UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

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

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
2023

OR

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

For the transition period from

to

Commission file number: 001-40927

ZEO ENERGY CORP.

ESGEN Acquisition Corporation

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Cayman Islands
Delaware
 
001-40927
98-1601409
(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)
 
(Commission
File Number)
I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

7625 Little Rd, Suite 200A,

New Port Richey, FL

 
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

34654

5956 Sherry Lane, Suite 1400
Dallas, Texas
75225
(Address of principal executive offices)
 
(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (214)(727) 375-9375

987-6100

Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

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

Title of Each Class:
each class
 
Trading Symbol:
Symbol(s)
 
Name of Each Exchangeeach exchange on Which Registered:
which registered
Units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, $0.0001Common Stock, par value and
one-half
of one redeemable warrant
$0.0001 per share
 
ESACU
ZEO
 
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A ordinary shares included as partCommon Stock at a price of the units
$11.50, subject to adjustment
 
ESAC
ZEOWW
 
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Warrants included as part of the units, each whole warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share at an exercise price of $11.50
ESACW
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

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

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

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 No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation

S-T
232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a

non-accelerated
filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitionthe definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company”company,” and “emerging growth company” in
Rule 12b-2
of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

 Accelerated filer  AcceleratedNon-accelerated filer 
Smaller reporting company ☒ 
Non-accelerated
filer
Smaller reporting company
Emerging growth company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to

§240.10D-1(b) §240.10D-1(b).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in

Rule 12b-2
of the Exchange Act). Yes No

As of June 30, 2022,2023, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the Class A ordinary shares outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing sales price for the Class A ordinary shares on June 30, 2022,2023, as reported on Nasdaq, was $277,104,000$31,514,518.40 (based on the closing sales price of the Class A ordinary shares on June 30, 20222023 of $10.04)$10.88).

As of

March 28, 2023, 2,896,55525, 2024, 5,026,964 shares of Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, and 6,900,000 Class B ordinary shares,Common Stock, par value $0.0001, were issued and outstanding and 35,230,000 shares of Class V Common Stock, par value $0.0001, were issued and outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.Reference

Not applicable.

 



CERTAIN TERMSi


EXPLANATORY NOTE

On March 13, 2024 (the “Closing Date”), the registrant consummated its previously announced business combination (the “Closing”), pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of April 19, 2023 (as amended on January 24, 2024, the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among Zeo Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation (f/k/a ESGEN Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company), ESGEN OpCo, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“OpCo”), Sunergy Renewables, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (“Sunergy”), the Sunergy equityholders set forth on the signature pages thereto or joined thereto (collectively, “Sellers” and each, a “Seller”, and collectively with Sunergy, the “Sunergy Parties”), for limited purposes, ESGEN LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), and for limited purposes, Timothy Bridgewater, an individual, in his capacity as the Sellers Representative (collectively, the “Business Combination”). Prior to the Closing, (i) except as otherwise specified in the Business Combination Agreement, each issued and outstanding Class B ordinary share of ESGEN was converted into one Class A ordinary share of ESGEN (the “ESGEN Class A Ordinary Shares” and such conversion, the “ESGEN Share Conversion”); and (ii) ESGEN was domesticated into the State of Delaware so as to become a Delaware corporation (the “Domestication”). In connection with the Closing, the registrant changed its name from “ESGEN Acquisition Corporation” to “Zeo Energy Corp.”

Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”), or the context otherwise requires, references to:

“Board” refers to the board of directors of the Company;

“Energy Spectrum”

“ESGEN” refers to ESGEN Acquisition Corporation prior to the Closing;

“Sunergy” refers to Sunergy Renewables, LLC;

“we,” “us,” “our,” “Zeo,” and the “Company” refer to Zeo Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries, including Sunergy (as defined above), following the Closing;

The audited financial statements included herein are those of ESGEN prior to Energy Spectrum Partners VIII LP, an affiliatethe consummation of our sponsor;the Business Combination and the name change. Prior to the Business Combination, ESGEN neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue. Until the Business Combination, based on ESGEN’s business activities, ESGEN was a “shell company” as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”).

 

“founder shares” are to our Class B ordinary shares initially issued to our sponsor in a private placement, a portionThe audited consolidated financial statements of which were transferred to each of our independent directorsSunergy and soldits consolidated subsidiaries prior to the Salient Client Accounts, and the Class A ordinary shares that will be issued, unless otherwise forfeited, upon the automatic conversionclose of the Class B ordinary shares atBusiness Combination for the time of our initialyears ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, which is considered the Company’s accounting predecessor, are included in Amendment No. 1 to the Form 8-K that is anticipated to be filed with the SEC on or about March 25, 2024.

This Report principally describes the business combination or earlier at the optionand operations of the holders thereof (forCompany following the avoidanceBusiness Combination, other than the audited financial statements included herein and related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of doubt, such Class A ordinary shares will not be “public shares”);Financial Condition and Results of Operations of ESGEN prior to Business Combination.

 

“initial shareholders” are to the holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering;ii

 

“management” or our “management team” are to our officers and directors;

“ordinary shares” are to our Class A ordinary shares and our Class B ordinary shares

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants issued to our sponsor and the Salient Client Accounts in private placements simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering and upon conversion of working capital loans, if any;

“public shares” are to shares of our Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they are purchased in the initial public offering or thereafter in the open market)

“public shareholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor, the Salient Client Accounts and management team to the extent our sponsor, the Salient Client Accounts and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that our sponsor’s, the Salient Client Accounts’ and each member of our management team’s status as a “public shareholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares; “public warrants” are to the warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering;

“Salient” are to Salient Capital Advisors, LLC, a multi-billion dollar real asset and alternative investment firm that offers a suite of strategies focused on energy and infrastructure, real estate and tactical alternative investments.

”Salient Client Accounts” are to the one or more client accounts, for which Salient is acting as investment advisor.

“sponsor” are to ESGEN LLC, a Delaware limited liability company

“we,” “us,” “our,” “company,” “our company” are to ESGEN Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company.

ii


CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Report contains, and our officers and representatives may from time to time make, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “expect,” “strategy,” “future,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “will” and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding

regarding:

our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

 

the failure to realize the anticipated benefits of the Business Combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability of Zeo to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and suppliers and retain key employees;

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted in connection with the Business Combination;

 

our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses;

our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

our pool of prospective target businesses;

our success in retaining or recruiting our principal officers, key employees or directors;

intense competition and competitive pressures from electric utilities and other companies in the industry in which Zeo operates;

our ability to consummate an initial business combination duefactors relating to the uncertainty resulting frombusiness, operations and financial performance of Zeo, including market conditions and global and economic factors beyond Zeo’s control;

changes in general economic conditions, including unemployment, inflation (including the COVID-19 pandemic,impact of tariffs) or deflation, financial institution disruptions and geopolitical conflicts such as well as from the emergence of variant strains of COVID-19, includingconflict between Russia and Ukraine and the efficacy and adoption of recently developed vaccines with respect to COVID-19conflict in the Gaza Strip; and variant strains thereof;

the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential business combination opportunities;

the reduction or elimination of government economic incentives to the renewable energy market;

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

the ability of Zeo to issue equity or equity-linked securities or obtain debt financing;

the lack of a market for our securities;

the demand for renewable energy not being sustained or growing in size;

the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

impacts of climate change, changing weather patterns and conditions and natural disasters;

the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

increases in costs of solar energy system components and raw materials;

loss of a supplier or other supply chain disruptions;

our financial performance following our initial public offering.

problems with the quality or performance of the solar energy systems that Zeo sells;

the effect of legal, tax and regulatory changes; and

each of the other factors detailed under the section entitled “Risk Factors.”

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, 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. You should not take any statement regarding past trends or activities as representation that the trends or activities will continue in the future. Accordingly, you should not put undue reliance on these statements.

 

iii


SUMMARY RISK FACTORS

The following is a summary of the principal risks described below in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” in this Report. We believe that the risks described in the “Risk Factors” section are material to investors, but other factors not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also adversely affect us. The following summary should not be considered an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing us, and it should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and the other information contained in this Report.

Risks Related to Our Search for, Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, aZeo’s Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

Our shareholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our shareholders do not support such a combination.

 

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.

The solar energy industry is an emerging market which is constantly evolving and additional demand for solar energy systems may not develop to the size or at the rate expected;

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholders and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.

The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.

The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particular as we approach our initial business combination deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.

 A material reduction in the retail price of electricity charged by electric utilities or other retail electricity providers would harm Zeo’s business, financial condition and results of operations;

Our search for a business combination,

Sales and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination,installation of solar energy systems depends heavily on suitable meteorological and environmental conditions such that, if meteorological or environmental conditions are unexpectedly unfavorable, the electricity production from Zeo’s solar service offerings may be materiallybelow its expectations, and Zeo’s ability to timely deploy new systems may be adversely impacted;

Zeo’s business has benefited from the declining cost of solar energy system and energy storage system components and may be harmed to the extent the cost of such components stabilize or increase in the future;

Zeo’s growth depends in part on the success of its relationships with third parties, including its equipment suppliers, contractors and dealers, including dealers who market to customers and bring the resulting solar contracts to it for fulfillment;

Zeo depends on a limited number of suppliers of solar energy system components and technologies to adequately meet demand for its solar energy systems and, due to the limited number of suppliers in Zeo’s industry, the acquisition of any of these suppliers by a competitor or any shortage, delay, price change, imposition of tariffs or duties or other limitation in Zeo’s ability to obtain components or technologies Zeo uses could result in sales and installation delays, cancelations and loss of customers;

If Zeo fails to manage its recent and future growth effectively, it may be unable to execute its business plan, maintain high levels of customer service, or adequately address competitive challenges;

Warranties provided by the manufacturers of equipment Zeo sells or services may be limited by the ability of a supplier and manufacturer to satisfy its warranty or performance obligations or by the expiration of applicable time or liability limits, which could reduce or void the warranty protections and increase Zeo’s costs to customers for the systems Zeo offers;

Technical and regulatory limitations regarding the interconnection of solar energy systems to the electrical grid may significantly delay interconnections and customer in-service dates, harming Zeo’s growth rate and customer satisfaction;

Zeo’s business is concentrated in certain markets, putting us at risk of region-specific disruptions, including hurricanes or other extreme weather events;

iv

Zeo’s expansion into new sales channels could be costly and time-consuming, and as Zeo enters new channels, it could be at a disadvantage relative to other companies who have more history in these spaces;

Zeo may not realize the anticipated benefits of past or future investments, strategic transactions, or acquisitions, and integration of these acquisitions may disrupt its business and management;

Zeo’s rebranding involved substantial costs and may not produce the intended benefits if it is not favorably received by Zeo’s customers, contractors and dealers;

Zeo has previously been, and may in the future be, subject to regulatory inquiries and litigation, all of which are costly, distracting to its core business and could result in an unfavorable outcome, or a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, results of operations, or the trading price of our securities;

Zeo’s business currently depends on the availability of utility rebates, tax credits and other benefits, tax exemptions and exclusions, and other financial incentives on the federal, state, and/or local levels that may be adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreakchanges in, and application of these laws or other incentives to Zeo, and the statusexpiration, elimination or reduction of debt and equity markets.

these benefits could adversely impact Zeo’s business;

As the number of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increase the cost of our initial business combination and could even result in our inability to find a target or to consummate an initial business combination.

 

We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

Zeo relies on certain utility rate structures, such as net metering, to offer competitive pricing to customers, and changes to those policies may significantly reduce demand for Zeo’s solar energy systems; and

Electric utility policies, statutes, and regulations and changes to such statutes or regulations may present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to the purchase and use of Zeo’s solar energy offerings that may significantly reduce demand for such offerings.

Risks Related to Our SponsorZeo and Management Team

Ownership of Zeo Securities

Past performance by Energy Spectrum, our sponsor, our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

 

Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interest could have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

iv


Our management team has limited experience managing a public company, and regulatory compliance obligations may divert its attention from the day-to-day management of our businesses.

Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including other blank check companies, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

 

Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.

Risks Related to Our Securities

 

We will incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

 

The Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate these material weaknesses, if management identifies additional material weaknesses in the future or if we otherwise fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial position or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business and stock price or cause our access to the capital markets to be impaired;

 

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

Nasdaq may delist Zeo’s securities from trading on its exchange;

 

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.

A significant portion of the total outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock are restricted from immediate resale following the Closing of the Business Combination but may be sold into the market shortly thereafter. This could cause the market price of Class A Common Stock to drop significantly, even if Zeo’s business is doing well;

 

The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.20 per share.

General Risks

An active, liquid market for Zeo’s securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of Zeo’s securities;

We are a recently incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues, and you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

 

There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern.”

The Zeo Warrants are exercisable for Zeo Common Stock, and if exercised, would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to the stockholders of Zeo; and

 

We may be a passive foreign investment company, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. investors.

In certain cases, payments under the tax receivable agreement ESGEN entered into with the Sellers in connection with the Closing (the “Tax Receivable Agreement”) may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual benefits that Zeo realizes in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.

 

Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination

v

Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries

 

If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

 

If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues, economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.

v


PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Our Company

We arewere originally incorporated under the name “ESGEN Acquisition Corp.” as a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to throughout this Report as our initial business combination. We have not selected any potential business combination target.

Global economic growth, population increases and expanded accessAs discussed in this Item 1 to energy are driving demand for energy resources. We believe low-impact production, transportation, and consumption of energy, as well as carbon mitigation strategies, will be critical to ensure a sustainable future. We intend to primarily target opportunities in the North American energy and infrastructure value chain and contiguous industries thatthis Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”), we believe will fundamentally change the current energy landscape by accelerating a shift to a low-carbon future, an objective we call “Disruptive Decarbonization.” There is an extensive universe of private companies that have established themselves as market leaders in Disruptive Decarbonization sub-segments and that we anticipate will benefit from access to public markets and a partnership with a platform such as ours.

We believe the investment track record, operating experience, and strategic insight of Energy Spectrum, an affiliate of our sponsor, will serve as a catalyst to enhance the value of a potential business combination while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders. Disruptive Decarbonization captures a broad range of business profiles that we expect will serve as the backbone of a sustainable energy future. We have identified several specific sectors on which we intend to focus on including:

Electrification, Clean Fuel Production and Transportation

Energy Efficiency and Resource Management

Environmental Impact Mitigation and Carbon Sequestration

While Disruptive Decarbonization target opportunities will be our primary focus, we may pursue an initial business combination with any business in any industry and any geographic location within North America. We intend to target companies that are committed to ESG practices as a way to achieve long-term competitive advantages.

Recent Developments

On January 18, 2023, our shareholders voted to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Extension Proposal”) to extend from January 22, 2023 to April 22, 2023 (the “Extended Date”) the date (the “Termination Date”) by which we must mandatorily liquidate the company. In connection with the vote to approve the Extension Proposal, the holders of 24,703,445 Class A ordinary shares of ESGEN properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.35 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $255,875,757.

Additionally, in the event that we have not consummated an initial business combination by the Extended Date, the Board may extend the Termination Date up to six times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to six additional months to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension Date”), provided that we deposit into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date the lesser of (a) $140,000 or (b) $0.04 for each public share that is then-outstanding.

Competitive Strengths

Our sponsor is ESGEN LLC, a portfolio company and affiliate of Energy Spectrum is a leading venture capital firm with extensive investment experience and a successful track record of identifying and building high-quality operating assets and businesses across the energy infrastructure value chain. Energy Spectrum was formed in 1996 and has successfully raised eight funds with over $4.5 billion of equity capital commitments and established 65 portfolio companies. We will strive to capitalize on Energy Spectrum’s broad expertise from more than two decades of transactional, financial, managerial and investment experience.

Our management team is led by Andrea (“Andrejka”) Bernatova, an executive with years of knowledge and experience in energy investing and operations positions. We believe Ms. Bernatova’s experience, when combined with the backgrounds of our board members, should strategically position us to identify high-quality opportunities within the Disruptive Decarbonization subsectors. Attributes that differentiate us and provide the foundation to successfully execute on our business strategy include:

Energy Spectrum was one of the first venture capital firms to focus on midstream energy infrastructure. Energy Spectrum was founded with a focus on partnering with seasoned management teams in pursuit of compelling opportunities within the energy midstream sector. To date, Energy Spectrum has raised over $4.5 billion in institutional equity capital to invest in energy infrastructure, renewable energy and power opportunities across 65 investment platforms. Energy Spectrum currently manages more than $1.9 billion of assets under management and continues to invest its seventh and eighth investment funds, Energy Spectrum Partners VII LP and Energy Spectrum Partners VIII LP, respectively. Energy Spectrum’s prior funds are substantially realized, achieving attractive returns for each fund’s investors.

1


For more than two decades, Energy Spectrum has contributed to the growth across the energy ecosystem by partnering with seasoned management teams. Energy Spectrum has a demonstrated track record of being a flexible, high-integrity partner that provides management teams with the growth capital, leading edge insights, experience and strategic support to improve business potential while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for its investors through a variety of economic and commodity cycles.

Our management, board and Energy Spectrum provide a compelling combination of investment track record in tandem with deep operational expertise. Our Chief Executive Officer, Andrea Bernatova is an experienced entrepreneur, executive, advisor and investor. Ms. Bernatova’s executive and entrepreneurial track record across senior operational roles as well as advisory and investment roles in the U.S. and globally coupled with her leadership positions in public, private equity-backed and venture capital-backed companies at various stages of development bring important and valuable skills to our company. Additionally, our board, management and Energy Spectrum have extensive backgrounds in building targeted assets into successful large-scale businesses, sourcing acquisition opportunities away from competitive situations, implementing rigorous underwriting procedures, executing on creative and complex transaction structures and leading post-acquisition value creation initiatives, which we intend to utilize in order to enhance the value of our target company and its assets.

The breadth of our experience across a wide range of energy and infrastructure sub-segments will position us as a thought leader in the Disruptive Decarbonization space, well positioned to provide a comprehensive view of the energy value chain. Our management team has been involved in multiple sectors of the energy ecosystem over the past 15+ years including midstream, transition energy, oil and gas, renewable energy and conventional power. Our operations will be overseen by an experienced board who together will provide deep knowledge developed through extensive experience structuring, financing and investing in energy and infrastructure opportunities. We believe members of our board will bring their depth of experience and business relationships in the energy and infrastructure spaces as well. Our board is diverse in its experiences, perspectives and historical business activities, which we believe will support and enhance our management team in the pursuit of an initial business combination.

Our company is expected to be a preferred partner due to our reputation across the energy landscape. We believe potential targets for the initial business combination will view us as a valuable business partner based on our reputation as investors and partners of choice in the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Our Market Opportunity

We are founded on the belief that the energy and infrastructure industry is in the early phases of a decades-long transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future. We believe this emerging infrastructure and its businesses present a large and highly-fragmented opportunity set that have the potential to grow significantly over time by penetrating all verticals of the energy and infrastructure sectors and its adjacent industries.

Rapidly growing societal and political focus on energy transition, decarbonization and sustainability has driven considerable corporate, institutional and governmental initiatives including investment in projects, such as renewable power, energy storage, EV charging infrastructure, hydrogen production, and carbon capture and storage projects-as well as end-user purchases of low-carbon energy devices, such as small-scale solar systems, heat pumps and zero-emission vehicles.

Examples of the industries where we see potential opportunity include, but are not limited to:

Electrification, Clean Fuel Production and Transportation

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Energy Efficiency and Resource Management

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Environmental Impact Mitigation and Carbon Sequestration

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The foregoing opportunities are not intended to be exhaustive. We may pursue an initial business combination with a target business in any industry, sector or geographic location.

Our Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to identify, acquire and maximize the value of a business and its assets with operations within the energy and infrastructure sector focused on Disruptive Decarbonization in North America. We will seek to leverage our management team’s experience identifying high-quality businesses within our target sectors and utilize the substantial resources of Energy Spectrum and our management to source, evaluate, negotiate and execute an initial business combination that creates substantial long-term value for our shareholders. We intend to identify and acquire a business that could benefit from an experienced institutional partner with extensive operational experience and the public company expertise our management team possesses, and/or that relies on the target’s executive and operational expertise, but presents potential for an attractive risk-adjusted return profile under our stewardship.

We will focus our efforts on opportunities where we feel we have a competitive advantage and are best situated to enhance the value of the business after completion of our initial business combination. The ultimate goal of this business strategy is to maximize shareholder value.

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We believe that we will benefit from our collective relationship network that includes senior partners and executives at private equity, venture capital and other alternative investment firms, sovereign wealth funds and public and private corporations, investment banks, commercial banks, industry consultants and operating professionals. This network has been developed through our management team’s and directors’ decades of experience in both investing in and operating companies focused across energy, infrastructure and renewables sectors, including participation in midstream, water management, renewable energy infrastructure-oriented investments in companies with similar fundamentals to those ESGEN plans to target. We expect these networks will provide our management team with a robust flow of acquisition opportunities. Our management team, our sponsor and our board will communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target business and a potential business combination and begin the process of pursuing and reviewing potentially interesting leads.

