,080       43,769  
Interest expense
    (6,146 )     (9,435 )     (15,581 )
Income before income taxes
    5,355,201       2,676,665       8,031,866  
Provision for income taxes
    (3,156,565 )     (1,210,372 )     (4,366,937 )
Net income
    2,198,636       1,466,293       3,664,929  
Deferred interest, attributable to common stock subject to possible conversion
    (421,510 )           (421,510 )
Net income attributable to common stock
  $ 1,777,126     $ 1,466,293     $ 3,243,419  
                         
Net income attributable to common stock per common share, basic and diluted
  $ 0.04     $ 0.09          
                         
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding - excluding shares subject to possible conversion, basic and diluted
      41,125,121         17,245,726          

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 
45

 

SP ACQUISITION HOLDINGS, INC.
(a corporation in the development stage)
 
STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
 
   
For the Year ended
December 31,
2008
   
For the Period from
February 14,
2007 (inception) to
December 31, 2007
   
For the Period
from February
14,
2007 (inception) to
December 31,
2008
 
Cash flows from operating activities:
                 
Net income
  $ 2,198,636     $ 1,466,293     $ 3,664,929  
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
                       
Deferred tax assets
    125,406       (125,406 )     -  
Changes in operating asset and liability accounts:
                       
Accrued interest receivable
    469,705       (469,705 )     -  
Other receivable
    26,323       (26,323 )     -  
Prepaid expenses
    77,267       (108,024 )     (30,757 )
Accounts payable
    (42,460 )     65,203       22,743  
Advances payable to affiliate
    (21,686 )     26,818       5,132  
Interest payable to affiliate
    (9,435 )     9,435       -  
Accrued expenses
    126,673       96,915       223,588  
Income taxes payable
    (786,972 )     808,278       21,306  
Net cash provided by operating activities
    2,163,457       1,743,484       3,906,941  
                         
Cash flows from investing activities:
                       
Cash and cash equivalents, restricted
    (429,194 )     -       (429,194 )
Cash and cash equivalents held in Trust account, interest available for working capital and taxes
    989,183       (989,183 )     -  
Trust account, restricted
    (975,840 )     (425,909,120 )     (426,884,960 )
Net cash used in investing activities
    (415,851 )     (426,898,303 )     (427,314,154 )
                         
Cash flows from financing activities:
                       
Proceeds from issuance of founder’s units
    -       25,000       25,000  
Proceeds from issuance of additional founder’s warrants
    -       7,000,000       7,000,000  
Proceeds from note payable to affiliate
    -       250,000       250,000  
Repayment of note payable to affiliate
    (250,000 )     -       (250,000 )
Proceeds from initial public offering
    -       432,896,000       432,896,000  
Payment of offering costs
    (383,991 )     (13,698,493 )     (14,082,484 )
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
    (633,991 )     426,472,507       425,838,516  
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 
    1,113,615       1,317,688       2,431,303  
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period
    1,317,688       -       -  
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period
  $ 2,431,303     $ 1,317,688     $ 2,431,303  
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing activities:
                       
Deferred offering costs included in accounts payable
  $ -     $ 383,991     $ 383,991  
Accrual of deferred underwriters’ discount
  $ -     $ 17,315,840     $ 17,315,840  
Cash payments for Federal, state and local income taxes
  $ 3,997,500     $ 527,500     $ 4,525,000  

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 
46

 

SP ACQUISITION HOLDINGS, INC.
(a corporation in the development stage)
 
STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
 
   
Common
Stock Shares
   
Common
Stock
Amount
   
Additional Paid-
in Capital
   
Retained
Earnings
Accumulated
During the
Development
Stage
   
Total
Stockholders’
Equity
 
Proceeds from founder’s units issued at $0.003 per unit on March 22, 2007
    7,500,000     $ 7,500     $ 17,500     $     $ 25,000  
Unit dividend of 0.15 units issued for each outstanding share of common stock declared on August 8, 2007
    1,125,000       1,125       (1,125 )            
Unit dividend of one third of a unit issued for each outstanding share of common stock declared on September 4, 2007
    2,875,000       2,875       (2,875 )            
Proceeds from issuance of 40,000,000 units, net of underwriters’ commissions and offering expenses of $29,030,049 at $10.00 per unit on October 16, 2007
    40,000,000       40,000       370,929,951             370,969,951  
Net proceeds subject to possible conversion of 11,999,999 shares
    (11,999,999 )     (12,000 )     (118,187,990 )             (118,199,990 )
Proceeds from issuance of 7,000,000 warrants on October 16, 2007
                7,000,000             7,000,000  
Proceeds from issuance of 3,289,600 units, net of underwriters’ commissions and offering expenses of $2,368,275 at $10.00 per unit on October 31, 2007
    3,289,600       3,290       30,524,435             30,527,725  
Net proceeds subject to possible conversion of 986,880 shares
    (986,880 )     (987 )     (9,571,749 )           (9,572,736 )
Founder’s Units forfeited on October 31, 2007
    (677,600 )     (678 )     678                  
Net income
                                  1,466,293       1,466,293  
Balances at December 31, 2007
    41,125,121     $ 41,125     $ 280,708,825     $ 1,466,293     $ 282,216,243  
Deferred interest, attributable to common stock subject to possible conversion
                (421,510 )           (421,510 )
Net income
                      2,198,636       2,198,636  
Balances at December 31, 2008
    41,125,121     $ 41,125     $ 280,287,315     $ 3,664,929     $ 283,993,369  