Our Acquisition Criteria and Process

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a due diligence review which may encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspections of facilities, as well as reviewing financial and other information which will be made available to us. Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the below general criteria and guidelines we believe are important in evaluating prospective targets for our initial business combination. We intend to acquire target businesses that we believe:

Are at an inflection point, such as requiring additional management expertise, are able to innovate through new operational techniques, or where we believe we can drive improved financial performance;

Are fundamentally sound but that we believe can accelerate a business plan by leveraging the transactional, operational and financial expertise of our company to create attractive risk-adjusted returns for our shareholders;

Have a positive ESG impact, considering all stakeholders, employees and the community, without sacrificing the financial return for our shareholders;

Have differentiated technologies, processes, infrastructure, product offerings or services and operate in high growth, large addressable markets with favorable long-term market dynamics; and

Have attractive growth opportunities, sustainable competitive advantages and a need for capital to achieve our growth strategy.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter intocompleted our initial business combination with Sunergy Renewables, LLC, a targetNevada limited liability company, on March 13, 2024, and changed our name to “Zeo Energy Corp.”

Mission

Our company and personnel are passionate about delivering cost savings and increased independence and reliability to energy consumers. Our mission is to expedite the country’s transition to renewable energy by offering our customers an affordable and sustainable means of achieving energy independence.

Business Overview

Zeo is a vertically integrated provider of residential solar energy systems, other energy efficient equipment and related services currently serving customers in Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri.

Sunergy was created through the contribution of Sunergy Solar and Sun First Energy to Zeo (the “Contribution”) on October 1, 2021. Sunergy Solar, formed in 2005, and initially focused on providing heating, ventilation and air conditioning products and services in Florida, later expanded into installing residential solar energy systems sold directly by the company and third-party sales dealerships. Sun First Energy was established in 2019, and, from its formation to the date of the Contribution, it sold residential solar energy systems in Florida that were installed by other companies. Prior to the Contribution, Sunergy Solar and Sun First Energy had collaborated on residential solar energy system installations and shared a commitment to quality, integrity and customer satisfaction. The Contribution established a vertically integrated company offering solutions that included sale, provision, installation, operation and maintenance of residential solar energy systems and other energy efficient equipment of services. Many of our solar energy system customers also purchase other energy efficiency-related equipment or services or roofing services from us.

Since the Contribution, Zeo has expanded operations by increasing the number of installations, sales, and administration personnel from approximately 180 as of the Contribution to approximately 288  as of December 31, 2023. In January 2022, we began selling and installing residential solar energy systems and other energy efficiency-related equipment in Texas, in January 2023, we expanded into Arkansas, and, in September 2023, we entered Missouri.

Products and Services

Residential Solar Energy Systems

Zeo’s primary business activity is selling and installing residential solar energy systems that does not meethomeowners use to supplement the above criteriaamount of usable electricity required to power their homes. We currently operate in Florida, Texas, Arkansas and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteriaMissouri, and have experienced rapid growth in our shareholder communications related tobusiness since 2020.

Other Energy Efficient Equipment and Services

In 2023, approximately 23% of our initial business combination, which, as discussed in this Report, would be in the form of proxy solicitation or tender offer materials that we would file with the SEC.

Moreover, we may pursue an acquisition opportunity jointly with our sponsor, Energy Spectrum,customers purchased one or more funds of Energy Spectrum and/insulation services, such as adding insulation to a home’s attic or investorswalls. In 2023, in funds of Energy Spectrum. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the timeapproximately 53% of our initial business combination,sales our customers purchased adders that consisted of equipment designed to increase energy efficiency, including items such as hybrid electric water heaters or swimming pool pumps. During 2023, 1% of our customers purchased battery-based energy storage systems. These battery-based energy storage systems store energy generated from their residential solar energy systems to be used when the systemgenerates less usable electricity than the home requires (such as at night or on cloudy days).

Roofing Services

We install roofs in Florida, where our subsidiary, Sunergy Roofing & Construction, Inc., is a licensed roofing contractor. In Texas and Arkansas, for some solar energy system customers that need roofing services, we could raise additional proceedscontract with roofing companies for the services. We plan to continue growing our roofing operations, as we believe our roofing services complement our residential solar energy systems and for some customers helps to expedite solar system installations.

Subcontractors

We use subcontractors to install some of our residential solar energy systems at times when we do not have a sufficient number of our own installation teams to timely complete the project. We also use subcontractors to provide all of our insulation services and to install some of the roofing services and energy efficient equipment such as hybrid electric water heaters and pool pumps which we sell. Our subcontractor fees for residential solar energy system installations are typically based on total wattage installed, and our arrangements with installation subcontractors allow either party to terminate the agreement for convenience.


Marketing and Sales

We market our products and services to potential customers directly through in-home visits carried out by our internal sales agents and indirectly through external sales dealers. In the case of leases, a customer is approached by and communicates with the same sales personnel as if the customer were purchasing a system directly from Zeo. We also engage in digital marketing efforts on our own or through third-party marketing specialists, including search engine optimization and social media communications to strengthen our online marketing presence. Our code of conduct applies to our employees, independent contractors and dealers, and it requires adherence to high ethical standards when carrying out business combinationactivities.

Internal Direct Sales Force

We have established an internal team of sales agents that markets and sells directly to customers through door-to-door sales approaches. As of December 31, 2023 this team included approximately 270 sales agents, reflecting an approximately 100% agent increase from December 31, 2022. Our sales agents are engaged through full-time contracts lasting from April through August, which is our primary selling season. Sales made through our internal sales team have lower customer acquisition costs than sales sourced through our external dealers. In 2023, approximately 50% of the total systems we installed were sold through our internal sales team.

Sales Through External Dealers

We also install systems sold by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

Initial Business Combination

So longexternal sales dealers that act as our securitiessales representatives with potential customers. The number of dealers that have entered into a current arrangement to sell our solar panel systems was approximately 30 as of December 31, 2023 compared to approximately 20 as of December 31, 2022. The percentage of sales that originate with our external dealers increases during the fall and winter months when our internal sales efforts are then listeddiminished. We provide field support and training to these dealers on the Nasdaq, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the trust account (less the deferred underwriting commissions and income taxes payable on the interestsales offerings, sales processes and other income earned onbusiness processes, including our software sales platform.

Upon our selection of and engagement with a dealer, the trust account) atdealer executes our dealer agreement. The majority of our dealer agreements require the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection withdealers to exclusively represent our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to the satisfactionparticular products or services we sell. Dealers have the option of such criteria. Whilechoosing to execute a contract that does not require this exclusivity, and some select this option. Our dealer contracts are terminable for convenience by either party. For each residential solar energy system that we consider it unlikelyinstall for a customer that was sold by a dealer, after we receive payment, we compensate the dealer with a commission based on the number of watts of solar panels installed.

We recruit and select dealers based on their experience in the market, ability to produce sales and general reputation for ethical behavior within the industry. As part of our boarddealer contract, we require our dealers to agree in writing to comply with our code of conduct when carrying out their marketing and other activities.

Customer and Leasing Agreements

A homeowner becomes our customer typically by signing a contract with us to purchase and receive installation of a solar energy system. We have also began to install solar energy systems that are leased by the customer under an agreement between the customer and a third-party leasing company under which the leasing company will own and lease to a customer a solar energy system. A customer that chooses our products and services typically signs the contract after meeting with one of our sales agents or dealers in the customer’s home and receiving a preliminary system design for their home and pricing for the system. Whether the customer determines to purchase or lease the solar energy system, the sales agent or dealer determines the pricing to be offered to the customer based on product and services price information stored in our sales software for the system components included in a customer’s proposed system. After the customer signs the contract, we schedule and conduct a site survey. If during the site survey we discover property code compliance or other complications with the planned design and installation, we may issue a change order; if required changes represent additional costs to us or the customer, the party that would be responsible for those costs may choose to cancel the contract. After the site survey, we prepare formal design and engineering documents and apply for applicable permits from local government authorities. After required permits are obtained, we schedule and install the solar energy system and any other equipment purchased on the customer’s home.


Purchase Contract Warranties. As the owner of the residential solar energy system under the purchase and installation agreement, customers receive a manufacturer’s limited warranty for system components. For the principal components of solar panels, inverter, and racking, the manufacturer’s limited warranty typically lasts 25 years. Manufacturers control whether the warranty periods they offer will change for equipment purchased in the future. Though we are not responsible for a manufacturer’s compliance with warranty obligations, we assist customers in contacting the manufacturer if a warranty issue arises. We provide customers at least a ten-year limited warranty for our installation work and at least a five-year limited warranty against roof penetrations. In most of our purchase and installation agreements that we used prior to 2023, we provided a 25-year limited warranty for installation work and against roof penetrations.

Purchase Contracts and Financed Sales. For the period from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, the large majority of our customers (at least 90%) who purchased residential solar energy systems from us entered into a loan arrangement with a third party to finance the purchase over an extended period of time. The loan agreement between the customer and the third-party lender typically has a repayment term of between 7 and 25 years and requires the customer to pay either a minimal or no down payment. The lender pays us our portion of the purchase payment after completion of system installation.

Purchase Contracts and Cash Sales. For the period from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023, a small minority of our customers (less than 3%) have paid us in cash for the purchase of residential solar energy systems. For those sales, our purchase contract requires the customer to pay 25% of the purchase price upon execution of the purchase agreement, 50% when we begin installation, and the final 25% on the last day of installation. Installation is usually commenced and completed either in a single day or within several days.

System Leases.In December 2022, we launched a program offering customers the option of leasing our solar energy systems from a third-party leasing company. The customer agrees to pay the leasing company a predetermined monthly fee for the electricity produced by the residential solar energy system. Though we have plans to increase the number of leased systems we install, as of December 31, 2023, 8% of the systems we have installed in 2023 are leased by the customer, though we expect that percentage to increase in 2024. The lease term between the leasing company and the customer is 25 years. The customer agrees to pay the leasing company a predetermined monthly fee for the electricity produced by the solar energy system. The monthly fee generally increases annually over the lease term at a predetermined rate, and the customer has the option to renew the lease for five to ten years. The potential advantage to the customer of a lease agreement is that a third-party owner of the residential solar energy system may take more advantage of available government tax incentives for solar energy production, which may allow them to lease the system to the customer at monthly rates that are lower for the customer than if the customer were financing its own purchase of the system. We installed the first leased solar energy system in April 2023 and, as of December 31, 2023, we have installed approximately 460 leased solar energy systems. In the lease model offered to our customers, the third-party leasing company contracts with the homeowner customer to install a solar energy system owned by the leasing company and leased to the customer. The leasing company contracts with Zeo to purchase system equipment and install the solar energy system and to maintain and service the system on the leasing company’s behalf during the life of the lease.

As of the date of this filing, Zeo’s customers have solely entered into leasing agreements with third-party leasing companies established and managed by White Horse Energy, LC (“White Horse Energy”), a holding company of which Mr. Bridgewater, Zeo’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer is the owner and manager. Subject to investor and customer demand, White Horse Energy intends to attract more investors to form third-party leasing companies. No assurance can be given that White Horse Energy will be able to makedo so or that arrangements can be made with other funds to act as lessors of Zeo’s solar energy systems in the future. Zeo is exploring leasing arrangements with other third parties with an independent determinationobjective of offering customers a choice of purchase or lease options.

Supply

The main components of our residential solar energy systems are solar panels, inverters and racking systems. Common related components or systems that we may additionally supply are battery-based energy storage systems, insulation, hybrid electric water heaters, swimming pool pumps and roofing. All of the fairproducts that we install are manufactured by third parties. We select products and system components, suppliers and distributors based on cost, reliability, warranty coverage, performance characteristics and ease of installation, among other factors.

While we procure products and components from multiple suppliers and distributors to reduce the likelihood that we experience an inability to procure those products and components, the primary supplier from which we purchase the equipment that we install is Greentech. Greentech also provides us inventory management services by holding equipment in its inventory until it delivers directly to the customer site for installation. We purchase from Greentech through a credit agreement under which Greentech extends us credit for purchases, and we are obligated to make payments by the 15th day of the month following each purchase. A purchase discount is available for early cash payment, and a service charge of 1.5% per month can be assessed for payments made more than 30 days after the invoice date. Our agreement with Greentech does not require either party to continue to conduct new business with the other party. During 2023, we purchased approximately 98% of the equipment that we installed through Greentech. We believe our relationship with Greentech, and the volume of business we do through them, has established us as a preferred customer and enables us to procure components at attractive terms. If our relationship with Greentech were to be terminated, there are other distributors of the same or similar equipment, and we believe we could readily obtain supplies from those other distributors, though they may take some time to develop the efficient logistics system Greentech employs now on our behalf delivering products to the customer installation sites.

Heightened inflation in the costs of labor and components beginning in 2020 and continuing today has contributed to fluctuating prices for solar energy equipment. At times, we have had to pay increased prices to obtain equipment. This has not yet prevented us from obtaining the products we need to install systems purchased by our customers, but there can be no assurance that this will continue. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of cost increases attributable to inflationary pressures.


We have previously experienced price increases and temporary supply delays resulting from multiple market valuephenomena, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of the solar panels and other equipment that we install are manufactured outside of the U.S., and most are manufactured in China. The general supply chain issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have had specific impacts on our sources of supply for solar energy equipment. These issues have included increased price pressures on solar panel components such as polysilicon, pandemic-related port closures, port congestion and ship diversions, and increases in shipping rates from trans-Pacific ocean carriers due to factors that include limited availability of shipping capacity, shortages of shipping containers, shortages of dock workers and truck drivers and increases in fuel prices. These factors have contributed to price increases and price fluctuations in solar energy equipment, and at times have caused delays in supply. Government tariffs on solar energy equipment, including tariffs placed on solar equipment manufactured in China, have also contributed to higher prices on solar equipment. Additionally, Russia’s war against Ukraine caused price and supply pressure on solar energy equipment, as the war has impacted fuel prices and has led to increased demand in European markets for solar energy equipment as consumers and governments in Europe have sought to establish greater energy independence. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, we experienced periods of temporary delay in obtaining supplies. We believe these delays reduced the number of installations in comparison to what we would have been able to install without the delays. In 2023, we did not experience any appreciable delays in supply.

For more information on risks related to our supply chain, see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Zeo’s Operations — Due to the limited number of suppliers in our industry, the acquisition of any of these suppliers by a targetcompetitor or any shortage, delay, price change, imposition of tariffs or duties or other limitation in our ability to obtain components or technologies we use could result in sales and installation delays, cancellations and loss of customers” and “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Zeo’s Operations — Increases in the cost or reduction in supply of solar energy system and energy storage system components due to tariffs or trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. government could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Seasonality

Historically, our sales volume and installation activity has been highest during late spring and summer. During this time, consumers in many locations see greater energy needs due to operating air conditioning systems and warm-weather appliances such as swimming pool pumps. Our door-to-door sales efforts are also aided during these months by daylight savings time providing increased daylight hours into the evening, and we have more sales personnel, many of whom are college students, working during these months, as described above. We typically have largely or businesses, itentirely scaled down our internal sales efforts during the fall, winter, and early spring. Snow, cold weather or other inclement weather can also delay our installation of products and services.

Strategy

We plan to increase our market impact and grow our revenue and profits by pursuing the following strategic objectives:

Expand our operations into additional geographic markets. We plan to continue to expand in new geographic markets, both organically and through strategic M&A, where favorable net metering policies exist, where the percentage of the addressable residential market that already has residential solar energy systems is generally below 7%, and where we do not believe the market is already oversaturated with competitors. We are actively considering additional markets to enter beyond Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri, as we identify markets which we believe may be unablehave large addressable markets and significant customer demand for solar energy.

Increase capacity for efficient growth by investing in people and systems. We have increased the number of solar energy systems we sell and install by growing and training our internal seasonal sales force, and we plan to continue to do so, ifas well as increasing our number of external dealers. We have also grown and plan to continue growing our installation capacity in markets we serve by hiring and training more skilled technicians and investing in technology. Where we do not yet have installation teams in place, we plan to continue to collaborate with subcontractors to fulfill our installation needs.

Continue to grow our external dealer sales channel. We plan to increase the boardnumber of external dealers working to bring us customers. We believe we will continue to have success in attracting dealers to our business because of our scalable business platform that allows dealers to participate in the residential solar energy sales and installation life cycle with limited investments in personnel and capital.

Expand customer options for buying affordable solar energy. We plan to expand our roofing business in all markets we enter in the future. Roofing facilitates a faster processing time for our solar installations in cases where the residential customer is less familiarin need of a roof replacement prior to installing solar systems. We believe offering customers the option to lease a residential solar energy system installed on their home will increase the number of systems we can sell and install due to the potential savings for some customers that cannot otherwise take full advantage of certain tax incentives. As described above, in December 2022, we launched a program offering customers the option of leasing residential solar energy systems from third parties that we install on the customer’s home.


Strengths

We are profitable. We have a profitable business model, and over the last four years, we have increased revenue and earned profit.

In adopting the systems and costs of operating as a publicly traded company, we expect to face challenges to our ability to maintain or experiencedincrease our profitability. However, we believe our strengths position us for accelerating our growth in an efficient manner that will produce profitable results.

Our Sales Model. Our sales methodology produces a high volume of sales. We believe our internal sales process drives a high volume of sales per sales representative and results in low customer acquisition costs. The success of our sales processes starts with quality, hands-on training for each sales representative. Our self-produced digital learning platform presents our sales representatives with sample customer scenarios and guides them in learning effective communication techniques, as well as how to efficiently carry out administrative steps required for completing sales. Each sales representative’s responses to sample customer scenarios are reviewed and critiqued by managers of our internal sales team.

In our sales model, a majority of personnel knock on doors of potential customers and explain the benefits of solar energy and our offerings with the target company’sobjective of scheduling a subsequent sales meeting. In the scheduled meetings, a more experienced sales representative or sales manager provides a homeowner additional information about system design, energy savings and other benefits, pricing, incentives and financing options.

We believe that the key elements to our successful business theremodel include (i) effective training and time spent with senior sales managers, (ii) our use of our customer relationship management software platform which concurrently tracks key performance indicators across the sales cycle, and (iii) our multi-step setter-closer sales model, which enables senior sales personnel to focus on greater sales success in presentations, while setters focus on developing and filtering quality, qualified leads, all of which then contributes to maximizing the percentage of leads converted into sales and sales into installations because of satisfied customers throughout the process.

 

(1)

As of December 31, 2023.

(2)During the Company’s peak sales period in late Spring and Summer of 2023. See “ -Seasonality” above.

Our vertical integration leads to customer satisfaction and personnel retention. We believe our vertically integrated business model, in which we market, design, sell, procure, install and service systems, has a major benefit of enhancing the speed of project completion after an initial sale is made. It also allows us to price projects strategically with information from both the sales and installation sides of the process. Our greater control over the total process and our resulting success rates in navigating the local municipal permit process is intended to increase customer satisfaction and reduce potential sales force frustration from losing many jobs due to delays in the installation process. Our ratio of sales converted to completed installations is higher for sales that come from our internal agents than that that come from our dealer sales. We believe this higher rate helps increase the job satisfaction and retention rate for our personnel, as it enhances commissions that are paid out to sales personnel and managers, and provides work for installation teams.

Our scalable business platform allows us to grow efficiently. We believe that we have established a significant amountscalable business platform for efficiently completing the life-cycle of uncertaintytasks involved in offering and fulfilling customers’ residential solar power needs. This platform is principally: (a) software we use in designing, selling, installing and servicing systems, and in tracking key performance indicators across the sales cycle; and (b) the business processes of our employees that perform field work, system design, permitting, installation and back-office support tasks. This platform is intended to allow us to undergo rapid sales and installation growth by efficiently adding new personnel and collaborating effectively with external dealers who bring us additional customers. We have carefully designed these processes and our pre- and post-installation operations to be effective systems which can be easily explained to new employees and replicated in the new cities and regions in which we operate and expand.


Competition

The solar energy and renewable energy industries are both highly competitive and continually evolving as participants strive to distinguish themselves within their markets and compete with large electric utilities.

We consider our primary competitors to be electric utilities that supply electricity to our potential customers. We compete with these electric utilities primarily based on price (cents per kWh), predictability of future prices and the ease by which customers can switch to electricity generated by our residential solar energy systems. We may also compete with them based on other value-added benefits. These include reliability and carbon-friendly power, benefits which consumers have historically paid a premium to secure, but which customers can obtain by purchasing a solar energy system for monthly costs that are sometimes equal to or less than a traditional monthly power bill from the utility.

We also compete with retail electric providers and independent power producers that are not regulated like electric utilities but which have access to the value of the company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or

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if the anticipated transaction involves a complex financial analysis or other specialized skillsutilities’ electricity transmission and the board determinesdistribution infrastructure pursuant to state, territorial and local pro-competition and consumer choice policies. These retail electric providers and independent power producers can offer customers electricity solutions that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of net assets threshold, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our shareholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to shareholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.

We may pursue an acquisition opportunity jointlyare competitive with our sponsor, Energy Spectrum,residential solar energy system options on both price and usage of renewable energy technology while avoiding the physical installations that our current business model requires.

We compete with community solar products offered by solar companies or sponsored by local governments and municipal power companies, as well as utility companies that provide renewable power purchase programs. Some customers might choose to subscribe to a community solar project or renewable subscriber program instead of having a residential solar energy system installed on their home, which could affect our sales. Additionally, some utility companies (and some utility-like entities, such as community choice aggregators) have power generation portfolios that are increasingly renewable in nature. As utility companies offer increasingly renewable portfolios to retail customers, those customers might be less inclined to have a residential solar energy system installed on their home or business, which could adversely affect our growth.

We also compete with solar energy companies with vertically integrated business models like our own, many of which are larger than we are. For example, some of our competitors offer their own consumer financing products to customers and/or produce one or more fundscomponents of Energy Spectrum and/the residential solar energy system or investors in funds of Energy Spectrum. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the targetenergy storage system. In addition to financing and manufacturing, some other business at the timemodels also include sales, engineering, installation, maintenance and monitoring services. Some of our initial business combination,competitors also have an established complementary construction, electrical contracting or we could raise additional proceedsroofing services.

Some competitors also offer customers the option of leasing a residential solar energy system installed on the customer’s residence. In such a scenario, the provider or a third party owns the residential solar energy system, and the customer typically pays a predetermined fee for the electricity produced by the residential solar energy system. The fee generally increases annually at a predetermined rate over the lease term, which is typically 20 to complete25 years, with a renewal option. Such a lease program can take fuller advantage of some of the business combination by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. Any such issuance of equity or equity-linked securities would, on a fully diluted basis,available tax incentives and, therefore, can reduce the percentage ownership of our then-existing shareholders. Notwithstandingcustomer’s monthly costs in comparison to owning the foregoing, pursuant to the anti-dilution provisions of our Class B ordinary shares, issuances or deemed issuances of Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities would result in an adjustment to the ratio at which Class B ordinary shares shall convert into Class A ordinary shares such that our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees, if any, would retain their aggregate percentage ownership of at 20% of the sum of the total number of all Class A ordinary shares outstanding upon completion of our initial public offering plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (excluding any shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination), unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding Class B ordinary shares agree to waive such adjustment with respect to such issuance or deemed issuance at the time thereof. Our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation to make any such investment, and mayresidential solar energy system.

We compete with us for potential business combinations.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-business combination company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or shareholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). Even if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to the business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our shareholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-business combination company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of net assets test. If the business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of net assets test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor. If our securities are not then listed on the Nasdaq for whatever reason, we would no longer be required to meet the foregoing 80% of net asset test.

To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination.

Other Considerations

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

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Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our founders shares, Class A ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following our initial public offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at approximately $0.004 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public shareholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their ordinary shares (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

In addition, certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then he or she may need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we renounce any interest or expectancy in or in being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of our officers or directors acquires knowledge or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to the company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.

Our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours or pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence.

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock in the target business for our Class A ordinary shares (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A ordinary shares and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting commissions, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us. Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with shareholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

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While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek shareholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other publicagainst companies that are not “emerging growth companies”vertically integrated, such as companies that offer only installation services, or provide only equipment to be installed, or dealers that sell systems for which another entity or entities will provide and install equipment. Some of these entities finance products directly to consumers, inclusive of programs like Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing programs established by local governments. For example, we face competition from solar installation businesses that seek financing from external parties or utilize competitive loan products or state and local programs.

We expect the competition to evolve as the market continues to grow, evolve and attract new market entrants. We believe that with our business model and sales strategy, we can compete effectively and favorably within the industry.

For more information on risks relating to increased competition in our industry, see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to the Solar Industry — We face competition from electric utilities, retail electric providers, independent power producers, renewable energy companies and other market participants.

Intellectual Property

We protect our intellectual property rights by relying on common law protections and through contractual arrangements. We typically require our personnel, consultants and third parties such as our suppliers with access to our proprietary information to execute confidentiality agreements. Our principal trade secrets and copyrighted materials consist of our sales methodologies and data regarding our personnel, customers and suppliers.

We also license third-party software and services that we use in operating our business. These third-party solutions include, among others, software that we use in selling and designing our products services, a customer relationship management system to actively track key performance indicators across the sales cycle and software to augment our sales and marketing efforts.


Insurance

We maintain the types and amounts of insurance coverage and on terms deemed adequate by management based on our actual claims experience and expectations for future claims. However, future claims could exceed our applicable insurance coverage. Our insurance policies cover employee-and contractor-related accidents and injuries, property damage, business interruption, storm damage, inventory, vehicles, fixed assets, facilities, and crime and general liability deriving from our activities. We have also obtained insurance policies covering directors, officers, employment practices, auto liability, and commercial general liability. We may also be covered in some circumstances for certain liabilities by insurance policies owned by third parties, including, but not limited to, not being requiredour dealers and vendors.

Government Regulation

U.S. tariffs, duties and other trade regulations impact the prices of components in the residential solar energy systems and energy storage systems we sell, in addition to the pricing pressures caused by supply chain factors as discussed above. These U.S. government-based pricing influences currently include tariffs placed on crystalline silicon PV cells and solar panels imported into the U.S. Also, China is a major producer of solar modules, inverters and other components that we use in the systems that we install, and the U.S. currently assesses various tariffs and antidumping and countervailing duties on equipment produced in China, including solar modules and inverters. The U.S. has also placed certain geographic, company-specific and other trade restrictions on Chinese sources of supply based on foreign policy and national security interests. The scope and timing of these regulatory efforts change over time, and the government may introduce new regulations as world events occur and public policy evolves. In response to the market uncertainty and price fluctuations caused by these government actions and other supply chain pressures, we carefully and periodically evaluate our suppliers of system components and make purchasing decisions based on our judgments of product quality, warranties, pricing and availability.

For more information on risks relating to government tariffs, duties or trade restrictions, see “Risk Factors — Risks Related to Zeo’s Operations — Increases in the cost or reduction in supply of residential solar energy system and energy storage system components due to tariffs or trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. government could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our operations are subject to various national, state and local laws and regulations. These include regulations regarding license requirements for electricians or other professionals involved in the installation of residential solar energy systems and energy storage systems. Many states and/or local governments and utilities have regulated procedures for interconnecting residential solar energy systems and related energy storage systems to the utility’s local distribution system. There are also local building codes or other local regulations for installing the products we sell on a customer’s property. We employ or contract with licensed professionals as needed to comply with regulatory requirements, and as part of our process of installing residential solar energy systems and related equipment, we assist our customers in obtaining interconnection permission from the auditor attestation requirementsapplicable local electric distribution utility, and applicable permits from other local offices.

Our operations, as well as those of Section 404our suppliers and subcontractors, are subject to stringent and complex U.S. federal, state, territorial and local laws, including regulations governing the occupational health and safety of employees, wage regulations and environmental protection. For example, we and our suppliers and subcontractors are subject to the regulations OSHA, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and comparable state entities that protect and regulate employee health and safety and the protection of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensationenvironment. Various environmental, health and safety laws can result in our periodic reportsthe imposition of costs and proxy statements,liability in connection with system and exemptions fromequipment installation, the requirementsrepair or replacement of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensationparts, and shareholder approvaldisposal of any golden parachute payments not previously approved, If some investors find our securities less attractivehazardous substances (such as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securitiesthe disposal and recycling of batteries).

We and the pricesdealers that supply us with sales opportunities or completed sales are also subject to laws and regulations related to interactions with consumers, including those applicable to sales and trade practices, privacy and data security, equal protection, consumer financial and credit transactions, consumer collections, mortgages and re-financings, home or business improvements, trade and professional licensing, warranties, and various means of our securities maycustomer solicitation, as well as specific regulations pertaining to solar installations.

Government Incentives

There are U.S. federal, state and local governmental bodies that provide incentives to owners, distributors, installers and manufacturers of residential solar energy systems to promote solar energy. These incentives include an investment tax credit and income tax credit offered by the federal government, as well as other tax credits, rebates and Solar Renewable Energy Credits associated with solar energy generation. The U.S. federal Energy Policy Act of 2005, as amended, established what came to be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107known as the Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit, an incentive that provides homeowners a 30% tax credit for the cost of purchasing and installing qualified residential alternative energy equipment, including solar electricity equipment. The IRA renamed this credit as the JOBS ActResidential Clean Energy Credit and extended the 30% credit through 2032. The credit rate falls to 26% in 2033, 22% for 2034 and expires at the end of 2034. The IRA also provides other incentives for homeowners to adopt energy-efficient systems and appliances that include: (a) a 30% tax credit with an “emerging growth company” can take advantageannual limit for certain upgrades such as installing energy-efficient hybrid water heaters, doors and windows, insulation, and upgrading electrical breaker boxes; and (b) up to $14,000 in point-of-sale rebates for low- and moderate-income households for certain electric appliances and home upgrades.


Our business model also relies on multiple tax exemptions offered at the state and local levels. For example, some states have property tax exemptions that exempt the value of the extended transition period providedresidential solar energy systems in Section 7(a)(2)(B)determining values for calculation of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwiselocal and state real and personal property taxes, and there are some state and local tax exemptions that apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either, (1) if our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100.0 million for the prior fiscal year, the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) if our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100.0 million during the prior fiscal year, the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of any reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison or our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

General

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following our initial public offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of the private placement warrants, the proceeds of the sale of equipment. State and local tax exemptions can have sunset dates or triggers for loss of the exemption, and the exemptions can be changed by state legislatures and other regulators.

A majority of states have adopted net metering policies, including our sharessales areas of Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri. Net metering policies allow homeowners to serve their own energy load using on-site generation while avoiding the full retail volumetric charge for electricity. Electricity that is generated by a residential solar energy system and consumed on-site avoids a retail energy purchase from the applicable utility, and excess electricity that is exported back to the electric grid generates a retail credit within a homeowner’s monthly billing period. At the end of the monthly billing period, if the homeowner has generated excess electricity within that month, the homeowner typically carries forward a credit for any excess electricity to be offset against future utility energy purchases. At the end of an annual billing period or calendar year, utilities either continue to carry forward a credit or reconcile the homeowner’s final annual or calendar year bill using different rates (including zero credit) for the exported electricity.

Utilities, their trade associations, and other entities are currently challenging net metering policies in connection withvarious locations by seeking to eliminate them, cap them, reduce the value of the credit provided to homeowners for excess generation or impose charges on homeowners that have net metering. States where we sell now or in the future may change, eliminate or reduce net metering benefits. On April 26, 2022, the Florida governor vetoed legislation that would have established a date for reducing and ending net metering in Florida.

We rely on a mix of the incentives mentioned above to reduce the net price our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreementscustomers that are eligible for incentives would otherwise pay for our solar offerings or backstop agreementsper kilowatt hour used.

Employees and Human Capital Management

As of December 31, 2023, we may enter into following the consummationhave approximately 190 full-time employees that work year-round processing orders, installing and servicing systems and fulfilling administrative tasks. We also engage sales agents as independent contractors as described in “— Internal Direct Sales Force” above. None of our initial public offering or otherwise), shares issuedemployees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and we have not experienced any work stoppages due to labor disputes.

Facilities

Our corporate headquarters are located in Florida under a lease that expires at the ownersend of October 2026. We maintain offices for operations in Texas and Arkansas, and we have sales, marketing and executive offices in Utah and throughout Florida. We currently lease the target, debt issuedoffice and warehouse spaces that we use in our operations, and we do not own any real property. We believe that our facility space adequately meets our needs and that we will be able to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing or other sources. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or businessobtain any additional operating space that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, which would subject us to the numerous risks inherent in such companies and businesses.

If our initial business combination is paid for using equity or debt, or not all of the funds released from the trust account are used for payment of the consideration in connection with our initial business combination or used for redemptions of our Class A ordinary shares, we may apply the balance of the cash released to us from the trust account for general corporate purposes, including for maintenance or expansion of operations of the post-business combination company, the payment of principal or interest duerequired on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.commercially reasonable terms.

We may need to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, either because the transaction requires more cash than is available from the proceeds held in our trust account, or because we become obligated to redeem a significant number of our public shares upon completion of the business combination, in which case we may issue additional securities or incur debt in connection with such business combination. There are no prohibitions on our ability to issue securities or incur debt in connection with our initial business combination.

Litigation

We are not currently a party to any arrangementmaterial litigation or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities, the incurrence of debt or otherwise.

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Sources of Target Businesses

We anticipate that target business candidates will be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment market participants, private equity groups, investment banking firms, consultants, accounting firms and large business enterprises. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since some of these sources will have read this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates that they become aware of through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions. In addition, we expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firmsgovernmental or other individualsproceeding. However, from time to time, we have been, are and will likely continue to be involved in legal proceedings, administrative proceedings and claims that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individualsarise in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the termsordinary course of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their respective affiliates paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). We have agreed to pay an affiliate of our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for office space, secretarial and administrative support and to reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination (which is accrued in “Due to related party”). Upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-business combination company following our initial business combination. The presence or absence of any such fees or arrangements will not be used as a criterion in our selection process of an acquisition candidate.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including other blank check companies and other entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. See “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest.”

Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct an extensive due diligence review which may encompass, as applicable and among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities and a review of financial and other information about the target and its industry. We will also utilize our management team’s operational and capital planning experience. If we determine to move forward with a particular target, we will proceed to structure and negotiate the terms of the business combination transaction.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of, and negotiation with, a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring lossescustomers, subcontractors, suppliers, regulatory bodies or others. In general, litigation claims or regulatory proceedings can be expensive and will reduce the funds we can usetime consuming to complete another business combination. The company will not pay any consulting fees to members of our management team,bring or their respective affiliates, for services rendered to or in connection with our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

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Lack of Business Diversification

For an indefinite period of time after the completion of our initial business combination, the prospects for our success may depend entirely on the future performance of a single 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 completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

subject us to negative economic, competitive and regulatory developments, any or all ofdefend against, which may have a substantial adverse impact on the particular industry in which we operate after our initial business combination; and

cause us to depend on the marketing and sale of a single product or limited number of products or services.

Limited Ability to Evaluate the Target’s Management Team

Although we intend to closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with that business, our assessment of the target business’s management may not prove to be correct. In addition, the future management may not have the necessary skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company. Furthermore, the future role of members of our management team, if any, in the target business cannot presently be stated with any certainty. The determination as to whether any of the members of our management team will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination. While it is possible that one or more of our directors will remain associated in some capacity with us following our initial business combination, it is unlikely that any of them will devote their full efforts to our affairs subsequent to our initial business combination. Moreover, we cannot assure you that members of our management team will have significant experience or knowledge relating to the operations of the particular target business.

We cannot assure you that any of our key personnel will remain in senior management or advisory positions with the combined company. The determination as to whether any of our key personnel will remain with the combined company will be made at the time of our initial business combination.

Following a 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.

Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination

We may conduct redemptions without a shareholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC subject to the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. However, we will seek shareholder approval if it is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we may decide to seek shareholder approval for business or other reasons.

Under the Nasdaq’s listing rules, shareholder approval would typically be required for our initial business combination if, for example:

We issue ordinary shares that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of our ordinary shares then-outstanding;

Any of our directors, officers or substantial shareholders (as defined by Nasdaq rules) has a 5% or greater interest (or such persons collectively have a 10% or greater interest), directly or indirectly, in the target business or assets to be acquired or otherwise and the issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares could result in an increase in outstanding ordinary shares or voting power of 5% or more; or

The issuance or potential issuance of ordinary shares will result in our undergoing a change of control.

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The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination in those instances in which shareholder approval is not required by law will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on business reasons, which include a variety of factors, including, but not limited to:

the timing of the transaction, including in the event we determine shareholder approval would require additional time and there is either not enough time to seek shareholder approval or doing so would place the company at a disadvantage in the transaction or result in other additional burdens on the company;

the expected cost of holding a shareholder vote;

the risk that the shareholders would fail to approve the proposed business combination;

other time and budget constraints of the company; and

additional legal complexities of a proposed business combination that would be time-consuming and burdensome to present to shareholders.

Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our initial shareholders, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions.

None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions. If they engage in such transactions, they will be restricted from making any such purchases when they are in possession of any material non-public information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. We do not currently anticipate that such purchases, if any, would constitute a tender offer subject to the tender offer rules under the Exchange Act or a going-private transaction subject to the going-private rules under the Exchange Act; however, if the purchasers determine at the time of any such purchases that the purchases are subject to such rules, the purchasers will be required to comply with such rules.

The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (ii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (iii) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completiondiversion of management’s attention and resources from our business and business goals and could result in settlement or damages that could significantly affect financial results and the conduct of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

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Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the shareholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated transactions by either the shareholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by shareholders (in the case of Class A ordinary shares) following our mailing of tender offer or proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates enter into a private transaction, they would identify and contact only potential selling or redeeming shareholders who have expressed their election to redeem their shares for a pro rata share of the trust account or vote against our initial business combination, whether or not such shareholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination but only if such shares have not already been voted at the shareholder meeting related to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase shares from based on the negotiated price and number of shares and any other factors that they may deem relevant, and will be restricted from purchasing shares if such purchases do not comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will be restricted from making purchases of shares if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. We expect any such purchases would be reported by such person pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements.

Redemption Rights for Public Shareholders upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial business combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. As of the date of our initial public offering, the amount in the trust account was $10.20 per public share. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission we will pay to the underwriters. The redemption rights will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. There will be no redemption rights upon the completion of our initial business combination with respect to our warrants. Further, we will not proceed with redeeming our public shares, even if a public shareholder has properly elected to redeem its shares, if a business combination does not close. Our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.

Limitations on Redemptions

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our business combination and after payment of underwriter fees and commissions (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). However, the proposed business combination may require: (i) cash consideration to be paid to the target or its owners, (ii) cash to be transferred to the target for working capital or other general corporate purposes or (iii) the retention of cash to satisfy other conditions in accordance with the terms of the proposed business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, and all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

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Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or whether we were deemed to be a foreign private issuer (which would require a tender offer rather than seeking shareholder approval under SEC rules). Asset acquisitions and share purchases would not typically require shareholder approval while direct mergers with our company including where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares or seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association would typically require shareholder approval. We currently intend to conduct redemptions in connection with a shareholder vote unless shareholder approval is not required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement or we choose to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC for business or other reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on the Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with the Nasdaq rules.

If we held a shareholder vote to approve our initial business combination, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:

business.

conduct the redemptions in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies, and not pursuant to the tender offer rules; and

 

file proxy materials with the SEC.

In the event that we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, we will distribute proxy materials and, in connection therewith, provide our public shareholders with the redemption rights described above upon completion of the initial business combination.

If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution, or such higher approval threshold as may be required under Cayman Islands law and pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In accordance with our amended memorandum and articles of association, shareholders representing at least one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, present in person or by proxy, will constitute a quorum. In such case, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination. Assuming that only one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, are voted, we will not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have an initial business combination approved. Each public shareholder may elect to redeem their public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction or vote at all. In addition, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of a business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares.

If we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association:


 

conduct the redemptions pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, which regulate issuer tender offers; and

 

file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act, which regulates the solicitation of proxies.

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Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, if we elect to conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, we and our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase Class A ordinary shares in the open market, in order to comply with Rule 14e-5 under the Exchange Act.

In the event we conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, our offer to redeem will remain open for at least 20 business days, in accordance with Rule 14e-1(a) under the Exchange Act, and we will not be permitted to complete our initial business combination until the expiration of the tender offer period. In addition, the tender offer will be conditioned on public shareholders not tendering more than the number of public shares we are permitted to redeem. If public shareholders tender more shares than we have offered to purchase, we will withdraw the tender offer and not complete such initial business combination.

Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of Our Initial Business Combination If We Seek Shareholder Approval

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. We believe this restriction will discourage shareholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed business combination as a means to force us or our management to purchase their shares at a significant premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. Absent this provision, a public shareholder holding more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering could threaten to exercise its redemption rights if such holder’s shares are not purchased by us, our sponsor or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our shareholders’ ability to redeem no more than 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering without our prior consent, we believe we will limit the ability of a small group of shareholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with a business combination with a target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. However, such a restriction does not affect our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights

Public shareholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” will be required to either tender their certificates (if any) to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, mailed to such holders, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using The Depository Trust Company’s DWAC (Deposit/ Withdrawal At Custodian) System, at the holder’s option, in each case up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote to approve the business combination. The proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate the applicable delivery requirements, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. Accordingly, a public shareholder would have from the time we send out our tender offer materials until the close of the tender offer period, or up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination if we distribute proxy materials, as applicable, to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short period in which to exercise redemption rights, it is advisable for shareholders to use electronic delivery of their public shares.

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 a fee of approximately $80.00 and it would be up to the broker whether or not to pass this cost on to the redeeming holder. However, this fee would be incurred regardless of whether or not we require holders seeking to exercise redemption rights to tender their shares. The need to deliver shares is a requirement of exercising redemption rights regardless of the timing of when such delivery must be effectuated.

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The foregoing is different from the procedures used by many blank check companies. In order to perfect redemption rights in connection with their business combinations, many blank check companies would distribute proxy materials for the shareholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the business combination was approved, the company would contact such shareholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the shareholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s shares in the market. If the price rose above the redemption price, he or she could sell his or her shares in the open market before actually delivering his or her shares to the company for cancellation. As a result, the redemption rights, to which shareholders were aware they needed to commit before the shareholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming shareholder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to two business days prior to the initially scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the business combination, unless otherwise agreed to by us. Furthermore, if a holder of a public share delivered its certificate in connection with an election of redemption rights and subsequently decides prior to the applicable date not to elect to exercise such rights, such holder may simply request that the transfer agent return the certificate (physically or electronically). It is anticipated that the funds to be distributed to holders of our public shares electing to redeem their shares will be distributed promptly after the completion of our initial business combination.