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

 
47

 

SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc.
(a corporation in the development stage)
 
Notes to Financial Statements
 
NOTE A — DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS
 
SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc. (a corporation in the development stage) (the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on February 14, 2007. The Company was formed to acquire one or more businesses or assets through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase or other similar business combination (“Business Combination”). The Company has neither engaged in any operations nor generated operating revenues to date. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial business combination. Since the completion of its initial public offering, the Company generates non-operating income in the form of interest income on cash and cash equivalents.
 
The Company is considered to be in the development stage as defined in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 7, “Accounting and Reporting By Development Stage Enterprises,” and is subject to the risks associated with activities of development stage companies.
 
The Company was initially formed and capitalized through the sale of founder’s units to a related entity, SP Acq LLC (See Note D).
 
The registration statement for the Company’s initial public offering (“Offering”) was declared effective October 10, 2007. The Company consummated the Offering on October 16, 2007 and recorded proceeds of $370,969,951, net of the underwriters’ discount of $28,000,000 and offering costs of $1,030,049. Simultaneously with the consummation of the Offering, the Company consummated the private sale of 7,000,000 warrants to SP Acq LLC at a price of $1 per warrant (an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000) (see Note D).
 
On October 31, 2007, the underwriters exercised a portion and terminated the balance of their over allotment option granted in connection with the initial public offering and consummated the purchase of an additional 3,289,600 units at a price of $10.00 per unit, for gross proceeds of $32,896,000 or net proceeds of $30,527,725, net of the underwriters’ fee of $2,302,720 and offering costs of $65,555.
 
The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Offering, although substantially all of the net proceeds of the Offering are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination. Furthermore, there is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.
 
A total of $425,909,120 (or approximately $9.84 per share), including $371,000,000 of the net proceeds from the Offering, $7,000,000 from the sale of warrants to the founding shareholders (see Note D), $30,593,280 of net proceeds of the over allotment issuance and $17,315,840 of deferred underwriting discounts and commissions, has been placed in a trust account at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company as trustee (the “Trust”) which is to be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 having a maturity of 180 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Except for up to $3,500,000 of Trust interest income to be released to the Company to fund expenses relating to investigating and selecting a target business and other working capital requirements, and any additional amounts needed to pay income taxes on the Trust earnings, the proceeds held in the Trust will not be released from the Trust until the earlier of the completion of the Company’s Initial Business Combination or the liquidation of the Company. As of December 31, 2008, the balance in the Trust account plus restricted cash and cash equivalents not held in the Trust account was $427,314,154. Through December 31, 2008, the Trust has released $3,500,000 of interest income to the Company and the Company has paid a total of $4,525,000 in taxes of which $4,525,000 has been reimbursed by the Trust.

 
48

 
 
The placing of funds in the Trust may not protect those funds from third party claims against the Company. Although the Company will seek to have all vendors and service providers (which would include any third parties we engaged to assist us in any way in connection with our search for a target business) and prospective target businesses execute agreements with the Company waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the Trust, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements.
 
SP Acq LLC has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent claims by third parties reduce the amounts in the trust account available for payment to our stockholders in the event of a liquidation and the claims are made by a vendor for services rendered, or products sold, to us, or by a prospective target business. A “vendor” refers to a third party that enters into an agreement with us to provide goods or services to us. However, the agreement entered into by SP Acq LLC specifically provides for two exceptions to the indemnity given: there will be no liability (1) as to any claimed amounts owed to a third party who executed a legally enforceable waiver, or (2) as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Furthermore, there could be claims from parties other than vendors, third parties with which we entered into a contractual relationship or target businesses that would not be covered by the indemnity from SP Acq LLC, such as shareholders and other claimants who are not parties in contract with us who file a claim for damages against us.
 
The Company, after signing a definitive agreement for the acquisition of a target business, will submit such transaction for stockholder approval. In the event that 30% or more of the outstanding stock (excluding, for this purpose, those shares of common stock issued prior to the Offering) vote against the Business Combination and exercise their conversion rights described below, the Business Combination will not be consummated. Public stockholders voting against a Business Combination will be entitled to convert their common stock to cash at a per share conversion price equal to the aggregate amount then in the Trust account (before payment of deferred underwriters fees and including interest, net of any income taxes payable on such interest, which shall be paid from the Trust, and net of interest income of up to $3.5 million earned on the Trust balance previously released to the Company to fund working capital requirements), if the Business Combination is approved and consummated. However, voting against the Business Combination alone will not result in election to exercise a stockholder’s conversion rights. A stockholder must also affirmatively exercise such conversion rights at or prior to the time the Business Combination is voted upon by the stockholders. All of the Company’s stockholders prior to the Offering, and all of the officers and directors of the Company have agreed to vote all of the shares of the Company stock held by them in accordance with the vote of the majority in interest of all other stockholders of the Company.
 