If our initial business combination is not approved or completed for any reason, then our public shareholders who elected to exercise their redemption rights would not be entitled to redeem their shares for the applicable pro rata share of the trust account. In such case, we will promptly return any certificates delivered by public holders who elected to redeem their shares.

If our initial proposed business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete a business combination with a different target until 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination).

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation If No Initial Business Combination

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that we have only 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) to consummate an initial business combination. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares (in a redemption that will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any)) at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, less up to $100,000 of interest to pay winding up and dissolution expenses (net of any taxes payable), divided by (B) the number of the then-outstanding public shares; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination).

Our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares they hold if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame).

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Our sponsor, officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. However, we may not redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our business combination and after payment of underwriter fees and commissions (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). If this optional redemption right is exercised with respect to an excessive number of public shares such that we cannot satisfy the net tangible asset requirement, we would not proceed with the amendment or the related redemption of our public shares at such time. This redemption right shall apply in the event of the approval of any such amendment, whether proposed by our sponsor, any executive officer, director or director nominee, or any other person.

We expect that all costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, as well as payments to any creditors, will be funded from amounts remaining out of the $1,800,000 held outside the trust account plus up to $100,000 of interest funds from the trust account available to us to pay winding up and dissolution expenses (net of any taxes payable), although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, other than the proceeds deposited in the trust account, and without taking into account interest, if any, earned on the trust account, the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders upon our dissolution would be $10.20. The proceeds deposited in the trust account could, however, become subject to the claims of our creditors which would have higher priority than the claims of our public shareholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by shareholders will not be less than $10.20. While we intend to pay such amounts, if any, we cannot assure you that we will have funds sufficient to pay or provide for all creditors’ claims.

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Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, there is no guarantee that they will execute such agreements or even if they execute such agreements that they would be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account including, but not limited, to fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. Seeking such waivers from third parties, including prospective business combination targets, may deter such parties from entering into agreements with us. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third-party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. Neither of the underwriters will execute an agreement with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account. 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. In order to protect the amounts held in the trust account, our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to us (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment may choose not to do so in any particular instance. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that due to claims of creditors the actual value of the per-share redemption price will not be less than $10.20 per public share.

We will seek to reduce the possibility that our sponsor will have to indemnify the trust account due to claims of creditors by endeavoring to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses or other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to monies held in the trust account. Our sponsor will also not be liable as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. We have access to up to $1,800,000 following our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants with which to pay any such potential claims (including costs and expenses incurred in connection with our liquidation, currently estimated to be no more than approximately $100,000) and any taxes payable. In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, shareholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors, however such liability will not be greater than the amount of funds from our trust account received by any such shareholder.

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If we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.20 per public share to our public shareholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, and thereby exposing itself and our company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons.

Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only (i) in the event of the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), (ii) in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, or (iii) if they redeem their respective shares for cash upon the completion of the initial business combination. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or upon liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a shareholder have any right or interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a shareholder’s voting in connection with the business combination alone will not result in a shareholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such shareholder must have also exercised its redemption rights described above. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote.

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, public companies and operating businesses seeking strategic 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. 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 pay cash in connection with our public shareholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by certain target businesses. Either of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating an initial business combination.

Facilities

We currently maintain our executive offices at 5956 Sherry Lane, Suite 1400, Dallas, Texas 75225. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, administrative and support services (which is accrued in “Due to related party”). We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Employees

We currently have two executive officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but intend to devote as much time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they will devote in any time period will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the stage of the business combination process we are in. We do not intend to have any full time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.

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Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

We have filed a Registration Statement on Form 8-A with the SEC to voluntarily register our securities under Section 12 of the Exchange Act. As a result, we are subject to the rules and regulations promulgated under the Exchange Act and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants. We have no current intention of filing a Form 15 to suspend our reporting or other obligations under the Exchange Act prior or subsequent to the consummation of our initial business combination.

We will provide shareholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, sent to shareholders. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), or International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential acquisition candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with the requirements outlined above, or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential acquisition candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We are required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We are not required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. A target business may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

We are a Cayman Islands exempted company. Exempted companies are Cayman Islands companies conducting business mainly outside the Cayman Islands and, as such, are exempted from complying with certain provisions of the Companies Act (as amended) of the Cayman Islands as the same may be amended from time to time (the “Companies Act”). As an exempted company we have received a tax exemption undertaking from the Cayman Islands government that, in accordance with Section 6 of the Tax Concessions Act (as amended) of the Cayman Islands, for a period of 30 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations will apply to us or our operations and, in addition, that no tax to be levied on profits, income, gains or appreciations or which is in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax will be payable (i) on or in respect of our shares, debentures or other obligations or (ii) by way of the withholding in whole or in part of a payment of dividend or other distribution of income or capital by us to our shareholders or a payment of principal or interest or other sums due under a debenture or other obligation of us.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

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Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either, (1) if our annual revenues equaled or exceeded $100.0 million for the prior fiscal year, the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30th, or (2) if our annual revenues did not equal or exceed $100.0 million during the prior fiscal year, the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th. To the extent we take advantage of any reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison or our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Legal Proceedings

There is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.

ITEMItem 1A. RISK FACTORS.Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Searchthe Solar Industry

The solar energy industry is an emerging market which is constantly evolving and additional demand for Consummation of, or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination and Post-Business Combination Risks

Our shareholderssolar energy systems may not develop to the size or at the rate we expect.

The solar energy industry is an emerging and constantly evolving market opportunity. We believe the solar energy industry is still developing and maturing, and we cannot be afforded an opportunitycertain that additional demand for solar energy systems will grow to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which meansthe size or at the rate we may complete our initial business combination even though a majorityexpect. Any future growth of the solar energy market and the success of our shareholders dosolar service offerings depend on many factors beyond our control, including recognition and acceptance of the solar service market by consumers, the pricing of alternative sources of energy, a favorable regulatory environment, the continuation of expected tax benefits and other incentives, and our ability to provide our solar service offerings cost effectively. If additional demand for solar energy systems does not support such a combination.

Wedevelop to the size or at the rate we expect, our business may choose notbe adversely affected.

Solar energy has yet to hold a shareholder vote before we complete our initial business combination if the business combination would not require shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were payingachieve broad market acceptance and depends in part on continued support in the transaction wasform of rebates, tax credits, and other incentives from federal, state and local governments or utilities. If support diminishes materially for solar policy related to rebates, tax credits and other incentives, demand for our products and services may decrease and our ability to obtain external financing on acceptable terms, or at all, cash, we would typically notcould be requiredmaterially adversely affected. These types of funding limitations could lead to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. Except as required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements,inadequate financing support for the decision as to whether we will seek shareholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow shareholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solelyanticipated growth in our discretion,business. Furthermore, growth in residential solar energy depends in part on macroeconomic conditions, retail prices of electricity and will be based oncustomer preferences, each of which can change quickly. Declining macroeconomic conditions, including in the job markets and residential real estate markets, could contribute to instability and uncertainty among customers and impact their financial wherewithal, credit scores or interest in entering into long-term contracts, even if such contracts would generate immediate and/or long-term savings.

Furthermore, market prices of retail electricity generated by utilities or other energy sources could decline for a variety of reasons, as discussed further below. Any such declines in macroeconomic conditions, changes in retail prices of electricity or changes in customer preferences would adversely impact our business.

At the international level, the United Nations-sponsored Paris Agreement requires member states, including the United States, to submit non -binding, individually-determined greenhouse gas reduction goals known as “Nationally Determined Contributions” every five years after 2020. President Biden has committed the United States to a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030, a target consistent with the Paris Agreement’s goal of “net-zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. “Net zero” means that the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere are balanced by an equal amount of greenhouse gases being removed from the atmosphere. Achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will require an unprecedented transformation of American energy systems and the adoption of a wide variety of clean energy, storage, and home electrification solutions. Our successful deployment of such products will depend on several factors such asoutside our control, including shifting market conditions and policy frameworks. Our failure to adapt to changing market conditions, to compete successfully with existing or new competitors, and to adopt new or enhanced offerings could limit our growth and have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects. Further, additional international agreements or any legislation, regulation, or executive action within the timingU.S. addressing climate change, including any climate-related disclosure requirements and legislation or regulation intended to support the goals of the transaction and whetherParis Agreement, may in the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek shareholder approval. Accordingly, we may complete our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares do not approve of the business combination we complete.

Please see the section entitled “Item 1. Business—Shareholders May Not Have the Ability to Approve Our Initial Business Combination” for additional information.

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash.

At the time of your investmentfuture result in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of any target businesses. If our board of directors determines to complete a business combination without seeking shareholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forthincreases in our tender offer documents mailed to our public shareholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our initial shareholderscompliance costs and members of our management team have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public shareholders vote.

Our initial shareholders own a significant portion of our outstanding ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders and members of our management team also may from time to time purchase Class A ordinary shares prior to our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, if we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution or such higher approval threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands law and pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. A quorum for such meeting will be presentother operating costs. Finally, if the holders of one third of issued and outstanding shares entitledUnited States were to vote atexit the meeting are represented in person or by proxy.Assuming that only one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, are voted, we will not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have an initial business combination approved.

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Accordingly, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination,Paris Agreement, support from the agreement by our initial shareholders and each member of our management team to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite shareholder approval for such initial business combination.

The ability of our public shareholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential business combination targets, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public shareholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing conditionU.S. government and, as a result, wouldconsumer demand, may decrease.

We face competition from electric utilities, retail electric providers, independent power producers, renewable energy companies and other market participants.

The solar energy and renewable energy industries are both highly competitive and continually evolving as participants strive to distinguish themselves within their markets and compete with large electric utilities. We believe our primary competitors are the electric utilities that supply electricity to our potential customers. We compete with these electric utilities primarily based on price (cents per kWh), predictability of future prices (by providing pre-determined annual price escalations) and the ease by which customers can switch to electricity generated by our solar energy systems. We may also compete based on other value-added benefits, such as reliability and carbon-friendly power. If we cannot offer compelling value to our customers based on these factors, our business may not grow.

Electric utilities generally have substantially greater financial, technical, operational and other resources than we do. As a result, these competitors may be able to proceed with the business combination. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payabledevote more resources to the underwriters willresearch, development, promotion and sale of their products or services or respond more quickly to evolving industry standards and changes in market conditions than we can. Electric utilities could also offer other value-added products or services that could help them to compete with us even if the cost of electricity they offer is higher than ours. In addition, a majority of utilities’ sources of electricity is non-solar, which may allow utilities to sell electricity more cheaply than electricity generated by our solar energy systems. Electric utilities could also offer customers the option of purchasing electricity obtained from renewable energy resources, including solar, which would compete with our offerings. Moreover, regulated utilities are increasingly seeking approval to “rate-base” their own solar energy system and energy storage system businesses. Rate-basing means that utilities would receive guaranteed rates of return for their solar energy system and energy storage system businesses. This is already commonplace for utility-scale solar projects and commercial solar projects. While few utilities to date have received regulatory permission to rate-base residential solar energy systems or energy storage systems, our competitiveness would be significantly harmed should more utilities receive such permission because we do not be adjustedreceive guaranteed profits for any shares that are redeemed in connectionour solar service offerings.


We also compete with a business combinationretail electric providers and such amount of deferred underwriting commission isindependent power producers not available for usregulated like electric utilities but which have access to use as consideration in an initial business combination. If wethe utilities’ electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure pursuant to state, territorial and local pro-competition and consumer choice policies. These retail electric providers and independent power producers are able to consummate an initialoffer customers electricity supply-only solutions that are competitive with our solar energy system options on both price and usage of renewable energy technology while avoiding the physical installations our current business combination, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming shareholders will reflect our obligation to pay and the payment of the deferred underwriting commissions. Furthermore, in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our business combination and after payment of underwriter fees and commissions (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

The ability of our public shareholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, and therefore will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If a large number of shares are submitted for redemption, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for additional third-party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerationsmodel requires. This may limit our ability to complete the most desirableacquire new customers, particularly those who have an aesthetic or other objection to putting solar panels on their roofs.

We also compete with solar companies with vertically integrated business combination availablemodels like our own. For example, some of our competitors offer their own consumer financing products to us customers and/or optimize our capital structure. The amountproduce one or more components of the deferred underwriting commission payablesolar energy system or energy storage system. In addition to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any sharesfinancing and manufacturing, some other business models also include sales, engineering, installation, maintenance and monitoring services. Many of our vertically integrated competitors are larger than we are and offer certain vertical services that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to shareholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commission and after such redemptions, the amount held in trust will continue to reflect our obligation to pay the entire deferred underwriting commissions.

On January 18, 2023, in connection with the Extension Proposal, holders of 24,703,445 Class A ordinary shares of ESGEN properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.35 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $255,875,757.do not. As a result, approximately $30 million remainedthese competitors may be able to devote more resources to the research, development, promotion and sale of their products or services or respond more quickly to evolving industry standards and changes in market conditions than we can. Solar companies with vertically integrated business models could also offer other value-added products or services that could help them to compete with us. Larger competitors may also be able to access financing at a lower cost of capital than we are able to obtain.

In addition, we compete with other residential solar companies who sell or finance products directly to consumers, inclusive of programs like Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing programs established by local governments. For example, we face competition from solar installation businesses that seek financing from external parties or utilize competitive loan products or state and local programs.

We also compete with solar companies that are marketed to potential customers by dealers, and we may also face competition from new entrants into the market as a result of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) and its anticipated impacts and benefits to the solar industry. Some of these competitors specialize in the Company’s trust accountdistributed solar energy market and 2,896,555 Class A ordinary shares remained outstanding immediately after the redemption.

The abilitysome may provide energy at lower costs than we do. Some of our public shareholderscompetitors offer or may offer similar services and products as we do, such as direct outright sales of solar energy systems. Many of our competitors also have significant brand name recognition, lower barriers to exercise redemption rightsentry into the solar market, greater capital resources than we have and extensive knowledge of our target markets. In addition, some of our competitors have an established business of providing construction, electrical contracting, or roofing services.

We also compete with respectcommunity solar products offered by solar companies or sponsored by local governments and municipal power companies, as well as utility companies that provide renewable power purchase programs. Some customers might choose to subscribe to a large numbercommunity solar project or renewable subscriber programs instead of having a solar energy system installed on their home or business, which could affect our shares could increase the probabilitysales. Additionally, some utility companies (and some utility-like entities, such as community choice aggregators) have generation portfolios that our initial business combination wouldare increasingly renewable in nature. As utility companies offer increasingly renewable portfolios to retail customers, those customers might be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your shares.

If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires usless inclined to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability thatsolar energy system installed on their home or business, which could adversely affect our initial business combination would be unsuccessfulgrowth.

We have historically provided our services only to residential customers, but we may expand to other markets, including commercial and industrial customers. There is increased. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the fundsintense competition in the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your sharessolar energy sector in the open market; however, at such time our shares may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your shares in the open market.

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The requirement that we consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we havemarkets in which we operate and the markets into which we may expand. As new entrants continue to conduct due diligence on potential business combination targets, in particularenter into these markets, and as we approach our initial business combination deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our shareholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination). Additionally, our sponsor is under no obligation to fund any monies necessary to extend the duration of the trust account. Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business,new markets, we may be unable to completegrow or maintain our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the time frame described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation.

The requirement that the target business or businesses that we acquire must collectively have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets in the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination may limit the type and number of companies with which we may complete such a business combination.

Pursuant to Nasdaq listing rules, the target business or businesses that we acquire must collectively have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the value of the assets in the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination. This restriction may limit the type and number of companies that we may complete a business combination with. If we are unable to locate a target business or businesses that satisfy this net assets test, we may be forced to liquidate and you will only be entitled to receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account, which may be less than $10.20 per Class A ordinary share.

Our ability to consummate a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and the status of debt and equity markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted global commercial activity and supply chain operations and has contributed to significant volatility in the equity and debt markets. The business of any potential target business with which we consummate a business combination could be materially and adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many countries, including the United States and states and municipalities in which we may operate, have issued (and may re-issue) orders requiring the closure of, or certain restrictions on the operation of, certain businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic and preventative measures taken to contain or mitigate its spread have caused, and may continue to cause, business shutdowns or the re-introduction of business shutdowns, cancellations of events and restrictions on travel, significant reductions in demand for certain goods and services, reductions in business activity and financial transactions, supply chain interruptions and overall economic and financial market instability both globally and in the United States. While many of the initial restrictions have been lifted, the risk of future COVID-19 outbreaks remains and restrictions have been or may continue to be reimposed to mitigate risks to public health both in the United States and globally. Moreover, even where restrictions are and remain lifted, certain groups of people may continue to self-isolate and not participate in the economy at pre-pandemic levels for a prolonged period of time, potentially further delaying global economic recovery. We may be unable to completecompete with companies that have already established themselves in both the residential market and non-residential market.

As the solar industry grows and evolves, we will also face new competitors and technologies who are not currently in the market (including those resulting from the consolidation of existing competitors). Our industry is characterized by low technological barriers to entry, and well-capitalized companies, including utilities and integrated energy companies, could choose to enter the market and compete with us. Our failure to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with existing or new competitors will limit our growth and will have a material adverse effect on our business, combination if continued concerns relating to COVID-19 restrict travel, limitfinancial condition and results of operations.


A material reduction in the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. We are continuing to monitor the impactretail price of COVID-19 and related risks, including risks related to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 (including new variants) and efforts to mitigate the spread and deployment of vaccines. If the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including COVID-19 variants, remain uncertain and the disruptions posedelectricity charged by COVID-19electric utilities or other mattersretail electricity providers would harm our business, financial condition and results of global concern continue for an extensive periodoperations.

Decreases in the retail price of time,electricity from electric utilities or from other retail electric providers, including other renewable energy sources such as larger-scale solar energy systems, could make our abilityofferings less economically attractive. The price of electricity from utilities could decrease as a result of:

the construction of a significant number of new power generation plants, whether generated by natural gas, nuclear power, coal or renewable energy;

the construction of additional electric transmission and distribution lines;

a reduction in the price of natural gas or other natural resources as a result of increased supply due to new drilling techniques or other technological developments, a relaxation of associated regulatory standards or broader economic or policy developments;

less demand for electricity due to energy conservation technologies and public initiatives to reduce electricity consumption or to recessionary economic conditions; and

development of competing energy technologies that provide less expensive energy.

A reduction in electric utilities’ rates or changes to consummate a business combination,peak hour pricing policies or rate design (such as the operationsadoption of a target businessfixed or flat rate) could also make our offerings less competitive with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent on our ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events.

As the numberprice of special purpose acquisition companies evaluating targets increases, attractive targets may become scarcer and there may be more competition for attractive targets. This could increaseelectricity from the electrical grid. If the cost of energy available from electric utilities or other providers were to decrease relative to solar energy generated from solar energy systems or if similar events impacting the economics of our initial business combinationofferings were to occur, we may have difficulty attracting new customers. For example, large utilities in some states have started transitioning customers to time-of-use rates and could even result in our inability to findalso have adopted a target or to consummate an initial business combination.

In recent years, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many potential targets for special purpose acquisition companies have already entered into an initial business combination, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies preparing for an initial public offering, as well as many such companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available to consummate an initial business combination.

In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause targets companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, or increasesshift in the cost of additional capital neededpeak period for time-of-use rates to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find and consummate an initial business combination, and may result in our inability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.

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We may not be able to consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate.

We may not be able to find a suitable target business and consummate an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination). Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatilitylater in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to grow both in the U.S. and globally and, while the extent of the impact of the outbreak on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including asday. Unless grandfathered under a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire. If we have not consummated an initial business combination within such applicable time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares (in a redemption that will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any)) at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to (A) the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, less up to $100,000 of interest to pay winding up and dissolution expenses (net of any taxes payable), divided by (B) the number of the then-outstanding public shares; and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In either such case, our public shareholders may receive only $10.20 per public share, or less than $10.20 per public share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “- If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors and their affiliates may elect to purchase public shares or warrants, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants.

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connectiondifferent rate, customers with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates may purchase public shares or warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination, although they are under no obligation to do so. However, they have no current commitments, plans or intentions to engage in such transactions and have not formulated any terms or conditions for any such transactions. None of the funds in the trust account will be used to purchase public shares or warrants in such transactions.

In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public shareholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights, such selling shareholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (1) vote in favor of the business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining shareholder approval of the business combination, (2) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination or (3) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met. Any such purchases of our securities may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible. In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our Class A ordinary shares or public warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchasers are subject to such reporting requirements. See “Proposed Business-Permitted Purchases and Other Transactions with Respect to Our Securities” for a description of how our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or their affiliates will select which shareholders to purchase securities from in any private transaction.

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If a shareholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the proxy rules or tender offer rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a shareholder fails to receive our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, such shareholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly redeem or tender public shares. In the event that a shareholder fails to comply with these procedures, its shares may not be redeemed. See “Proposed Business-Business Strategy-Effecting Our Initial Business Combination-Tendering Share Certificates in Connection with a Tender Offer or Redemption Rights.”

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there are numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, we are obligated to offer holders of our public shares the right to redeem their shares for cash at the time of our initial business combination in conjunction with a shareholder vote or via a tender offer. Target companies will be aware that this may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “- If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per public share” and other risk factors herein.

If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate for the 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and our ability to complete our initial business combination, and we will depend on loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team to fund our search and to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1,800,000 was available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account, together with funds available from loans from our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team will be sufficient to allow us to operate for at least the 18 months following the closing of our initial public offering; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate, and our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team are under no obligation to advance funds to us in such circumstances. Of the funds available to us, we may use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent where we paid for the right to negotiate exclusively from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.

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If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, its affiliates, members of our management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor their affiliates is under any obligation to us in such circumstances. Any such advances may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or members of our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. Consequently, our public shareholders may only receive an estimated $10.20 per public share, or possibly less, on our redemption of our public shares, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination, wesolar energy systems may be required to take write-downsservice under time-of-use rates with the later peak period. Moving utility customers to time-of-use rates or write-offs, restructuringthe shift in the timing of peak rates for utility-generated electricity to include times of day when solar energy generation is less efficient or non-operable could also make our offerings less competitive. Time-of-use rates could also result in higher costs for our customers whose electricity requirements are not fully met by our offerings during peak periods.

Sales and impairmentinstallation of solar energy systems depend heavily on suitable meteorological and environmental conditions. If meteorological or other charges that could haveenvironmental conditions are unexpectedly unfavorable, the electricity production from our solar service offerings may be below our expectations, and our ability to timely deploy new systems may be adversely impacted.

The energy produced and revenue and cash flows generated by a significant negative effectsolar energy system depend on suitable solar and weather conditions, both of which are beyond our financial condition, results of operations and the pricecontrol. Furthermore, components of our securities, whichsystems, such as panels and inverters, could cause yoube damaged by severe weather or natural catastrophes, such as hailstorms, tornadoes, fires, or earthquakes. Homeowner insurance or homeowners generally bear the expense of repairing weather-related damage to lose somesolar energy systems. However, in these circumstances, we make our install teams available to remove, repair and reinstall the systems. Sustained unfavorable weather or all of your investment.

Even if we conduct extensive due diligence on a target business with which we combine, we cannot assure you that this diligence will identify all material issues with a particular target business, that it would be possible to uncover all material issues through a customary amount of due diligence, or that factors outside ofenvironmental conditions also could unexpectedly delay the target business and outsideinstallation of our control will not later arise. As a result of these factors, we may be forcedsolar energy systems, leading to later write-down or write-off assets, restructure our operations, or incur impairment or other chargesincreased expenses and decreased revenue and cash flows in the relevant periods. Extreme weather conditions, including those associated with climate change, as well as the natural catastrophes that could result from such conditions, can severely impact our operations by delaying the installation of our systems, lowering sales, and causing a decrease in the output from our reporting losses. Even ifsystems due to smoke or haze. Weather patterns could change, making it harder to predict the average annual amount of sunlight striking each location where our due diligence successfully identifies certain risks, unexpected risks may arisesolar energy systems are installed. This could make our solar service offerings less economical overall or make individual systems less economical. Our economic model and previously known risks may materialize in a manner not consistent with our preliminary risk analysis. Even though these charges may be non-cash items and not have an immediate impactprojected returns on our liquidity,solar energy systems require achievement of certain production results from our systems and, in some cases, we guarantee these results to our consumers. If the fact thatsolar energy systems underperform for any reason, our business could suffer. Any of these events or conditions could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.


Climate change may have long-term impacts on our business, our industry, and the global economy.

Climate change poses a systemic threat to the global economy, and we report chargesbelieve it will continue to do so until our society transitions to renewable energy and decarbonizes. While our core business model seeks to accelerate this transition to renewable energy, there are inherent climate-related risks to our business operations. Warming temperatures throughout the United States, including Florida, our biggest market, have contributed to extreme weather, intense drought, and increased wildfire risks. These events have the potential to disrupt our business, the operations of this nature could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities. In addition, charges of this naturethird-party suppliers, and our customers, and may cause us to violate net worthincur additional operational costs. For instance, natural disasters and extreme weather events associated with climate change can impact our operations by delaying the installation of our systems, leading to increased expenses and decreased revenue and cash flows. They can also cause a decrease in the output from our systems due to smoke or other covenantshaze. Additionally, if weather patterns significantly shift due to which weclimate change, it may be subject as a resultharder to predict the average annual amount of assuming pre-existing debt held by a target business or by virtue ofsunlight striking each location where our obtaining post-combination debt financing. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combinationsolar energy systems are installed and energy output from our systems could suffer a reductionbe reduced in the valueshort-term or long-term in certain areas. This could make our solar service offerings less economical overall, make individual systems less economical, or reduce demand for our products, as well as damage our reputation to the extent energy generation from our products does not meet customer expectations. For more information regarding risks posed by meteorological conditions, see “— Sales and installation of their securities. Such holderssolar energy systems depend heavily on suitable meteorological and environmental conditions. If meteorological or environmental conditions are unlikelyunexpectedly unfavorable, the electricity production from our solar service offerings may be below our expectations, and our ability to have a remedy for such reduction in value.timely deploy new systems may be adversely impacted.

If we have not consummated an initial

Our business combination within 18 monthshas benefited from the closingdeclining cost of our initial public (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), our public shareholderssolar energy system and energy storage system components and may be forced to wait beyond such 18 months (or up to 24 months, as applicable) before redemption from our trust account.

If we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), the proceeds then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, less up to $100,000 of interest to pay winding up and dissolution expenses (net of any taxes payable, will be used to fund the redemption of our public shares, as further described herein. Any redemption of public shareholders from the trust account will be effected automatically by function of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association prior to any voluntary winding up. If we are required to wind up, liquidate the trust account and distribute such amount therein, pro rata, to our public shareholders, as part of any liquidation process, such winding up, liquidation and distribution must comply with the applicable provisions of the Companies Act. In that case, investors may be forced to wait beyond 18 months (or up to 24 months, as applicable) from the closing of our initial public offering before the redemption proceeds of our trust account become available to them, and they receive the return of their pro rata portion of the proceeds from our trust account. We have no obligation to return funds to investors priorharmed to the date of their redemption or any liquidation unless, prior thereto, we consummate our initial business combination or amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and only then in cases where investors have sought to redeem their Class A ordinary shares. Only upon their redemption or any liquidation will public shareholders be entitled to distributions if we do not complete our initial business combination and do not amend certain provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.

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The warrants may become exercisable and redeemable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares, and you will not have any information regarding such other security at this time.

In certain situations, including if we are not the surviving entity in our initial business combination, the warrants may become exercisable for a security other than the Class A ordinary shares. As a result, if the surviving company redeems your warrants for securities pursuant to the warrant agreement, you may receive a security in a company of which you do not have information at this time. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, the surviving company will be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to register the issuance of the security underlying the warrants within 20 business days of the closing of an initial business combination.

The grant of registration rights to our initial shareholders 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 Class A ordinary shares.

Pursuant to an agreement entered into concurrently with the issuance and sale of the securities in our initial public offering, our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the Class A ordinary shares into which founder shares are convertible, the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such warrants. The registration rights will be exercisable with respect to the founder shares and the private placement warrants and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such private placement warrants. We will bearextent the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for tradingcomponents stabilizes or increases in the public marketfuture.

Our business has benefited from the declining cost of solar energy system and energy storage system components, and to the extent such costs stabilize, decline at a slower rate or increase, our future growth rate may have an adverse effect onbe negatively impacted. The declining cost of solar energy system and energy storage system components and the marketraw materials necessary to manufacture them has been a key driver in the price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition,solar energy systems and energy storage systems and customer adoption of solar energy. While historically solar energy system and energy storage system components and raw material prices have declined, the existencecost of the registration rightsthese components and raw materials have recently increased and may make our initial business combination more costly or difficultcontinue to conclude. This is because the shareholders 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 securities that is expected when the securities owned by our initial shareholders or their permitted transferees are registered for resale.

Additionally, pursuantfuture, and such products’ availability could decrease, due to a letter agreement with us, our initial shareholders, directorsvariety of factors, including growth in the solar energy system and officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earlier to occur of: (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination and (B) subsequent to our initial business combination (x) if the last reported sale price of shares of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizationsenergy storage system industries and the like)resulting increase in demand for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combinationsolar energy system and energy storage system components and the raw materials necessary to manufacture them, supply chain disruptions, tariff penalties, duties, and trade barriers, export regulations, regulatory or (y)contractual limitations, industry market requirements and industry standards, changes in technology, the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchangeloss of or changes in economic governmental incentives, inflation or other similar transaction that resultsfactors. An increase in allthe prices of solar energy system components and raw materials could slow our public shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Consequently, the founder shares may become transferable earlier than one year followinggrowth and cause our initial business combination if our Class A ordinary shares trade for a relatively small premium to the initial public offering price of $10.00 per share which may enhance the potential dilutive effect on holders of our public shares.

Because we are neither limited to evaluating a target business in a particular industry sector nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.

We may pursue business combination opportunities in any sector, except that we will not, under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherentto suffer. See “— Increases in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable businesscost or an entity lacking an established recordreduction in supply of salessolar energy system and energy storage system components due to tariffs or earnings, we may be affectedtrade restrictions imposed by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will ultimately prove to be more favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a business combination target. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

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We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries or sectors which may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise.

We will consider a business combination outside of our management’s area of expertise if a business combination target is presented to us and we determine that such candidate offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination target, we cannot assure you that we will adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our units will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors in our initial public offering than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination target. In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the areas of our management’s expertise, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation, and the information contained in this Report regarding the areas of our management’s expertise would not be relevant to an understanding of the business that we elect to acquire. As a result, our management may not be able to adequately ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of shareholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if shareholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain shareholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may engage one or more of our underwriters of our initial public offering or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, which may include acting as M&A advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that will be released from the trust account only upon a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us after our initial public offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

We may engage one or more of our underwriters of our initial public offering or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing M&A advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing transactions. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred underwriting commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters’ or their respective affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

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We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent accounting or investment banking firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view.

Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that the price we are paying is fair to our shareholders from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our shareholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our proxy solicitation or tender offer materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

We may issue additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares upon the conversion of the founder shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our shareholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 250,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, 25,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share. As of March 28, 2023, there were 247,103,445 and 18,100,000 authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares, respectively, available for issuance which amount does not take into account shares reserved for issuance upon exercise of outstanding warrants or shares issuable upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares, if any. The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof as described herein and in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. There are no preference shares issued and outstanding.

We may issue a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares or preference shares to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redeeming the warrants or upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions as set forth herein. However, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide, among other things, that prior to or in connection with our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote on any initial business combination or on any other proposal presented to shareholders prior to or in connection with the completion of an initial business combination. These provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, like all provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, may be amended with a shareholder vote. The issuance of additional ordinary or preference shares:

may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the Class B ordinary shares resulted in the issuance of Class A ordinary shares on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the Class B ordinary shares;

may subordinate the rights of holders of Class A ordinary shares if preference shares are issued with rights senior to those afforded our Class A ordinary shares;

could cause a change in control if a substantial number of Class A ordinary shares are issued, which could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;

may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the share ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;

may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A ordinary shares and/or warrants; and

may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.

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Unlike some other similarly structured blank check companies, our initial shareholders will receive additional Class A ordinary shares if we issue shares to consummate an initial business combination.

The founder shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account if we fail to consummate an initial business combination) at the time of our initial business combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all founder shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an as-converted basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of our initial public offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial business combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial business combination and any private placement warrants issued to our initial shareholders, any of their affiliates or any members of our management team upon conversion of working capital loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than one-to-one. This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial business combination.

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate 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 we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

Transactions in connection with or in anticipation of our initial business combination and our structure thereafter may not be tax-efficient to our shareholders and warrantholders. As a result of our business combination, our tax obligations may be more complex, burdensome and uncertain.

Although we will attempt to structure transactions in connection with our initial business combination in a tax-efficient manner, tax structuring considerations are complex, the relevant facts and law are uncertain and may change, and we may prioritize commercial and other considerations over tax considerations. For example, in anticipation of or as a result of our initial business combination and subject to requisite shareholder approval under the Companies Act, we may enter into one or more transactions that require shareholders and/or warrant holders to recognize gain or income for tax purposes or otherwise increase their tax burden. We do not intend to make any cash distributions to shareholders or warrant holders to pay taxes in connection with our business combination or thereafter. Accordingly, a shareholder or a warrant holder may be required to satisfy any liability resulting from any such transactions with cash from its own funds or by selling all or a portion of such holder’s shares or warrants.

Furthermore, we may effect a business combination with a target company that has business operations outside of the Cayman Islands and, possibly, business operations in multiple jurisdictions, and we may reincorporate in a different jurisdiction in connection therewith (including, but not limited to, the jurisdiction in which the target company or business is located). If we effect any such transaction, including such a conversion, we could be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in a number of jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Due to the complexity of tax obligations and filings in many jurisdictions, we may have a heightened risk related to audits or examinations by taxing authorities. This additional complexity and riskU.S. government could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitabilitybusiness, financial condition and financial condition. In addition, shareholders and warrantholdersresults of operations.


Risks Related to Operations

We may be subjectunable to additional income, withholding or other taxes with respectsustain our level of profitability in the future.

We may incur net losses as we increase our spending to their ownership of us after any such transaction.

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After our initial business combination, it is possible that a majorityfinance the expansion of our directorsoperations, expand our installation, engineering, administrative, sales and officersmarketing staffs, increase spending on our brand awareness and other sales and marketing initiatives, make significant investments to drive future growth in our business and implement internal systems and infrastructure to support our growth and operate as a publicly traded company. We do not know whether our revenue will live outsidegrow rapidly enough to absorb these costs and our limited operating history makes it difficult to assess the United States and allextent of our assets will be located outside the United States; therefore investors may not be able to enforce federal securities lawsthese expenses or their other legal rights.

It is possible that after our initial business combination, a majority of our directors and officers will reside outside of the United States and all of our assets will be located outside of the United States. As a result, it may be difficult, or in some cases not possible, for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights, to effect service of process upon all of our directors or officers or to enforce judgments of United States courts predicated upon civil liabilities and criminal penaltiesimpact on our directors and officers under United States laws.

We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors shareholders which may raise potential conflictsresults of interest.

In light of the involvement of our sponsors, officers and directors with other entities, we may decide to acquire one or more businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. Our directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities, including, without limitation, those described under “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest.” Our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Such entities may compete with us for business combination opportunities. Our sponsor, officers and directors are not currently aware of any specific opportunities for us to complete our initial business combination with any entities with which they are affiliated, and there have been no substantive discussions concerning a business combination with any such entity or entities. Although we will not be specifically focusing on, or targeting, any transaction with any affiliated entities, we would pursue such a transaction if we determined that such affiliated entity met our criteria and guidelines for a business combination as set forth in “Item 1. Business—Effecting Our Initial Business Combination—Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of Our Initial Business Combination” and such transaction was approved by a majority of our independent and disinterested directors. Despite our agreement to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions regarding the fairness to our company from a financial point of view of a business combination with one or more domestic or international businesses affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, potential conflicts of interest still may exist and, as a result, the terms of the business combination may not be as advantageous to our public shareholders as they would be absent any conflicts of interest.

Moreover, we may pursue an acquisition opportunity jointly with our sponsor, Energy Spectrum, one or more funds of Energy Spectrum and/or investors in funds of Energy Spectrum. Any such parties may co-invest with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the business combination by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity-linked securities. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

operations. Our ability to successfully effect our initial business combinationsustain profitability depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

growing our customer base;

reducing our operating costs by lowering our customer acquisition costs and optimizing our design and installation processes and supply chain logistics;

maintaining or further lowering our cost of capital;

reducing the cost of components for our solar service offerings;

growing and maintaining our sales network;

maintaining high levels of product quality, performance, and customer satisfaction; and

growing our direct-to-consumer business to scale.

Even if we do sustain profitability, we may be unable to be successful thereafter will be dependent uponachieve positive cash flows from operations in the effortsfuture.

Our growth depends in part on the success of our relationships with third parties such as our equipment suppliers, subcontractors and dealers, including dealers who market to customers and bring the resulting solar contracts to us for fulfillment.

A key personnel, some of whom may join us following our initial business combination. The loss of key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitabilitycomponent of our post-combination business.

Our abilitygrowth strategy is to successfully effectdevelop or expand our initial business combination is dependent upon the effortsrelationships with third parties, such as our equipment suppliers, subcontractors and dealers. A significant portion of our key personnel. The role ofbusiness depends on attracting and retaining new and existing sales dealers who market to customers and bring the resulting contracts to us for fulfillment. Negotiating relationships with subcontractors, dealers and other third parties, training such third parties, and monitoring them for compliance with our key personnel in the target business, however, cannot presently be ascertained. Although some of our key personnel may remain with the target business in senior management, director or advisory positions following our initial business combination, it is likely that some or all of the management of the target business will remain in place. While we intend to closely scrutinize any individuals we engage after our initial business combination, we cannot assure you that our assessment of these individuals will prove to be correct. These individuals may be unfamiliar with the requirements of operating a company regulated by the SEC, which could cause us to have to expendstandards require significant time and resources helping them become familiarand may present greater risks and challenges than expanding our direct sales and installation team. If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with such requirements.

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Our key personnel may negotiate employment or consulting agreements with a targetthese third parties, our ability to grow our business in connection with a particular business combination, and a particular business combination mayaddress our market opportunity could be conditioned on the retention or resignation of such key personnel. These agreements may provide for them to receive compensation following our initial business combination and as a result, may cause them to have conflicts of interest in determining whether a particular business combination is the most advantageous.

Our key personnel may be able to remain with our company after the completion of our initial business combination onlyimpaired. Even if theywe are able to negotiate employment or consulting agreements in connection with the business combination. Such negotiations would take place simultaneously with the negotiation of the business combinationestablish and could provide for such individuals to receive compensation in the form of cash payments and/or our securities for services they would render to us after the completion of the business combination. Such negotiations also could make such key personnel’s retention or resignation a condition to any such agreement. The personal and financial interests of such individuals may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business. In addition, our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.

We may have a limited ability to assess the management of a prospective target business and, as a result, may affect our initial business combination with a target business whose management may not have the skills, qualifications or abilities to manage a public company.

When evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with a prospective target business, our ability to assess the target business’s management may be limited due to a lack of time, resources or information. Our assessment of the capabilities of the target business’s management, therefore, may prove to be incorrect and such management may lack the skills, qualifications or abilities we suspected. Should the target business’s management not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to manage a public company, the operations and profitability of the post-combination business may be negatively impacted. Accordingly, any holders who choose to retain their securities following the business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

The officers and directors of an acquisition candidate may resign upon completion of our initial business combination. The loss of a business combination target’s key personnel could negatively impact the operations and profitability of our post-combination business.

The role of an acquisition candidate’s key personnel upon the completion of our initial business combination cannot be ascertained at this time. Although we contemplate that certain members of an acquisition candidate’s management team will remain associated with the acquisition candidate following our initial business combination, it is possible that members of the management of an acquisition candidate will not wish to remain in place.

We may only be able to complete one business combination with the proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, which will cause us to be solely dependent on a single business which may have a limited number of products or services. This lack of diversification may negatively impact our operations and profitability.

The net proceeds from our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants was $281,520,000 that we may use to complete our initial business combination (after taking into account the $9,660,000 of deferred underwriting commissions being held in the trust account and the estimated non-reimbursed expenses of our initial public offering). As of December 31, 2022, $285,506,568 was available to complete our initial Business Combination.

We may effectuate our initial business combination with a single-target business or multiple-target businesses simultaneously or within a short period of time. However,maintain these relationships, we may not be able to effectuateexecute our initialgoal of leveraging these relationships to meaningfully expand our business, combination with more than one target business because of various factors, including the existence of complex accounting issuesbrand recognition and the requirement that we preparecustomer base. This would limit our growth potential 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. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may subject usopportunities to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory developments. Further, we would not be able to diversify our operationsgenerate significant additional revenue or benefit from the possible spreading of risks or offsetting of losses, unlike other entities which may have the resources to complete several business combinations in different industries or different areas of a single industry. Accordingly, the prospects for our success may be:cash flows.

 

solely dependent upon the performance of a single business, property or asset; or

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dependent uponDue to the development or market acceptance of a single or limited number of products, processessuppliers in our industry, the acquisition of any of these suppliers by a competitor or services.

This lackany shortage, delay, price change, imposition of diversification may subject us to numerous economic, competitive and regulatory risks, anytariffs or all of which may have a substantial adverse impact upon the particular industryduties or other limitation in which we may operate subsequent to our initial business combination.

We may attempt to simultaneously complete business combinations with multiple prospective targets, which may hinder our ability to completeobtain components or technologies we use could result in sales and installation delays, cancellations and loss of customers.