In the event the Company does not consummate a Business Combination, the proceeds held in the Trust, including the unpaid portion of the underwriters’ commission (See Note D) will be distributed to the Company’s public stockholders (excluding SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Anthony Bergamo, Ronald LaBow, Howard M. Lorber, Leonard Toboroff and S. Nicholas Walker, each a director of the Company), to the extent of their pre-Offering stock holdings.

 
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NOTE B — BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
 
1.   Development Stage Company:
 
The Company complies with the reporting requirements of SFAS No. 7, “Accounting and Reporting by Development Stage Enterprises.”
 
As indicated in the accompanying financial statements, the Company has incurred substantial organizational, legal, accounting and offering costs in the pursuit of its financing and acquisition plans and expects to incur additional costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans. As of December 31, 2008, the Company had cash on hand of $2,431,303 as well as an aggregate of $427,314,154 of funds held in Trust and restricted cash and cash equivalents. Under terms of the investment management trust agreement, up to $3,500,000 of interest may be released to the Company in such amounts and such intervals as we request, subject to availability. At December 31, 2008, $3,500,000 of Trust interest has been released to the Company. Management has reviewed its cash requirements as of December 31, 2008 and believes that its cash on hand, along with the funds available to it from the interest income from the Trust (See Note A) is sufficient to cover its expenses for the next twelve months.
  
There is no assurance that the Company’s plan to complete a Business Combination will be successful.
 
2.   Cash and cash equivalents:
 
The Company considers investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents.
 
3.   Common Stock and Unit Dividends:
 
Each share of common stock has one vote. As discussed in Note F, on August 8, 2007, the Company declared a unit dividend of 0.15 units for each unit outstanding and on September 4, 2007 declared a unit dividend of one third of a unit for each unit outstanding. All of the unit holders agreed to transfer their units due them with respect to these dividends to SP Acq LLC. Such stock dividends are presented as if they were stock splits and presented retroactively for each period presented. All unit amounts outstanding reflect such dividends, except for weighted average shares outstanding as discussed in Note B-4.
 
4.   Net Income Per Common Share:
 
The Company follows the provisions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 128, “Earnings Per Share”. In accordance with SFAS No. 128, earnings per common share amounts (“Basic EPS”) is computed by dividing earnings by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Common shares subject to possible conversion of 12,986,879 have been excluded from the calculation of basic earnings per share since such shares, if redeemed, only participate in their pro rata share of the trust earnings. Earnings per common share amounts, assuming dilution (“Diluted EPS”), gives effect to dilutive warrants and other potential common stock outstanding during the period. SFAS No. 128 requires the presentation of both Basic EPS and Diluted EPS on the face of the statements of operations. In accordance with SFAS No. 128, the Company has not considered the effect of its 61,112,000 outstanding Warrants in the calculation of diluted earnings per share since the exercise of the Warrants is contingent upon the occurrence of future events.

 
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5.   Reclassification:
 
The Company reclassified certain prior amounts to conform to the current periods presentation.  The Company reclassified amounts held in trust from current assets to long-term assets with the exception of amounts held in trust that are currently available for current operations of the Company.  These reclassifications had no effect on the results reported for the year ended December 31, 2007.

6.   Concentration of Credit Risk:
 
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash accounts in a financial institution, which at times, exceeds the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation limits. Management believes the risk of loss to be minimal.
 
7.   Fair Value of Financial Instruments:
 
The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under SFAS No. 107, “Disclosure About Fair Value of Financial Instruments,” approximate the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet because of their short term maturities.
 
 8.   Cash and Cash Equivalents-Restricted:
 
Pursuant to the terms of the investment management trust agreement, The Company is permitted to have released from the Trust account interest income to pay income taxes on interest income earned on the Trust account balance.  As of December 31, 2008, the Company transferred excess amounts from the Trust account totaling $429,194 for the payment of Federal estimated taxes due on January 15, 2009.  These amounts are reflected as cash and cash equivalents, restricted in the accompanying balance sheet.

9.   Trust Account-Restricted:
 
The Company considers the restricted portion of the funds held in the Trust Account to be a non-current asset.  A current asset is one that is reasonably expected to be used to pay current liabilities, such as accounts payable or short-term debt or to pay current operating expenses, or will be used to acquire other current assets.  Since the acquisition of a business is principally considered to be for a long-term purpose, with long-term assets such as property and tangible assets typically being a major part of the acquired assets, the Company has reported the funds anticipated to be used in the acquisition as a non-current asset.
 
10.   Income Taxes:
 
The Company complies with SFAS 109, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed for differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in future taxable or deductible amounts, based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
 
On February 14, 2007, the Company adopted the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109” (“FIN 48”). FIN 48 prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return and also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim period, disclosure and transition.

 
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11.   Share-based compensation:
 
The Company accounts for stock options and warrants using the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS No.123 (Revised 2004), “ Share-Based Payment ”, (“SFAS 123(R)”). SFAS 123(R) addresses all forms of share based compensation awards including shares issued under employment stock purchase plans, stock options, restricted stock and stock appreciation rights. Under SFAS 123 (R), share based payment awards will be measured at fair value on the awards grant date, based on estimated number of awards that are expected to vest and will be reflected as compensation expense in the financial statements.

12.   Recent Accounting Pronouncements:
 
In September 2006, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued SFAS No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements.” SFAS No. 157 establishes a single definition of fair value and a framework for measuring fair value, sets out a fair value hierarchy to be used to classify the source of information used in fair value measurements, and requires new disclosures of assets and liabilities measured at fair value based on their level in the hierarchy. This statement applies under other accounting pronouncements that require or permit fair value measurements. In February 2008, the FASB issued Staff Positions (FSPs) No. 157-1 and No. 157-2, which, respectively, remove leasing transactions from the scope of SFAS No. 157 and defer its effective date for one year relative to certain nonfinancial assets and liabilities. As a result, the application of the definition of fair value and related disclosures of SFAS No. 157 (as impacted by these two FSPs) was effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2008 on a prospective basis with respect to fair value measurements of (a) nonfinancial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the Company’s financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually) and (b) all financial assets and liabilities. This adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations or financial condition. The remaining aspects of SFAS No. 157 for which the effective date was deferred under FSP No. 157-2 was adopted effective January 1, 2008. Areas impacted by the deferral relate to nonfinancial assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value, but are recognized or disclosed at fair value on a nonrecurring basis. This deferral applies to such items as nonfinancial assets and liabilities initially measured at fair value in a business combination (but not measured at fair value in subsequent periods) or nonfinancial long-lived asset groups measured at fair value for an impairment assessment. The effects of these remaining aspects of SFAS No. 157 are to be applied to fair value measurements prospectively beginning January 1, 2009.

In February 2007, the FASB issued FASB Statement No. 159, “The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities—Including an Amendment of FASB Statement No. 115” (“SFAS No. 159”). SFAS 159 creates a “fair value option” under which an entity may elect to record certain financial assets or liabilities at fair value upon their initial recognition. Subsequent changes in fair value would be recognized in earnings as those changes occur. The election of the fair value option would be made on a contract-by-contract basis and would need to be supported by concurrent documentation or a preexisting documented policy. SFAS 159 requires an entity to separately disclose the fair value of these items on the balance sheet or in the footnotes to the financial statements and to provide information that would allow the financial statement user to understand the impact on earnings from changes in the fair value. The Company adopted SFAS 159 effective January 1, 2008 and has elected not to record any assets for the “fair value option” at this time.
 
In December 2007, the FASB issued Statement No. 141 (revised 2007), “Business Combinations,” (“SFAS 141(R)”).  SFAS 141(R) retains the fundamental requirements of SFAS 141 that the acquisition method of accounting (which SFAS 141 called the purchase method) be used for all business combinations and for an acquirer to be identified for each business combination.  SFAS 141(R) establishes principles and requirements for recognizing and measuring identifiable assets and goodwill acquired, liabilities assumed, and any noncontrolling interest in an acquisition, at their fair value as of the acquisition date.  SFAS 141(R) also requires an acquirer to recognize assets acquired and liabilities assumed arising from contractual contingencies as of the acquisition date, measured at their acquisition-date fair values.  Additionally, SFAS 141(R) will require that acquisition-related costs in a business combination be expensed as incurred, except for costs incurred to issue debt and equity securities. This statement applies prospectively to business combinations effective with the Company’s first fiscal quarter of 2009.  Early adoption is not permitted.  SFAS 141(R) would have an impact on accounting for any business acquired after the effective date of this pronouncement.

In December 2007, the FASB issued Statement No.160, “Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements – An Amendment of ARB No. 51,” (“SFAS 160”). SFAS 160 establishes accounting and reporting standards for the noncontrolling interest in a subsidiary (previously referred to as minority interests). SFAS 160 also requires that a retained noncontrolling interest upon the deconsolidation of a subsidiary be initially measured at its fair value. Upon adoption of SFAS 160, the Company would be required to report any noncontrolling interests as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. The Company would also be required to present any net income allocable to noncontrolling interests and net income attributable to the stockholders of the Company separately in its statements of operations. SFAS 160 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning on or after December 15, 2008. SFAS 160 requires retroactive adoption of the presentation and disclosure requirements for existing minority interests. All other requirements of SFAS 160 shall be applied prospectively. SFAS 160 would have an impact on the presentation and disclosure of the noncontrolling interests of any non wholly-owned businesses acquired in the future.