We purchase solar panels, inverters, energy storage systems and other system components and instruments from a limited number of suppliers, qualified and approved by our initial business combinationengineering and give risedesign teams, making us susceptible to increased costsquality issues, shortages and risksprice changes that could negatively impact our operationsmay occur in the supply chain. There are a limited number of suppliers of solar energy system components, instruments and profitability.

If we determine to simultaneously acquire several businesses that are owned by different sellers, we will need for each of such sellers to agree that our purchase of its business is contingent on the simultaneous closings of the other business combinations, which may make it more difficult for us,technologies, and delay our ability to completeobtain components or technologies we use could be affected by circumstances beyond our initial business combination. With multiple business combinations, we could also face additional risks, including additional burdens and costs with respect to possible multiple negotiations and due diligence (if there are multiple sellers) and the additional risks associated with the subsequent assimilation of the operations and services or products of the acquired companies in a single operating business. control, including:

Industry-wide shortages of key components and instruments, including batteries and inverters, in times of rapid industry growth. The manufacturing infrastructure for some of these components has a long lead-time, requires significant capital investment and relies on the continued availability of key commodity materials, potentially resulting in an inability to meet demand for these components. The solar industry is currently experiencing rapid growth and, as a result, shortages of key components or instruments, including solar panels, may be more likely to occur, which in turn may result in price increases for such components. Even if industry-wide shortages do not occur, suppliers may decide to allocate key components or instruments with high demand or insufficient production capacity to more profitable customers, customers with long-term supply agreements or customers other than us. As a result, our ability to originate solar energy systems and energy storage systems may be reduced.


Natural disasters and other events beyond our control (such as earthquakes, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, freezes, tsunamis, typhoons, volcanic eruptions, droughts, tornadoes, power outages or other natural disasters, the effects of climate change and related extreme weather, public health issues and pandemics, war, terrorism, government restrictions or limitations on trade, impediments to international shipping and geopolitical unrest and uncertainties).

Human rights and forced labor issues in foreign countries and the U.S. government’s response to them. In particular, the withhold release order issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in June 2021 applicable to certain silica-based products manufactured in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (“XUAR”) of China, and any other allegations regarding forced labor in China and U.S. trade regulations to prohibit the importation of any goods derived from forced labor, could affect our operations. Further, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”) that President Biden signed into law on December 23, 2021, which took effect on June 21, 2022, has affected and may continue to affect our supply chain and operations. Intensive examinations, withhold release orders, and related governmental procedures have resulted in supply chain and operational delays throughout the industry. These and other similar trade restrictions that may be imposed in the future could cause delivery and installation delays and restrict the global supply of polysilicon and solar products. While we believe the items described above have contributed to price increases for components that we purchase, we believe that these increases to the cost of our components were also due to a combination of other factors, including general supply chain issues resulting from COVID-19, other supply chain constraints, increased demand for solar systems in the U.S. and Europe, rising inflation, and higher labor, material, and shipping costs. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of price increases attributable to the tariffs and trade regulations described. For more information regarding UFLPA and risks related thereto, see “— Increases in the cost or reduction in supply of solar energy system and energy storage system components due to tariffs or trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. government could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Russia’s war on Ukraine. We do not materially rely directly or indirectly on goods or services sourced in Russia, Ukraine or Belarus, or have any material business relationships, connections to, or assets in, Russia, Belarus, or Ukraine. While we believe Russia’s war on Ukraine has contributed to price increases for components that we purchase, we believe that the increases to the cost of our components were also due to a combination of other factors, including general supply chain issues resulting from COVID-19, other supply chain constraints, tariffs and trade regulations, increased demand for solar systems in the U.S. and Europe, U.S. tariffs, rising inflation, and higher labor, material, and shipping costs. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of price increases attributable to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Disruptions to global shipping. Historically, we have relied on foreign suppliers and manufacturers for a number of solar energy system components, instruments and technologies that we purchase. Our success in the future may be dependent on our ability to import or transport such products from overseas vendors in a timely and cost-effective manner. We may rely heavily on third parties, including ocean carriers and truckers, both of which are experiencing disruptions, shortages and rate increases, in that process. The global shipping industry has experienced and may continue to experience ocean shipping disruptions, trucking shortages, increased ocean shipping rates and increased trucking and fuel costs. There has been and may in the future be a shortage of shipping capacity from China and other parts of Asia, among other regions, and as a result, our receipt of imported products may be disrupted or delayed. The shipping industry has also experienced issues with port congestion and pandemic-related port closures and ship diversions. The global shipping industry also experienced unprecedented increases in shipping rates from the trans-Pacific and other ocean carriers due to various factors, including limited availability of shipping capacity. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, we experienced periods of temporary delay in obtaining supplies. We believe these delays reduced the number of installations in comparison to what we would have been able to install without the delays. In 2023, we did not experience any appreciable delays in supply. We may find it necessary to rely on an increasingly expensive spot market and other alternative sources to make up any shortfall in shipping needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, see “— The COVID-19 pandemic, including its variants, has had, and it, along with other future pandemics, could continue to have an adverse impact on our business, operations, and the markets and communities in which we operate.”

If we are unable to adequately address these risks, it could negatively impact our profitability and results of operations.

We may attempt to complete our initial business combination withcannot obtain substitute materials or components on a private company about which little information is available, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

In pursuing our acquisition strategy, we may seek to effectuate our initial business combination with a privately held company. Very little public information generally exists about private companies, andtimely basis or on acceptable terms, we could be prevented from installing our solar energy systems within the time frames required to makein our decision on whether to pursue a potential initial business combination oncustomer contracts. Any such delays could increase our overall costs, reduce our profit, delay the basis of limited information, which may result in a business combination with a company that is not as profitable as we suspected, if at all.

Our management may not be able to maintain control of a target business after our initial business combination. Upon the loss of control of a target business, new management may not possess the skills, qualifications or abilities necessary to profitably operate such business.

We may structure our initial business combination so that the post-business combination company in which our public shareholders own shares will own less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-business combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficienttiming for us notsolar energy systems to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. We will not consider any transaction that does not meet such criteria. Even if the post-business combination company owns 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our shareholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interestplaced in the post-business combination company, depending on valuations ascribed to the targetservice and us in the business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new Class A ordinary shares, our shareholders immediately prior to such transaction could own less than a majority of our outstanding Class A ordinary shares subsequent to such transaction. In addition, other minority shareholders may subsequently combine their holdings resulting in a single person or group obtaining a larger share of the company’s shares than we initially acquired. Accordingly, this may make it more likely that our management will not be able to maintain control of the target business.

We may seek business combination opportunities with a high degree of complexity that require significant operational improvements, which could delay or prevent us from achieving our desired results.

We may seek business combination opportunities with large, highly complex companies that we believe would benefit from operational improvements. While we intend to implement such improvements, to the extent that our efforts are delayed or we are unable to achieve the desired improvements, the business combination may not be as successful as we anticipate.

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To the extent we complete our initial business combination with a large complex business or entity with a complex operating structure, we may also be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine, which could delay or prevent us from implementing our strategy. Although our management team will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business and its operations, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors until we complete our business combination. If we are not able to achieve our desired operational improvements, or the improvements take longer to implement than anticipated, we may not achieve the gains that we anticipate. Furthermore, some of these risks and complexities may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks and complexities will adversely impact a target business. Such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a smaller, less complex organization.

We do not have a specified maximum redemption threshold. The absence of such a redemption threshold may make it possible for us to complete our initial business combination with which a substantial majority of our shareholders do not agree.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association do not provide a specified maximum redemption threshold, except that in no event will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 upon consummation of our business combination and after payment of underwriter fees and commissions (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules). As a result, we may be able to complete our initial business combination even though a substantial majority of our public shareholders do not agree with the transaction and have redeemed their shares or, if we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, have entered into privately negotiated agreements to sell their shares to our sponsor, officers, directors, advisors or their affiliates. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all Class A ordinary shares that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the business combination or redeem any shares, all Class A ordinary shares submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof, and we instead may search for an alternate business combination.

In order to effectuate an initial business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and other governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. We cannot assure you that we will not seek to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or governing instruments in a manner that will make it easier for us to complete our initial business combination that our shareholders may not support.

In order to effectuate a business combination, blank check companies have, in the recent past, amended various provisions of their charters and governing instruments, including their warrant agreements. For example, blank check companies have amended the definition of business combination, increased redemption thresholds, extended the time to consummate an initial business combination and, with respect to their warrants, amended their warrant agreements to require the warrants to be exchanged for cash and/or other securities. Amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will require at least a special resolution of our shareholders as a matter of Cayman Islands law, and amending our warrant agreement will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the public warrants and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association require us to provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash if we propose an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. To the extent any of such amendments would be deemed to fundamentally change the nature of any of the securities offered through this registration statement, we would register, or seek an exemption from registration for, the affected securities.

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The provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that relate to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (and corresponding provisions of the agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account) may be amended with the approval of a special resolution under Cayman Islands Law, which is a lower amendment threshold than that of some other blank check companies. It may be easier for us, therefore, to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to facilitate the completion of an initial business combination that some of our shareholders may not support.

Some other blank check companies have a provision in their charter which prohibits the amendment of certain of its provisions, including those which relate to the rights of a company’s shareholders, without approval by a certain percentage of the company’s shareholders. In those companies, amendment of these provisions typically requires approval by between 90% and 100% of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that any of its provisions related to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares (including the requirement to deposit proceeds of our initial public offering and the private placement of warrants into the trust account and not release such amounts except in specified circumstances, and to provide redemption rights to public shareholders as described herein) may be amended if approved by special resolution under Cayman Islands law, and corresponding provisions of the trust agreement governing the release of funds from our trust account may be amended if approved by holders of at least 50% of our ordinary shares. Our initial shareholders and their permitted transferees, if any, who collectively beneficially own a significant portion of our Class A ordinary shares, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and/or trust agreement and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. As a result, we may be able to amend the provisions of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association which govern our pre-business combination behavior more easily than some other blank check companies, and this may increase our ability to complete a business combination of which you do not approve. Our shareholders may pursue remedies against us for any breach of our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.

Our initial shareholders, officers, directors and director nominees have agreed, pursuant to agreements with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their Class A ordinary shares upon approval of any such amendment at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our income taxes, if any, divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares. Our shareholders are not parties to, or third-party beneficiaries of, these agreements and, as a result, will not have the ability to pursue remedies against our initial shareholders, officers, directors or director nominees for any breach of these agreements. As a result, in the event of a breach, our shareholders would need to pursue a shareholder derivative action, subject to applicable law.

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We may be unable to obtain additional financing 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. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

Although we believe that the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants will be sufficient to allow us to complete our initial business combination, because we have not yet selected any prospective target business we cannot ascertain the capital requirements for any particular transaction. If the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants prove to be insufficient, either because of the size of our initial business combination, the depletion of the available net proceeds in search of a target business, the obligation to redeem for cash a significant number of shares from shareholders who elect redemption in connection with our initial business combination or the terms of negotiated transactions to purchase shares in connection with our initial business combination, we may be required to seek additional financing or to abandon the proposed business combination. We cannot assure you that such financing will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. The current economic environment may make it difficult for companies to obtain acquisition financing. To the extent that additional financing proves to be unavailable when needed to complete our initial business combination, we would be compelled to either restructure the transaction or abandon that particular business combination and seek an alternative target business candidate. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. In addition, even if we do not need additional financing to complete our initial business combination, we may require such financing to fund the operations or growth of the target business. The failure to secure additional financing couldultimately have a material adverse effect on the continued developmentour business, financial condition and results of operations.


We depend on a limited number of suppliers of solar energy system components and technologies to adequately meet demand for our solar energy systems. If we needed to identify alternative suppliers or growthto qualify alternative products on commercially reasonable terms, our ability to satisfy demand may be adversely affected.

Our primary supplier is Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc (d/b/a Greentech Renewables) (“Greentech”), from which we purchased approximately 98% of the target business. Noneequipment that we installed in 2023. If Greentech or one or more of our officers, directorsother suppliers we rely upon to meet anticipated demand (i) ceases or shareholdersreduces production due to its financial condition, acquisition by a competitor or otherwise, (ii) is requiredunable to provide any financingincrease production as industry demand increases, (iii) raises their prices to an extent that cannot be passed on to our customers without affecting demand or (iv) is otherwise unable to allocate sufficient production to us, in connection withit may be difficult to quickly identify alternative suppliers or afterto qualify alternative products on commercially reasonable terms. As a result, our initial business combination.

Because we must furnish our shareholders with target business financial statements, we may lose the ability to complete an otherwise advantageous initial business combinationsatisfy demand may be adversely affected.

Although we buy the majority of our equipment through Greentech, we believe that if our relationship with Greentech were terminated, we could readily obtain supplies from other distributors of the same or similar equipment, though in some prospective target businesses.

The federal proxy rules require that a proxy statementlocations replacement distributors may take some time to develop efficient logistics with respect to shipping equipment directly to job sites. This could result in additional costs and delays in acquiring and deploying our solar energy systems or energy storage systems.

Increased scrutiny of environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) matters could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and damage our reputation.

In recent years, companies across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny from a votevariety of stakeholders, including investor advocacy groups, proxy advisory firms, certain institutional investors and lenders, investment funds and other influential investors and rating agencies, related to their ESG and sustainability practices. If we do not adapt to or comply with investor or other stakeholder expectations and standards on ESG matters as they continue to evolve, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately or quickly enough to growing concern for ESG and sustainability issues, regardless of whether there is a regulatory or legal requirement to do so, we may suffer from reputational damage and our business, combination meeting certain financial significance tests include historicalcondition and/or pro forma financial statement disclosure in periodic reports. We will includestock price could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, organizations that provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings could lead to increased negative investor sentiment toward us and our industry and to the same financial statement disclosure in connection with our tender offer documents, whether or not they are required under the tender offer rules. These financial statements may be required to be prepared in accordance with, or be reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standardsdiversion of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential target businesses we may acquire because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame.

Risks Related to Our Sponsor and Management Team

Past performance by Energy Spectrum, our sponsor, our management team or their respective affiliates may not be indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

Information regarding past performance is presented for informational purposes only. Any past experience or performance of Energy Spectrum, our sponsor, our management team or their respective affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) our ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction or (ii) success with respect to any business combination that we may consummate. You should not rely on the historical record of Energy Spectrum, our sponsor, our management team or their respective affiliates as indicative of the future performance of an investment in us or the returns we will, or are likely to, generate going forward. Our management has no experience in operating special purpose acquisition companies.

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Our officers and directors will allocate their time to other businesses thereby causing conflicts of interest in their determination as to how much time to devote to our affairs. This conflict of interestindustries, which could have a negative impact on our ability to completestock price and our initial business combination.

Our officers and directors are not requiredaccess to and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflictcosts of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs. Our independent directors also serve as officers and board members for other entities. If our officers’ and directors’ other business affairs require them to devote substantial amounts of time to such affairs in excess of their current commitment levels, it could limit their ability to devote time to our affairs which may have a negative impact on our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have, additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including other blank check companies, and, accordingly, may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented.

Following the completion of our initial public offering and until we consummate our initial business combination, we intend to engage in the business of identifying and combining with one or more businesses or entities. Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have, additional fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including other blank check companies, pursuant to which such officer or director may be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to another entity prior to its presentation to us.

In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may become affiliated with other blank check companies that may have acquisition objectives that are similar to ours. Accordingly, they may have conflicts of interest in determining to which entity a particular business opportunity should be presented. These conflicts may not be resolved in our favor and a potential target business may be presented to such other blank check companies prior to its presentation to us. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we renounce any interest or expectancy in or in being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity: (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of our officers or directors acquires knowledge; or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to the company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.

For a complete discussion of our officers’ and directors’ business affiliations and the potential conflicts of interest that you should be aware of, please see “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” and “Item 13. Certain Relations and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.”

Our officers, directors, security holders and their respective affiliates may have competitive pecuniary interests that conflict with our interests.

We have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits our directors, officers, security holders or affiliates from having a direct or indirect pecuniary or financial interest in any investment to be acquired or disposed of by us or in any transaction to which we are a party or have an interest. In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or officers, although we do not intend to do so. Nor do we have a policy that expressly prohibits any such persons from engaging for their own account in business activities of the types conducted by us. Accordingly, such persons or entities may have a conflict between their interests and ours.

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The personal and financial interests of our directors and officers may influence their motivation in timely identifying and selecting a target business and completing a business combination. Consequently, our directors’ and officers’ discretion in identifying and selecting a suitable target business 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 best interests. If this were the case, it may be a breach of their fiduciary duties to us as a matter of Cayman Islands law and we might have a claim against such individuals. However, we might not ultimately be successful in any claim we may make against them for such reason.

In particular, Energy Spectrum and its affiliates also are focused on investments in the energy industry. As a result, there may be substantial overlap between companies that would be a suitable business combination for us and companies that would make an attractive target for such other affiliates.

We are dependent upon our officers and directors and their loss could adversely affect our ability to operate.

Our operations are dependent upon a relatively small group of individuals and, in particular, our officers and directors. We believe that our success depends on the continued service of our officers and directors, at least until we have completed our initial business combination. In addition, our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating their time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. We do not have an employment agreement with, or key-man insurance on the life of, any of our directors or officers. The unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our directors or officers could have a detrimental effect on us.

Since our sponsor, officers and directors will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed, and because our sponsor, officers and directors who have an interest in founder shares may profit substantially from a business combination even under circumstances where our public shareholders would experience losses in connection with their investment, a conflict of interest may arise in determining whether a particular business combination target is appropriate for our initial business combination.

The personal and financial interests of the holders of our founder shares and our officers and directors may influence their motivation in identifying and selecting a target business combination, completing an initial business combination and influencing the operation of the business following the initial business combination and may result in a misalignment of interests between the holders of our founder shares and our officers and directors, on the one hand, and our public shareholders, on the other. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at approximately $0.004 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public shareholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their Class A ordinary shares (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). For example, a holder of 1,000 founder shares would have paid approximately $3.50 to obtain such shares. At the time of an initial business combination, such holder would be able to convert such founder shares into 1,000 shares of our Class A ordinary shares, and would receive the same consideration in connection with our initial business combination as a public shareholder for the same number of shares of our Class A ordinary shares. If the value of the shares of our Class A ordinary shares on a post-combination basis (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination) were to decrease to $5.00 per share of our Class A ordinary shares, the holder of our founder shares would obtain a profit of $4,996 on account of the 1,000 founder shares that the holder had converted into Class A ordinary shares in connection with the initial business combination. By contrast, a public shareholder holding 1,000 Class A ordinary shares would lose approximately $5,000 in connection with the same transaction.

Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

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Certain of our officers and directors have direct and indirect economic interests in us and/or our sponsor after the consummation of our initial public offering and such interests may potentially conflict with those of our public shareholders as we evaluate and decide whether to recommend a potential business combination to our public shareholders.

Certain of our officers and directors may own membership interests in our sponsor and indirect interests in our Class B ordinary shares and private placement warrants which may result in interests that differ from the economic interests of the investors in our initial public offering, which includes making a determination of whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. There may be a potential conflict of interest between our officers and directors that hold membership interests in our sponsor and our public shareholders that may not be resolved in favor of our public shareholders. See “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest.”

Risks Related to Our Securities

You will not have any rights or interests in funds from the trust account, except under certain limited circumstances. Therefore, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

Our public shareholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earliest to occur of: (i) our completion of an initial business combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholder properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we have not consummated an initial business within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), subject to applicable law and as further described herein. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (ii) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the trust account upon the subsequent completion of an initial business combination or liquidation if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed. In no other circumstances will a public shareholder have any right or interest of any kind in the trust account. Holders of warrants will not have any right to the proceeds held in the trust account with respect to the warrants. Accordingly, to liquidate your investment, you may be forced to sell your public shares or warrants, potentially at a loss.

The Nasdaq may delist our securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

We were approved to have our units listed on the Nasdaq on the date of our initial public offering and our Class A ordinary shares and warrants on or promptly after their date of separation. Although after giving effect to our initial public offering we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the minimum initial listing standards set forth in the Nasdaq listing standards, we cannot assure you that our securities will be, or will continue to be, listed on the Nasdaq in the future or prior to our initial business combination. In order to continue listing our securities on the Nasdaq prior to our initial business combination, we must maintain certain financial, distribution and share price levels. Generally, we must maintain a minimum amount in shareholders’ equity (generally $2,000,000) and a minimum number of holders of our securities (generally 300 public holders).

Additionally, in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to demonstrate compliance with the Nasdaq initial listing requirements, which are more rigorous than the Nasdaq continued listing requirements, in order to continue to maintain the listing of our securities on the Nasdaq. For instance, our share price would generally be required to be at least $4.00 per share and we would be required to have a minimum of 400 round lot holders of our securities, with at least 50% of such round lot holders holding unrestricted securities with a market value of at least $2,500. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those listing requirements at that time.

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If the Nasdaq delists any of our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

capital.