In May 2008, the FASB issued SFAS No. 162, “The Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles” (“SFAS 162”). SFAS 162 identifies the sources of accounting principles and the framework for selecting the principles to be used in the preparation of financial statements of nongovernmental entities that are presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. It is effective 60 days following the SEC’s approval of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board amendments to AU Section 411, “The Meaning of Present Fairly in Conformity With Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”. The adoption of this statement is not expected to have a material effect on the Company’s financial position, statement of operations or cash flows.
 
Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on the financial statements.

 
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NOTE C — INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING
 
On October 16, 2007, the Company sold to the public an aggregate of 40,000,000 units at a price of $10.00. Each unit consists of one share of the Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value, and one redeemable common stock purchase warrant. On October 31, 2007, the underwriters exercised a portion and cancelled the balance of their over-allotment option granted in connection with the Offering and consummated the sale of an additional 3,289,600 units at a price of $10.00.
 
The Company has incurred an underwriters’ fee of 7% of the gross offering proceeds in connection with the completion of the Offering and the over-allotment. Of this fee, $12,000,000 and $986,880 were paid at the closing of the Offering and over-allotment on October 16, 2007 and October 31, 2007, respectively, and $17,315,840 is held in the Trust and will be paid to the underwriters in connection with the consummation of a Business Combination. As of December 31, 2008, the remaining underwriting commitment of $17,315,840 is included as Other Payables - deferred underwriters’ fee.
 
NOTE D — RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
 
SP Acq LLC purchased 11,500,000 of the Company’s founder’s units subject to the terms of the Founder’s Unit Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) date March 30, 2007 and the Founder’s Unit Adjustment Agreement (the “Adjustment Agreement”) dated August 8, 2007, each consisting of one common share and one warrant to purchase a common share, for a price of $25,000 in a private placement. The units are identical to those sold in the Offering, except that SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P., and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker agreed to vote their founder’s shares in the same manner as a majority of the public stockholders who vote at the special or annual meeting called for the purpose of approving the Company’s Business Combination. As a result, they will not be able to exercise conversion rights with respect to the founder’s shares if the Company’s Business Combination is approved by a majority of its public stockholders. The founder’s shares included therein will not participate with the common stock included in the units sold in the Offering in any liquidating distribution. The founder’s units, including the founder’s shares and initial founder’s warrants may not be sold or transferred until at least one year after the completion of a Business Combination.
 
The agreements referred to above provide for the Founders to maintain a 20% interest in the Company after taking into consideration the number of units ultimately sold in the initial public offering (“IPO”). In order for the founders to hold the number of shares necessary to maintain a 20% interest in the Company, 677,600 units were forfeited and cancelled on the date of the IPO, leaving the founders with 10,822,400 or 20% of 54,112,000 units outstanding at that time. The Company accounted for the transaction employing the price associated with the original sale because in the opinion of management, the adjustment in the number of shares was contemplated in the Purchase Agreement and Adjustment Agreement entered into prior to the IPO.
 
The Company has issued warrants to purchase 11,500,000 common shares at $7.50 per share as part of the founder’s units in connection with its initial capitalization on March 22, 2007 (“initial founder’s warrants”). On October 31, 2007, in connection with the partial exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, 677,600 initial founder’s warrants were forfeited to the Company and cancelled.

 
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Additionally, pursuant to the Director’s Purchase Agreement dated as of June 25, 2007, SP Acq LLC has sold a total of 500,000 founder’s units to certain directors of the Company.
 
SP Acq LLC, pursuant to an agreement dated March 22, 2007, also sold to its affiliate Steel Partners II, L.P. a portion of its founder’s units, with the final number of units to be determined based on the number of units sold in the Offering once the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised or expired. As of October 16, 2007 upon the closing of the Offering, Steel Partners II, L.P. owned 662,791 founder’s units. On October 31, 2007, the underwriters exercised a portion of their over-allotment option and SP Acq LLC sold an additional 6,197 of its founders units to Steel Partners II, L.P., bringing Steel Partners II, L.P. ownership to 668,988 units.

On March 28, 2007, the Company issued a $250,000 unsecured promissory note to Steel Partners, Ltd., an affiliate of SP Acq LLC and the Company. This note bears interest at a rate of 5% per annum, is unsecured and principal and interest payments was due on December 31, 2007. Steel Partners Ltd. confirmed on May 7, 2008 that the promissory note was not in default and that the payment may be made on or before December 31, 2008. Interest payable of $15,581 had been accrued on this note through June 27, 2008, at which time the note and accrued interest were paid in full.
 
Advances payable of $5,132 and $26,818 at December 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively, relate to certain costs paid by Steel Partners, Ltd. on behalf of the Company. The Company intends to repay such advances and thus such amounts are reflected as a liability to affiliate. None of the officers and directors of the Company received compensation for their services to the Company.  The Company repaid the advance on January 8, 2009.
 