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

reduced liquidity for our securities;

a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are listed on the Nasdaq, our units, Class A ordinary shares and warrants are covered securities under the statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. While we are not aware of a state having used these powers to prohibit or restrict the sale of securities issued by blank check companies, other than the State of Idaho, certain state securities regulators view blank check companies unfavorably and might use these powers, or threaten to use these powers, to hinder the sale of securities of blank check companies in their states. Further, if we were no longer listed on the Nasdaq, our securities would not qualify as covered securities under the statute and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

You are not entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

Since the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the United States securities laws. However, because we have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 after the completion of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means our units were immediately tradable and we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if our initial public offering were subject to Rule 419, that rule 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 completion of an initial business combination.

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of shareholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A ordinary shares.

If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, such restriction does not affect our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

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The securities in which we invest the funds held in the trust account could bear a negative rate of interest, which could reduce the value of the assets held in trust such that the per share redemption amount received by public shareholders may be less than $10.20 per share.

The funds in the trust account will be invested only in U.S. government treasury bills with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds that meet certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and that invest only in direct U.S. government obligations. While short-term U.S. government treasury bills currently yield a positive rate of interest, they have briefly yielded negative interest rates in recent years. Central banks in Europe and Japan pursued interest rates below zero in recent years, and the Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve has not ruled out the possibility that it may in the future adopt similar policies in the United States. In the event that we are unable to complete our initial business combination or make certain amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, our public shareholders are entitled to receive their pro-rata share of the proceeds held in the trust account, plus any interest income not released to us, net of taxes payable. Negative interest rates could impact the per share redemption amount that may be received by public shareholders.

Our shareholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.

If we are forced to enter into an insolvent liquidation, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed as an unlawful payment if it was proved that immediately following the date on which the distribution was made, we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business. As a result, a liquidator could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. Furthermore, our directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to us or our creditors and/or may have acted in bad faith, thereby exposing themselves and our company to claims, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors. We cannot assure you that claims will not be brought against us for these reasons. We and our directorssuppliers and officers who knowingly and willfully authorized or permitted any distribution to be paid out of our trust account while we were unable to pay our debts as they fall due in the ordinary course of business would be guilty of an offence and may be liable for a fine of approximately $18,000 and imprisonment for five years in the Cayman Islands.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by shareholders may be less than $10.20 per public share.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public shareholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements, they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. Seeking such waivers from third parties, including prospective business combination targets, may deter such parties from entering into agreements with us. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative.

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Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where management is unable to find a service provider willing to execute 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. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not consummated an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the ten years following redemption. Accordingly, due to claims of such creditors, the per-share redemption amount received by public shareholders could be less than the $10.20 per public share initially held in the trust account. Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account nor will it apply to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of our initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims.

However, we have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor have we independently verified whether our sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and we believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.20 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of (i) $10.20 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account if less than $10.20 per public share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest that may be withdrawn to pay our income tax obligations, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in any particular instance. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public shareholders may be reduced below $10.20 per public share.

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We may not have sufficient funds to satisfy indemnification claims of our directors and officers, or of our sponsor and its affiliates.

We have agreed to indemnify our officers and directors to the fullest extent permitted by law. Additionally, we have agreed under our administrative services agreement to indemnify our sponsor, Energy Spectrum and its affiliates in connection with any by claims by the company or a third party in respect of any investment opportunities sourced by them, any liability arising with respect to their activities in connection with our affairs, and that are provided without a separate written agreement between us and any such party. However, our officers and directors, sponsor and its affiliates have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account and to not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will be able to be satisfied by us only if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination. Our obligation to indemnify our officers and directors, sponsor, Energy Spectrum and their affiliates may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty, or against our sponsor, Energy Spectrum and their affiliates for activities in connection with our affairs. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, sponsor, Energy Spectrum and their affiliates even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by shareholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our shareholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages, by paying public shareholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our shareholders and the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public shareholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition 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 shareholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per-share amount that would otherwise be received by our shareholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.

In accordance with the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are required to hold an annual general meeting no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the Nasdaq. There is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to elect directors. Until we hold an annual general meeting, public shareholders may not be afforded the opportunity to discuss company affairs with management. Our board of directors is divided into three classes with only one class of directors being elected in each year and each class (except for those directors appointed prior to our first annual general meeting) serving a three-year term.

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Holders of Class A ordinary shares will not be entitled to vote on any election of directors we hold prior to our initial business combination.

Prior to our initial business combination, only holders of our founder shares will have the right to vote on the election and removal of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election and removal of directors during such time. Incumbent directors shall also have the ability to appoint additional directors or to appoint replacement directors in the event of a casual vacancy. Accordingly, you may not have any say in the management of our company prior to the consummation of an initial business combination.

Registration of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants under the Securities Act may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants except on a cashless basis. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of warrants is not registered, qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless.

We have agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of our initial business combination, we will use our commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement filed in connection with our initial public offering or file a new registration statement for the registration under the Securities Act of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and thereafter will use our commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days following our initial business combination and to maintain a current prospectus relating to the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. We cannot assure you that we will be able to do so if, for example, any facts or events arise which represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement or prospectus, the financial statements contained or incorporated by reference therein are not current or correct or the SEC issues a stop order. If the shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants are not registered under the Securities Act, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the issuance of the shares upon such exercise is registered or qualified under the securities laws of the state of the exercising holder, or an exemption from registration is available. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective within a specified period following the consummation of our initial business combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when we shall have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a cashless basis pursuant to the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, provided that such exemption is available. If that exemption, or another exemption, is not available, holders will not be able to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In no event will we be required to net cash settle any warrant, or issue securities or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that we are unable to register or qualify the shares underlying the warrants under applicable state securities laws and there is no exemption available. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified or exempt from registration or qualification, the holder of such warrant will not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. In such event, holders who acquired their warrants as part of a purchase of units will have paid the full unit purchase price solely for the Class A ordinary shares included in the units. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. There may be a circumstance where an exemption from registration exists for holders of our private placement warrants to exercise their warrants while a corresponding exemption does not exist for holders of the warrants included as part of units sold in our initial public offering. In such an instance, our initial shareholders and their respective transferees (which may include our directors and officers) would be able to sell the ordinary shares underlying their warrants while holders of our public warrants would not be able to exercise their warrants and sell the underlying ordinary shares. We will use our commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify such ordinary shares under the blue sky laws of the state of residence in those states in which the warrants were offered by us in our initial public offering. However, there may be instances in which holders of our public warrants may be unable to exercise such public warrants but holders of our private warrants may be able to exercise such private warrants.

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If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we may be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities may be restricted, which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities may be restricted, including:

restrictions on the nature of our investments; and

restrictions on the issuance of securities, each of which may make it difficult for us to complete our initial business combination.

In addition, we may have imposed upon us burdensome requirements, including:

registration as an investment company with the SEC;

adoption of a specific form of corporate structure; and

reporting, record keeping, voting, proxy and disclosure requirements and other rules and regulations that we are currently not subject to.

In order not to be regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, unless we can qualify for an exclusion, we must ensure that we are engaged primarily in a business other than investing, reinvesting or trading of securities and that our activities do not include investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading “investment securities” constituting more than 40% of our assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Our business is to identify and complete a business combination and thereafter to operate the post-transaction business or assets for the long term. We do not plan to buy businesses or assets with a view to resale or profit from their resale. We do not plan to buy unrelated businesses or assets or to be a passive investor.

We do not believe that our anticipated principal activities will subject us to the Investment Company Act. To this end, the proceeds held in the trust account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Pursuant to the trust agreement, the trustee is not permitted to invest in other securities or assets. By restricting the investment of the proceeds to these instruments, and by having a business plan targeted at acquiring and growing businesses for the long term (rather than on buying and selling businesses in the manner of a merchant bank or private equity fund), we intend to avoid being deemed an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act. Our initial public offering was not intended for persons who are seeking a return on investments in government securities or investment securities. The trust account is intended as a holding place for funds pending the earliest to occur of either: (i) the completion of our initial business combination; (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares; or (iii) absent our completing an initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination), our return of the funds held in the trust account to our public shareholders as part of our redemption of the public shares. If we do not invest the proceeds as discussed above, we may be deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act. If we were deemed to be subject to the Investment Company Act, compliance with these additional regulatory burdens would require additional expenses for which we have not allotted funds and may hinder our ability to complete a business combination. If we have not consummated our initial business combination within the required time period, our public shareholders may receive only approximately $10.20 per public share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

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Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.

Wesubcontractors are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we are required to complyrisks associated with certain SECconstruction, cost overruns, delays, customer cancellations, regulatory compliance, and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoringcontingencies, any of applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changeswhich could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

We are a licensed contractor in certain communities that we service, and we are ultimately responsible as the contracting party for every solar energy system installation we provide. We may be liable, either directly or through our subcontractors, to customers for any damage we cause to them, their home, belongings or property during the installation of our systems. For example, we, either directly or through our subcontractors, frequently penetrate customers’ roofs during the installation process and may incur liability for the failure to adequately weatherproof such penetrations following the completion of construction. In addition, because the solar energy systems we or our subcontractors deploy are high voltage energy systems, we may incur liability for any failure to comply with electrical standards and manufacturer recommendations. Legal proceedings that are not resolved in our favor could potentially result in fines, public reprimand, probation, or the suspension or revocation of certain of our licenses.

Completing the sale and installation of a solar energy system requires many different steps including a site audit, completion of designs, permitting, installation, electrical sign-off and interconnection. Customers may cancel their customer agreement for a limited period, subject to certain conditions, and we have experienced increased customer cancellations in certain geographic markets during certain periods in our operating history. We or our dealers or subcontractors may face customer cancellations, delays or cost overruns, which may adversely affect our or our dealers’ or contactors’ ability to ramp up the volume of sales or installations in accordance with our plans. These cancellations, delays or overruns may be the result of a variety of factors, such as labor shortages or other labor issues, defects in materials and workmanship, adverse weather conditions, transportation constraints, construction change orders, site changes or roof conditions, geographic factors and other unforeseen difficulties, any of which could lead to increased cancellation rates, reputational harm and other adverse effects. For example, some customer orders are cancelled after a site visit if we determine that a customer needs to make repairs to or install a new roof, or that there is excessive shading on their property. If we continue to experience increased customer cancellations, our financial results may be materially and adversely affected.


In addition, the installation of solar energy systems and other energy-related products requiring building modifications are subject to oversight and regulation in accordance with national, state and local laws and ordinances relating to building, fire and electrical codes, safety, environmental protection, utility interconnection and metering, and related matters. We also rely on certain of our and our subcontractors’ employees to maintain professional licenses in many of the jurisdictions in which we operate, and our failure to employ properly licensed personnel could adversely affect our licensing status in those jurisdictions. It is difficult and costly to track the requirements of every individual authority having jurisdiction over our installations and to design solar energy systems to comply with these varying standards. Any new government regulations or utility policies pertaining to our systems may result in significant additional expenses to us and our customers and, as a result, could cause a significant reduction in demand for our solar service offerings.

As the demand for solar plus storage offerings grows, we anticipate facing additional operational challenges associated with the complexity of deploying storage solutions. For example, solar plus storage offerings tend to have longer cycle times due to factors such as lengthened permitting and inspection times and potential need of a main panel upgrade.

We have a variety of quality standards that we apply in the selection, supervision, and oversight of our third-party suppliers and subcontractors. However, because our suppliers and subcontractors are third parties, ultimately, we cannot guarantee that they will follow applicable laws and regulations, any standards we impose, or ethical business practices, such as fair wage practices and compliance with environmental, safety and other local laws, despite our efforts to hold them accountable to our standards. A lack of demonstrated compliance with contractual obligations, applicable laws and regulations or our standards could lead us to seek alternative suppliers or subcontractors, which could increase our costs and result in delayed delivery or installation of our products, product shortages or other disruptions of our operations. Violation of labor or other laws by our suppliers and subcontractors or the divergence of a supplier’s or subcontractor’s labor or other practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the United States or other markets in which we do business could also attract negative publicity for us and harm our business, brand and reputation in the market.

We use subcontractors to perform certain services, which makes us vulnerable to the extent we rely on them.

We rely on subcontractors to install some of the solar energy systems we sell, as well as install energy efficiency equipment such as hybrid electric water heaters and pool pumps and provide roofing and insulation services. We currently do not have long term agreements with our subcontractors. In addition, either the subcontractor or Zeo can terminate the relationship for convenience. If a subcontractor terminates their relationship with us or refuses to continue working with us on reasonable terms, and we cannot find a suitable replacement subcontractor on a timely basis, our business may be adversely affected.

Compliance with occupational safety and health requirements and best practices can be costly, and noncompliance with such requirements may result in potentially significant penalties, operational delays and adverse publicity.

The installation and ongoing operations and maintenance of solar energy systems and energy storage systems requires our employees or those of third-party contractors to work with complicated and potentially dangerous electrical systems and/or at potentially dangerous heights. The evaluation and modification of buildings as part of the installation process requires these individuals to work in locations that may contain potentially dangerous levels of asbestos, lead, mold or other materials known or believed to be hazardous to human health. We also maintain large fleets of vehicles that these employees use in the course of their work. There is substantial risk of serious illness, injury, or death if proper safety procedures are not followed. Our operations are subject to regulation under the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”), Department of Transportation regulations, and equivalent state laws. Changes to such regulatory requirements, or stricter interpretation or enforcement of existing laws or regulations, could result in increased costs. If we fail to comply with applicable workplace safety and health regulations, even if no work-related serious illness, injury, or death occurs, we may be subject to civil or criminal enforcement and be required to pay substantial penalties, incur significant capital expenditures, or suspend or limit operations. Any accidents, citations, violations, illnesses, injuries or failure to comply with industry best practices may subject us to adverse publicity, damage our reputation and competitive position and adversely affect our business. Because individuals hired by us or on our behalf to perform installation and ongoing operations and maintenance of our solar energy systems and energy storage systems, including our third-party contractors, are compensated on a per project basis, they are incentivized to work more quickly than installers compensated on an hourly basis. While we have not experienced a high level of injuries to date, this incentive structure may result in higher injury rates than others in the industry and could accordingly expose us to increased liability.


If we fail to manage our recent and future growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of customer service, or adequately address competitive challenges.

We have experienced significant growth in recent periods and we intend to continue to expand our business within existing markets and in a number of new locations in the future. This growth has placed, and any future growth may continue to place, a significant strain on our management, operational and financial infrastructure. In particular, we have been in the past, and may in the future, be required to expand, train and manage our growing employee base and subcontractors. Our management will also be required to maintain and expand our relationships with customers, suppliers, and other third parties and attract new customers and suppliers, as well as to manage multiple geographic locations.

In addition, if customer growth results in a backlog of installation projects, our installation capacity may be outpaced by the growth of such backlog. An increase in backlog creates higher costs incurred in the period relative to completed installations. If we fail to appropriately manage our backlog in relation to the rate at which we install, it could adversely affect our financial performance and hinder our ability to compete effectively.

Our current and planned operations, personnel, systems and procedures might also be inadequate to support our future growth and may require us to make additional unanticipated investment in our infrastructure, including additional costs for the expansion of our employee base and our subcontractors as well as marketing and branding costs. Our success and ability to further scale our business will depend, in part, on our ability to manage these changes in a cost-effective and efficient manner. If we cannot manage our growth, we may be unable to take advantage of market opportunities, execute our business strategies or respond to competitive pressures. This could also result in declines in quality or customer satisfaction, increased costs, difficulties in introducing new solar service offerings or other operational difficulties. Any failure to effectively manage growth could adversely impact our business, operating results, financial condition and reputation.

The execution of our growth strategy is dependent upon the continued availability of third-party financing arrangements for our customers’ purchases and is affected by general economic conditions and other factors.

Our growth strategy depends on third-party financing arrangements for our customers’ purchases. Most purchasers of our systems have entered into such third-party arrangements to finance their systems over an extended period of time.

Credit markets are unpredictable, and if they become more challenging, customers may be unable or unwilling to finance the cost of our products or the parties that have historically provided this financing may cease to do so, or only do so on terms that are substantially less favorable for our customers, either of which could materially and adversely affect our revenue and growth. In addition, a rise in interest rates would likely increase our customers’ cost of financing our products and could reduce their profits and expected returns on investment in our products. The general reduction in available credit to would-be borrowers or lessees, worldwide economic uncertainty, and the condition of worldwide housing markets could delay or reduce our sales of products to new homebuilders and authorized resellers.

The COVID-19 pandemic, including its variants, has had, and it, along with other future pandemics, could continue to have an adverse impact on our business, operations, and the markets and communities in which we operate.

Our business and financial condition have been, and could continue to be, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including its variants. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the U.S. economy and has impacted our business. The effects of COVID-19, such as the widespread growth in infections, travel restrictions, quarantines, return-to-work restrictions, government regulations, supply chain disruptions, workforce shortages, and site closures have impacted and may continue to impact our ability to staff sales and operations centers and install and maintain solar energy systems in the field, as well as direct-to-home sales activities. The rise and resurgence of increasingly infectious variants, despite efforts to combat the virus with vaccinations, has presented additional challenges and unpredictability that have, and may continue to have, resulted in workforce constraints, delays, and additional costs, particularly in regions experiencing significant outbreaks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to significant volatility in global financial markets, which could negatively affect our cost of and access to capital and could have an adverse impact on customer demand and the financial health and credit risk associated with our customers. Future disruptions or instability in capital markets could also negatively impact our ability to raise capital from third parties, such as tax equity partners, to grow our business. In addition, significant inflation, a recession or a market correction resulting from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has and could continue to adversely affect our business. The full economic impact of the pandemic is still not known.


COVID-19 has caused disruptions to the supply chain across the global economy, including within the solar industry. Certain suppliers have experienced, and may continue to experience, delays related to a variety of factors, including logistical delays and component shortages from upstream vendors. In 2020, 2021, and 2022, we experienced periods of temporary delay in obtaining supplies. We believe these delays reduced the number of installations in comparison to what we would have been able to install without the delays. In 2023, we did not experience any appreciable delays in supply. We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with our subcontractors and suppliers to develop contingency plans for potential operations and supply chain interruptions.

Additionally, if the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic worsen, or another pandemic were to spread, the supply and pricing of our inverters and other goods and therefore our ability to sell new solar energy systems could be adversely affected. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or another pandemic on our business and operations will depend on, among other factors, the duration and severity of the outbreak, travel restrictions and business closures imposed in China or other countries and their ability to recover from such restrictions when they are lifted, the ability of our suppliers to increase their production of goods in jurisdictions other than China, our ability to contract for supply from other sources on acceptable terms and the willingness of our lenders to permit us to switch suppliers. While we believe that COVID-19 has contributed to price increases for components that we purchase, we believe that the increases to the cost of our components were also due to a combination of other factors, including supply chain constraints, Russia’s war on Ukraine, increased demand for solar systems in the U.S. and Europe, tariffs and trade regulations, rising inflation, and higher labor, material, and shipping costs. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of price increases attributable to COVID-19.

The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or other future pandemics is highly uncertain, beyond our control, dependent on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted, and subject to change. We will continue to monitor developments affecting our workforce, our customers, and our business operations generally and will take additional actions that we determine are necessary in order to mitigate the impacts; however, any steps we take may be inadequate and, as a result, our business may be harmed.

The cost of maintenance or repair of solar energy systems or energy storage systems throughout the period for which we have offered warranties may be higher than projected today and adversely affect our financial performance and valuation.

Prior to 2023, we generally provided a 25-year workmanship warranty and 25-year roof penetration warranty to customers. Beginning in 2023, we generally provide a 10-year workmanship warranty and a roof penetration warranty of at least five and up to twenty-five years. For the first two years of the workmanship warranty, we cover all costs to repair failures covered by the warranty. After two years, the customer is responsible for certain “truck roll” or service fees, but we otherwise cover the costs of repair. For leases, we provide a twenty five-year limited workmanship warranty and cover all costs for repairs performed under such warranty.

If a solar system or energy storage system fails or malfunctions during the period for which we have offered our workmanship warranty and the failure is covered by such warranty, or if roof damage is covered by the roof penetration warranty, we will incur expenses for maintenance or repair. While our subcontractors provide warranties as to their workmanship, in the event such warranty providers file for bankruptcy, cease operations or otherwise become unable or unwilling to fulfill their warranty obligations, we may not be adequately protected by such warranty obligations. Even if such warranty providers fulfill their obligations, the warranty obligations may not be sufficient to protect us against all of our losses.

Furthermore, it is difficult to predict how future environmental regulations may affect the costs associated with the repair, removal, disposal or recycling of our solar energy systems. This could materially impair our future operating results.

Problems with product quality or performance may lower the residual value of our solar energy systems and may damage our market reputation and cause our financial results to decline.

Because of our limited operating history and the length of the term of our warranties, we have been required to make assumptions and apply judgments regarding a number of factors, including our anticipated rate of warranty claims and the durability, performance and reliability of our solar energy systems. Any widespread product failures or operating deficiencies may damage our market reputation and adversely impact our financial results.

Warranties provided by the manufacturers of equipment we sell or service may be limited by the ability of a supplier and manufacturer to satisfy its warranty or performance obligations or by the expiration of applicable time or liability limits, which could reduce or void the warranty protections of our customers and increase costs to customers for the systems we offer.