The Company presently occupies office space provided by Steel Partners, Ltd. Steel Partners, Ltd. has agreed that, until the acquisition of a target business by the Company, it will make such office space, as well as certain office, administrative and secretarial services, available to the Company, as may be required by the Company from time to time. The Company has agreed to pay Steel Partners, Ltd. $10,000 per month for such services that commenced on October 16, 2007. The Company has incurred $120,000 and $25,000 for such services through December 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively, of which $60,000 and $25,000 are included in accrued expenses at December 31, 2008 and 2007, respectively.  The Company remitted payment of $60,000 to Steel Partners, Ltd on January 8, 2009.
 
SP Acq LLC purchased, in a private placement on October 16, 2007, 7,000,000 additional founder’s warrants at a price of $1 per warrant (an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000) directly from the Company and not as part of the Offering. The purchase price of these additional founder’s warrants has been determined by the Company to be the fair value of such warrants as of the October 16, 2007 purchase date.  An aggregate of 500,000 additional founder’s warrants were sold by SP Acq LLC to certain directors.
 
Steel Partners II, L.P., has entered into an agreement with the Company requiring it to purchase 3,000,000 units (“co-investment units”) at a price of $10 per unit (an aggregate price of $30,000,000) from the Company in a private placement that will occur immediately prior to the Company’s consummation of a Business Combination. These private placement units will be identical to the units sold in the Offering. It has also agreed that these units will not be sold, transferred, or assigned until at least one year after the completion of the Business Combination. In the event that Steel Partners II, L.P. does not purchase the co-investment units, SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and the directors who purchased founder’s units have agreed to surrender and forfeit their founder’s units and additional founder’s warrants to the Company, provided however that such surrender and forfeiture will not be required if SP Acq LLC purchases the co-investment units. In such event, Steel Partners II, L.P. has agreed to transfer its founder’s units to SP Acq LLC. None of the co-investment units have been issued by the Company as of December 31, 2008.

 
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NOTE E — PREFERRED STOCK
 
The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. No shares have been issued as of December 31, 2008.
 
NOTE F — UNIT DIVIDENDS
 
Effective August 8, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a unit dividend to the holders of record. The dividend consisted of 0.15 units for each outstanding share of common stock and totaled 1,125,000 units. Effective September 4, 2007, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a unit dividend to the holders of record. The dividend consisted of one third of a unit for each outstanding share of common stock and totaled 2,875,000 units. All of the unit holders agreed to transfer their units due them with respect to these dividends to SP Acq LLC.
 
NOTE G — WARRANTS
 
The following table presents warrants outstanding:
 
   
December 31,
2008
   
December 31,
2007
 
             
Initial Founder’s Warrants
    10,822,400       10,822,400  
Additional Founder’s Warrants
    7,000,000       7,000,000  
Public Warrants
    43,289,600       43,289,600  
Totals
    61,112,000       61,112,000  

Initial founder’s warrants are not redeemable while held by SP Acq LLC or its permitted transferees and the exercisability of initial founder’s warrants are subject to certain additional restrictions. Each initial founder’s warrant entitles the holder to purchase from the Company one share of common stock at an exercise price of $7.50 only in the event that the last sale price of the common stock is at least $14.25 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period beginning 90 days after a Business Combination. If the Company is unable to deliver registered shares of common stock to the holder upon exercise of the warrants during the exercise period, there will be no cash settlement of the warrants and the warrants will expire worthless.
 
Additional founder’s warrants entitle the holder to purchase from the Company one share of common stock at an exercise price of $7.50 for each warrant commencing on the completion of a Business Combination with a target business, and expire five years from the date of the prospectus. SP Acq LLC has also agreed that the warrants purchased by it will not be sold or transferred until after the completion of a Business Combination, and will be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the Company’s founders or their permitted transferees. Additionally, pursuant to the Director’s Purchase Agreement dated as of June 25, 2007, SP Acq LLC sold 500,000 of such initial founder’s warrants to certain directors on October 16, 2007.
 
Public warrants entitle the holder to purchase from the Company one share of common stock for each warrant at an exercise price of $7.50 commencing on the completion of a Business Combination with a target business, and will expire five years from the date of the prospectus. The warrants are redeemable at the option of the Company at a price of $0.01 per warrant upon 30 days prior notice after the warrants become exercisable, only in the event that the last sale price of the common stock is at least $14.25 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the date on which notice of redemption is given. The warrants will not be exercisable and the Company will not be obligated to issue shares of common stock upon exercise of the warrants by a holder unless, at the time of such exercise, an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. Although the Company has undertaken in the warrant agreement, and therefore has a contractual obligation, to use its best efforts to have an effective registration statement covering shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants from the date the warrants become exercisable and to maintain a current prospectus relating to that common stock until the warrants expire or are redeemed, and the Company intends to comply with its undertaking, the Company cannot assure you that it will be able to do so. If the Company is unable to deliver registered shares of common stock to the holder upon exercise of the warrants during the exercise period, there will be no cash settlement of the warrants and the warrants will expire worthless.

 
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As disclosed in Note D, the initial founder’s warrants and additional founder’s warrants have certain restrictions and may be surrendered or forfeited under certain circumstances.
 
Pursuant to a registration rights agreement between the Company and SP Acq LLC, Steel Partners II, L.P. and Messrs. Bergamo, LaBow, Lorber, Toboroff and Walker, the holders of our founder’s units, founder’s shares and initial founder’s warrants and shares issuable upon exercise thereof will be entitled to certain registration rights at any time commencing three months prior to the date that they are no longer subject to transfer restrictions.
 
NOTE H — INCOME TAXES
 
Deferred tax assets reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial statement purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes and consist of the following:
 
   
12/31/2008
   
12/31/2007
 
Deferred tax assets
           
Start up and organization costs
  $ 630,352     $ 125,406  
Total deferred tax asset
    630,352       125,406  
Less: valuation allowance
    (630,352 )      
Net deferred tax assets
  $     $ 125,406  

The difference between the provision for income taxes and the amounts computed by applying the Federal statutory income taxes to the income before tax are explained below:
 
   
12/31/2008
   
12/31/2007
 
         
Tax at Federal statutory rate
     34.0 %     34.0 %
State and local taxes, net of Federal benefit
     11.7 %     11.2 %
Change in valuation allowance
    13.2 %     %
Provision for taxes
     58.9 %     45.2 %

The provision for income taxes consists of the following:
 
   
12/31/2008
   
12/31/2007
 
Current
         
Federal
  $ 1,739,494     $ 831,812  
State and local
     1,291,665       503,966  
Total current tax expense
     3,031,159       1,335,778  
                 
Deferred
               
Federal
     93,094       (93,094 )
State and local
     32,312       (32,312 )
Total deferred tax expense (benefit)
     125,406       (125,406 )
                 
Total provision for income taxes
  $ 3,156,565     $ 1,210,372  

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are computed for temporary differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the temporary differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

 
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On February 14, 2007, the Company adopted the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Interpretation No. 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — an interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109” (“FIN 48”). The Company has identified its federal tax return and its state and city tax returns in New York as “major” tax jurisdictions, as defined. As per FIN 48, the Company has evaluated its tax positions and has determined that there are no uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements. Since the Company was incorporated on February 14, 2007 the evaluation was performed for the period from inception through December 31, 2008. The Company believes that its income tax positions and deductions would be sustained on audit and does not anticipate any adjustments that would result in a material change to its financial position. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2008. The Company has had no tax examinations since its inception, February 14, 2007.
 
The Company’s policy for recording interest and penalties associated with audits is to record such items as a component of income tax expense. There were no amounts accrued for penalties or interest as of or during the period from February 14, 2007 (inception) through December 31, 2008. The Company does not expect its unrecognized tax benefit position to change during the next twelve months and is currently unaware of any issues that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviations from its position. The adoption of the provisions of FIN 48 did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows.
 
NOTE I — UNAUDITED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL RESULTS
 
Quarterly Financial Information:
 
For the Quarter
ended
March 31, 2008
   
For the 
Quarter ended 
June 30, 2008
   
For the Quarter
ended September 
30, 2008
   
For the Quarter
ended December
31, 2008
 
Formation and operating costs
  $ 197,464     $ 301,765     $ 344,539     $ 208,880  
Loss from operations
    ( 197,464 )     (301,765 )     (344,539 )     (208,880 )
Interest income
    2,654,509       1,712,747       1,716,871       329,868  
Interest expense
    (3,125 )     (3,021 )     -        -  
Income before income taxes
    2,453,920       1,407,961       1,372,332       120,988  
(Provision) credit for income taxes
    (1,477,996 )     (698,507 )     (1,088,526 )     108,464  
Net income
    975,924       709,454       283,806       229,452  
Deferred interest, attributable to common stock subject to possible conversion
    (342,844 )     231,809       (179,249 )     (131,226 )
Net income attributable to common stock
  $ 633,080     $ 941,263     $ 104,557     $ 98,226  
Net income per common share, basic and diluted
  $ 0.02     $ 0.02     $ 0.00     $ 0.00  
Shares used in computing net income per share, basic and diluted
    41,125,121       41,125,121       41,125,121       41,125,121  
 
Quarterly Financial Information:
 
For the Period
from February
14, 2007
(inception) to 
March 31, 2007
   
For the
Quarter ended
June 30, 2007
   
For the Quarter
ended September
30, 2007
   
For the Quarter
ended December
31, 2007
 
Formation and operating costs
  $ 25,436     $ 132     $ 11,250     $ 227,555  
Loss from operations
    ( 25,436 )     (132 )     (11,250 )     (227,555 )
Interest income
    -       -       -       2,950,473  
Interest expense
    -       (3,185 )     (3,125 )      (3,125 )
Income (loss) before income taxes
    (25,436 )     (3,317 )     (14,375 )     2,719,793  
Provision for income taxes
    -       -       -       (1,210,372 )
Net income (loss)
  $ (25,436 )   $ (3,317 )   $ (14,375 )   $ 1,509,421  
Net income (loss) per common share, basic and diluted
  $ (0.00 )   $ (0.00 )   $ (0.00 )   $ 0.04  
Shares used in computing net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted
    10,000,000       10,000,000       10,000,000       35,202,526  

 
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NOTE J — SUBSEQUENT EVENT

On February 10, 2009, SP Acquisition Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) received a letter (the “Letter”) from the Corporate Compliance Department of NYSE Alternext US LLC (the “Exchange”), notifying the Company that it is below certain of the Exchange’s continued listing standards in that it had failed to hold an annual meeting of stockholders in 2008, in violation of Section 704 of the NYSE Alternext US LLC Company Guide (the “Company Guide”).  The Company submitted a plan to the Exchange on March 10, 2009 advising the Exchange of actions it has taken or will take that will bring the Company into compliance with Section 704 of the Company Guide (the “Plan”).

If the Exchange determines that the Company has made a reasonable demonstration in the Plan of its ability to regain compliance with all applicable continued listing standards by August 11, 2009, or such date as the Exchange allows (the “Deadline”), the Exchange will accept the Plan and the Company will remain listed.  The Company anticipates that it will be able to regain compliance with Section 704 of the Company Guide by the Deadline.

ITEM 9.   Changes and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
 
On January 6, 2009, the Company dismissed Grant Thornton LLP (“Grant Thornton”) as its independent registered public accounting firm, effective immediately. The decision to dismiss Grant Thornton was approved by the Company’s Audit Committee.
 
 The reports of Grant Thornton on the financial statements of the Company for the period from February 14, 2007 (date of inception) to March 31, 2007, the cumulative period from February 14, 2007 (date of inception) to October 16, 2007 and the cumulative period from February 14, 2007 (date of inception) to December 31, 2007 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principle.
 
 From February 14, 2007 (date of inception) to December 31, 2007 and through January 6, 2009, there were no disagreements with Grant Thornton on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Grant Thornton, would have caused them to make reference thereto in their reports on the financial statements for such years.
 
 On January 7, 2008, Grant Thornton advised the Company that it believed the Company had a material weakness in that the Company's internal control structure had an operational failure whereby the Company did not properly record the stock that is redeemable outside the control of the Company as mezzanine equity.
 
 The Company inadvertently omitted disclosure of this redemption feature in the October 16, 2007 financial statements.  Accordingly, on January 8, 2008, the Company filed an amended Current Report on Form 8-K (the “Amended Report”) with SEC, amending the original Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on October 23, 2007, to reclassify the redeemable common stock on the Company’s balance sheet and statement of stockholders’ equity at October 16, 2007 and to add disclosure of this feature to the notes to the financial statements. The Company filed the Amended Report to conform the Company's financial statements with S-X Regulation 5.08, consistent with other blank check companies with similar business plans.  The redemption feature of the Company’s common stock had been fully disclosed in its Prospectus, dated October 10, 2007, and subsequently in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007, filed with the SEC on November 16, 2007.
 
 From February 14, 2007 (date of inception) to December 31, 2007 and through January 6, 2009, there were no “reportable events” as that term is described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K, other than as indicated above.
 
 As a result of the filing of the Amended Report as described above, the Company augmented its internal controls over financial reporting and reported the following in Item 9A of its 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 27, 2008:
 
 …other than certain augmentation of the company's internal controls over financial reporting in connection with the company becoming a public company, including supplementing the reporting and review processes with respect to applicable United States generally accepted accounting principles and SEC rules, there has been no changes to the company's internal controls which has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the company's internal control over financial reporting.
 
  On January 6, 2009, the Company engaged J.H. Cohn LLP (“J.H. Cohn”) as the Company's independent registered public accountant. The engagement of J.H. Cohn was approved by the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors.
 
 From February 14, 2007 (date of inception) to December 31, 2007 and through January 6, 2009, the Company did not consult with J.H. Cohn with respect to either (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed; (ii) the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company's financial statements; or (iii) any matter that was either the subject of disagreement (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K) or a reportable event (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).
 
ITEM 9A.   Controls and Procedures
 
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our periodic filings with the SEC under the Exchange Act, including this report, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported on a timely basis. These disclosure controls and procedures include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management on a timely basis to allow decisions regarding required disclosure. Management, including our chief executive officer and chief operating officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined under Rules 13a-15(e) and 15(d)-15(e) of the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2008. Based upon that evaluation, management has concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of the end of the period covered by this report.

 
58

 

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. As defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f), internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2008 based on the criteria in “Internal Control - Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based upon this evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2008.  There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2008 that have materially affected, or are reasonably