Manufacturers of the equipment we sell currently provide a manufacturer’s warranty for 25 years. If there is a covered failure of equipment, the manufacturer will pay for replacement or repair. These warranties are subject to liability and other limits. If a customer seeks warranty protection and a warranty provider is unable or unwilling to perform its warranty obligations, whether as a result of its financial condition or otherwise, or if the term of the warranty obligation has expired or a liability limit has been reached, there may be a reduction or loss of protection for the affected assets and an increase in costs to the customer. Any widespread product failures or operating deficiencies may damage our market reputation and adversely impact our financial results.


Product liability claims against us or accidents could result in adverse publicity and potentially significant monetary damages.

It is possible the solar energy systems, energy storage systems or other current or anticipated products or systems we sell could injure our customers or other third parties or those systems or products could cause property damage as a result of product malfunctions, defects, improper installation, fire or other causes. We rely on third-party manufacturing warranties and our general liability insurance to cover product liability claims and have not obtained separate product liability insurance. Our solar energy systems, energy storage systems and other products or their components could be subject to recalls either due to production defects or malfunctions. Any product liability claim we face could be expensive to defend and may divert management’s attention. The successful assertion of product liability claims against us could result in potentially significant monetary damages, potential increases in insurance expenses, penalties or fines, subject us to adverse publicity, damage our reputation and competitive position and adversely affect sales of solar energy systems or energy storage systems. In addition, product liability claims, injuries, defects or other problems experienced by other companies in the solar industry could lead to unfavorable market conditions to the industry as a whole and may have an adverse effect on our ability to expand our portfolio of solar energy systems and energy storage systems, thus affecting our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Technical and regulatory limitations regarding the interconnection of solar energy systems to the electrical grid may significantly delay interconnections and customer in-service dates, harming our growth rate and customer satisfaction.

Technical and regulatory limitations regarding the interconnection of solar energy systems to the electrical grid may curb or slow our growth in key markets. Utilities throughout the country follow different rules and regulations regarding interconnection and regulators or utilities have or could cap or limit the amount of solar energy that can be interconnected to the grid. Our solar energy systems generally do not provide power to a customer’s site until they are interconnected to the grid.

With regard to interconnection limits, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”), in promulgating the first form of small generator interconnection procedures, recommended limiting customer-sited intermittent generation resources, such as our solar energy systems, to a certain percentage of peak load on a given electrical feeder circuit. Similar limits have been adopted by many states as a de facto standard and could constrain our ability to market to customers in certain geographic areas where the concentration of solar installations exceeds this limit.

Furthermore, in certain areas, we benefit from policies that allow for expedited or simplified procedures related to connecting solar energy systems and energy storage systems to the electrical grid. We also are required to obtain interconnection permission for each solar energy system from the local utility. In many states and territories, by statute, regulations or administrative order, there are standardized procedures for interconnecting distributed solar energy systems and related energy storage systems to the electric utility’s local distribution system. However, approval from the local utility could be delayed as a result of a backlog of requests for interconnection or the local utility could seek to limit the number of customer interconnections or the amount of solar energy on the grid. If expedited or simplified interconnection procedures are changed or cease to be available, if interconnection approvals from the local utility are delayed or if the local utility seeks to limit interconnections, this could decrease the attractiveness of new solar energy systems and energy storage systems to distributed solar power companies, including us, and the attractiveness of solar energy systems and energy storage systems to customers. Delays in interconnections could also harm our growth rate and customer satisfaction scores. Such limitations or delays could also adversely impact our access to capital and reduce our willingness to pursue solar energy systems and energy storage systems due to higher operating costs. Such limitations would negatively impact our business, results of operations, future growth and cash flows.

As adoption of solar distributed generation rises, along with the increased operation of utility-scale solar generation, the amount of solar energy being contributed to the electrical grid may surpass the capacity anticipated to be needed to meet aggregate demand. If solar generation resources reach a level capable of producing an over-generation situation, some existing solar generation resources may have to be curtailed to maintain operation of the electrical grid. In the event such an over-generation situation were to occur, this could also result in a prohibition on the installation of new solar generation resources. The adverse effects of such a curtailment or prohibition without compensation could adversely impact our business, results of operations, future growth and cash flows.


Our headquarters and other facilities, the facilities of certain subcontractors and suppliers, and our customers are concentrated in certain regions, putting us at risk of region-specific disruptions, including hurricanes or other extreme weather events.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, approximately 92% of our sales were made in Florida. This concentration of our customer base and operational infrastructure could lead to our business and results of operations being particularly susceptible to adverse economic, regulatory, political, weather and other conditions in this market and in other markets that may become similarly concentrated.

Our headquarters are also located in Florida, and we have offices and operations in Texas and Arkansas, operations in Missouri, and sales, marketing and executive offices in Utah. Any significant epidemic, hurricane, earthquake, flood, fire, or other natural disaster in these areas or in countries where our suppliers or the manufacturers of the products we sell are located could materially disrupt our operations, result in damage or destruction of all or a portion of our facilities or result in our experiencing a significant delay in delivery, or substantial shortage, of our products and services.

We may not have adequate insurance, including business interruption insurance, to compensate us for losses that may occur from any such significant events. A significant natural disaster such as a hurricane, a public health crisis such as a pandemic, or civil unrest could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, acts of terrorism or malicious computer viruses could cause disruptions in our or our subcontractors’ and suppliers’ businesses or the economy as a whole. To the extent that these disruptions result in delays or cancellations of installations or the deployment of our solar service offerings, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected.

Expansion into new sales channels could be costly and time-consuming. As we enter new channels, we could be at a disadvantage relative to other companies who have more history in these spaces.

If we expand into new sales channels, such as direct-to-home, homebuilder, retail, and e-commerce channels, or adapt to a remote selling model, we may incur significant costs. In addition, we may not initially or ever be successful in utilizing these new channels. Furthermore, we may not be able to compete successfully with companies with a historical presence in such channels, and we may not realize the anticipated benefits of entering such channels, including efficiently increasing our customer base and ultimately reducing costs. Entering new channels also poses the risk of conflicts between sales channels. If we are unable to successfully compete in new channels, our operating results and growth prospects could be adversely affected.

Obtaining a sales contract with a potential customer does not guarantee that the potential customer will not decide to cancel or that we will not need to cancel due to a failed inspection, which could cause us to generate no revenue despite incurring costs and adversely affect our results of operations.

Even after we secure a sales contract with a potential customer, we (either directly or through our subcontractors) must perform an inspection to ensure the home, including the rooftop, meets our standards and specifications. If the inspection finds repairs to the rooftop are required in order to satisfy our standards and specifications to install the solar energy system, and a potential customer does not want to make such required repairs, we would lose that anticipated sale. In addition, per the terms of our customer agreements, a customer maintains the ability to cancel for a limited time after execution of the agreement, and in some other circumstances subject to specified conditions. An accumulation of delays or cancellations of anticipated sales could materially and adversely affect our financial results, as we may have incurred sales-related, design-related, and other expenses and generated no revenue.

We may not realize the anticipated benefits of past or future investments, strategic transactions, or acquisitions, and integration of these acquisitions may disrupt our business and management.

We have in the past and may in the future acquire one or more companies, project pipelines, projects, solar renewable energy credits (“SRECs”), products, or technologies or enter into joint ventures or other strategic transactions. We may not realize the anticipated benefits of past or future investments, strategic transactions, or acquisitions, and these transactions involve numerous risks that are not within our control. These risks include the following, among others:

failure to satisfy the required conditions and otherwise complete a planned acquisition, joint venture or other strategic transaction on a timely basis or at all;

legal or regulatory proceedings, if any, relating to a planned acquisition, joint venture or other strategic transaction and the outcome of such legal proceedings;

difficulty in assimilating the operations, systems, and personnel of the acquired company;

difficulty in effectively integrating the acquired technologies or products with our current products and technologies;

difficulty in maintaining controls, procedures and policies during the transition and integration;

disruption of our ongoing business and distraction of our management and employees from other opportunities and challenges due to integration issues;

difficulty integrating the acquired company’s accounting, management information and other administrative systems;


inability to retain key technical and managerial personnel of the acquired business;

inability to retain key customers, vendors and other business partners of the acquired business;

inability to achieve the financial and strategic goals for the acquired and combined businesses;

incurring acquisition-related costs or amortization costs for acquired intangible assets that could impact our results of operations;

significant post-acquisition investments that may lower the actual benefits realized through the acquisition;

potential failure of the due diligence processes to identify significant issues with product quality, legal, and financial liabilities, among other things;

moderating and anticipating the impacts of inherent or emerging seasonality in acquired customer agreements;

potential inability to assert that internal controls over financial reporting are effective; and

potential inability to obtain, or obtain in a timely manner, approvals from governmental authorities, which could delay or prevent such acquisitions.

Our failure to address these risks, or other problems encountered in connection with our past or future investments, strategic transactions, or acquisitions, could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions or investments, cause us to incur unanticipated liabilities, and harm our business generally. Future acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses, incremental expenses or the write-off of goodwill, any of which could harm our financial condition or results of operations.

Mergers and acquisitions are inherently risky, may not produce the anticipated benefits and could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Disruptions to solar production metering and energy storage solutions could negatively impact customer experiences, which could damage our market reputation and adversely impact our financial results.

Our customers’ ability to monitor solar energy production for various purposes depends on the operation of the metering solution. For example, some meters and/or inverters operate on either the 3G or 4G cellular data networks, which are expected to sunset in the near future, and newer technologies we use today may also become obsolete. Disruptions to solar production metering and energy storage solutions could negatively impact customer experiences, which could damage our market reputation and adversely impact our financial results.

Our business may be harmed if we fail to properly protect our intellectual property, or if we are required to defend against claims or indemnify others against claims that we infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties.

We believe that the success of our business depends in part on our proprietary information, processes and know-how. We rely on copyright and trade secret protections to secure our intellectual property. We also typically require employees, consultants, and third parties, such as our vendors and customers, with access to our proprietary information to execute confidentiality agreements. Although we may incur substantial costs in protecting our intellectual property, we cannot be certain that we have adequately protected or will be able to adequately protect it because, among other reasons:

others may not be deterred from misappropriating our intellectual property despite the existence of laws or contracts prohibiting such misappropriation and information security measures designed to deter or prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property;

we have not obtained intellectual property assignment agreements from our founders or from a contract developer of certain software that we intend to use;

foreign intellectual property laws and associated foreign legal enforcement regimes may not adequately protect our intellectual property rights; and

policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property may be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, the remedy obtained may be inadequate to restore protection of our intellectual property, and moreover, we may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use.


In addition, we cannot be certain that our intellectual property provides us with a competitive advantage. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for third parties to develop similar intellectual property independently or obtain and use our intellectual property without our consent. Reverse engineering, unauthorized copying, or other misappropriation of our intellectual property could enable third parties to benefit from our intellectual property without compensating us for doing so. Unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties, any other inability to adequately protect our proprietary rights, and the expenses incurred in protecting our intellectual property rights may adversely affect our business.

In the future, we may also be required to defend against claims that we have infringed on the intellectual property of third parties, and we cannot be certain that we will prevail in any intellectual property dispute. Any future litigation required to enforce our intellectual property, to protect our trade secrets or know-how or to defend us or indemnify others against claimed infringement of the rights of third parties could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We use “open source” software components in our solutions as well as other licensed software, which may require that we release the source code of certain software subject to open source licenses or subject us to possible litigation or other actions that could adversely affect our business.

We utilize software that is licensed under so-called “open source,” “free” or other similar licenses, or that contain components that are licensed in such manner. Our use of open source software may entail different or greater risks than use of third-party commercial software. Open source licensors sometimes do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code, and open source software is sometimes made available to the general public on an “as-is” basis under the terms of a non-negotiable license. In addition, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. We do not believe we have combined any of our proprietary software with open source software in such a manner, but if that were to occur this would allow our competitors to create similar offerings with lower development effort and time.

We may also face claims alleging noncompliance with open source license terms or other license terms, or infringement or misappropriation of proprietary software. These claims could result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our software, any of which would have a negative effect on our business and results of operations. Few courts have interpreted open source licenses and these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to use our proprietary software. We cannot guarantee that we have incorporated or will incorporate open source or other software in our software in a manner that will not subject us to liability or require us to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public.

Any security breach, unauthorized access or disclosure, or theft of data, including personal information, we, our third party service providers, and suppliers gather, store, transmit, and use, or other hacking, cyber-attack, phishing attack, and unauthorized intrusions into or through our systems or those of our third party service providers, could harm our reputation, subject us to claims, litigation, financial harm, and have an adverse impact on our business.

In the ordinary course of business, we, our third party providers upon which we rely and our suppliers receive, store, transmit and use data, including the personal information of customers, such as names, addresses, email addresses, credit information and other housing and energy use information, as well as the personal information of our employees. Unauthorized disclosure of such personal information, whether through a breach of our or our third party service providers’ and suppliers’ systems by an unauthorized party, including, but not limited to hackers, threat actors, sophisticated nation-states, nation-state-supported actors, personnel theft or misuse of information or otherwise, could harm our business. In addition, we, our third party service providers upon which we rely and our suppliers may be subject to a variety of evolving threats, such as computer malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), ransomware, malicious code (such as viruses or worms), social engineering (including spear phishing and smishing attacks), telecommunications failures, natural disasters and extreme weather events, general hacking and other similar threats. Cybersecurity incidents have become more prevalent. As of the date of this Report, we have not experienced a material cybersecurity incident. However, cybersecurity incidents could occur on our systems and those of our third parties in the future. Our team members who work remotely pose increased risks to our information technology systems and data, because many of them utilize less secure network connections outside our premises.

Inadvertent disclosure of confidential data, such as personal information, or unauthorized access to this type of data in our possession by a third party, could result in future claims or litigation arising from damages suffered by those affected, government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits and inspections), additional reporting requirements and/or oversight, indemnification obligations, reputational harm, interruptions in our operations, financial loss and other similar harms. In addition, we could incur significant costs in complying with the multitude of federal, state and local laws, and applicable independent security control frameworks, regarding the unauthorized disclosure of personal information. Although to our knowledge we have not experienced a material information security breach, we cannot assure you that the systems and processes we have to prevent or detect security breaches and protect the confidential information we receive, store, transmit and use, will provide absolute security. Finally, any perceived or actual unauthorized disclosure of such information, unauthorized intrusion or other cyberthreat could harm our reputation, substantially impair our ability to attract and retain customers, interrupt our operations and have an adverse impact on our business.

Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations.


Terrorist attacks or cyberattacks against centralized utilities could adversely affect our business.

Assets owned by utilities such as substations and related infrastructure have been physically attacked in the past and will likely be attacked in the future. These facilities are often protected by limited security measures, such as perimeter fencing. Any such attacks may result in interruption to electricity flowing on the grid and consequently interrupt service to our solar energy systems not combined with an energy storage system, which could adversely affect our operations. Furthermore, cyberattacks, whether by individuals or nation states, against utility companies could severely disrupt their business operations and result in loss of service to customers, which would adversely affect our operations.

We may be subject to information technology system failures or network disruptions that could damage our business operations, financial conditions or reputation.

We may be subject to information technology system failures and network disruptions. These may be caused by natural disasters, accidents, power disruptions, telecommunications failures, acts of terrorism or war, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins, or similar events or disruptions. System redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities. Such failures or disruptions could result in delayed or cancelled orders. System failures and disruptions could also impede the manufacturing and shipping of products, delivery of online services, transactions processing and financial reporting. Such system failures or network disruptions could damage our business operations, financial conditions or reputation.

 
Damage to our brand and reputation or failure to complyexpand our brand would harm our business and results of operations.

We depend significantly on our brand and reputation for high-quality solar service offerings, engineering and customer service to attract customers, contractors and dealers, and grow our business. If we fail to continue to deliver our solar service offerings within the planned timelines, if our solar service offerings do not perform as anticipated or if we damage any customers’ properties or cancel projects, our brand and reputation could be significantly impaired. We also depend greatly on referrals from customers for our growth. Therefore, our inability to meet or exceed customers’ expectations would harm our reputation and growth through referrals. We have at times focused particular attention on expeditiously growing our direct sales force and our contractors, leading us in some instances to hire personnel or contractors who we may later determine do not fit our company culture and standards.

Given the sheer volume of interactions our sales force, dealers and contractors have with applicable lawscustomers and potential customers, it is also unavoidable that some interactions will be perceived by customers and potential customers as less than satisfactory and result in complaints. If we cannot manage our hiring and training processes to limit potential issues and maintain appropriate customer service levels, our brand and reputation may be harmed and our ability to grow our business would suffer. In addition, if we were unable to achieve a similar level of brand recognition as our competitors, some of which may have a broader brand footprint, more resources and longer operational history, we could lose recognition in the marketplace among prospective customers, suppliers and subcontractors, which could affect our growth and financial performance. Our growth strategy involves marketing and branding initiatives that will involve incurring significant expenses in advance of corresponding revenue. We cannot assure you that such marketing and branding expenses will result in the successful expansion of our brand recognition or increase our revenue. We are also subject to marketing and advertising regulations in various jurisdictions, and overly restrictive conditions on our marketing and advertising activities may inhibit the sales of the affected products.

The loss of one or more members of our senior management or key personnel may adversely affect our operations.

We depend on our experienced management team, and the loss of one or more key executives could have a negative impact on our business. With any change in leadership, there is a risk to organizational effectiveness and employee retention as interpretedwell as the potential for disruption to our business. We may be unable to replace key members of our management team and applied,key personnel in the event we lose their services. Integrating new personnel into our management team could prove disruptive to our operations, require substantial resources and management attention and ultimately prove unsuccessful. An inability to attract and retain sufficient managerial personnel who have critical industry experience and relationships could limit or delay our strategic efforts, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination,financial condition and results of operations.


A failure to hire and retain a sufficient number of employees and service providers in key functions would constrain our growth and our ability to timely complete customers’ projects and successfully manage customer accounts.

To support our growth, we need to hire, train, deploy, manage and retain a substantial number of skilled employees, engineers, design techs, installers, electricians, operations and sales managers and sales personnel.

Competition for qualified personnel in our industry is increasing, particularly for skilled personnel involved in the installation of solar energy systems. We have in the past been, and may in the future be, unable to attract or retain qualified and skilled installation personnel or installation companies to be our subcontractors, which would have an adverse effect on our business. We and our subcontractors also compete with the homebuilding and construction industries for skilled labor. As these industries grow and seek to hire additional workers, our cost of labor may increase. The unionization of the industry’s labor force could also increase our labor costs. Shortages of skilled labor could significantly delay a project or otherwise increase our costs. Because our profit on a particular installation is based in part on assumptions as to the cost of such project, cost overruns, delays or other execution issues may cause us to not achieve our expected margins or cover our costs for that project. Further, we need to continue to expand upon the training of our customer service team to provide high-end account management and service to customers before, during and following the point of installation of our solar energy systems. Identifying and recruiting qualified personnel and training them requires significant time, expense and attention. It can take several months before a new customer service team member is fully trained and productive at the standards that we have established. If we are unable to hire, develop and retain talented technical and customer service personnel, we may not be able to realize the expected benefits of this investment or grow our business.

In addition, to support the growth and success of our direct-to-consumer channel, we need to recruit, retain and motivate a large number of sales personnel on a continuing basis. We compete with many other companies for qualified sales personnel, and it could take many months before a new salesperson is fully trained on our solar service offerings. If we are unable to hire, develop and retain qualified sales personnel or if they are unable to achieve desired productivity levels, we may not be able to compete effectively.

If we or our subcontractors cannot meet our hiring, retention and efficiency goals, we may be unable to complete customers’ projects on time or manage customer accounts in an acceptable manner or at all. Any significant failures in this regard would materially impair our growth, reputation, business and financial results. If we are required to pay higher compensation than we anticipate, these greater expenses may also adversely impact our financial results and the growth of our business.

Regulators may limit the type of electricians qualified to install and service our solar and battery systems, or introduce other requirements on our installation staff, which may result in workforce shortages, operational delays, and increased costs.

Regulators may limit the type of electricians qualified to install and service our solar and battery systems, such as requiring that electricians installing such systems have a certain license, or introduce other requirements that would apply to our installation staff. While our workforce includes workers licensed to install and service our solar and battery systems, if we are unable to hire, develop and retain sufficient certified electricians, we may face operational delays and increased costs. In addition, our growth may be significantly constrained, which would negatively impact our operating results.

We have previously been subject to, and we may in the future be subject to, regulatory inquiries and litigation, all of which are costly, distracting to our core business and could result in an unfavorable outcome, or a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or the trading price of our securities.

We have previously been subject to regulatory inquiries and litigation, and in the future, we may be involved in legal proceedings and receive inquiries from government and regulatory agencies from time to time. In the event that we are involved in significant disputes or are the subject of a formal action by a regulatory agency, we could be exposed to costly and time-consuming legal proceedings that could result in any number of outcomes. Although outcomes of such actions vary, any current or future claims or regulatory actions initiated by or against us, whether successful or not, could result in significant costs, costly damage awards or settlement amounts, injunctive relief, increased costs of business, fines or orders to change certain business practices, significant dedication of management time or diversion of significant operational resources, or otherwise harm our business.

If we are not successful in any legal proceedings and litigation, we may be required to pay significant monetary damages, which could hurt our results of operations. Lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive to resolve and divert management’s time and attention. Although we carry general liability insurance, our insurance may not cover potential claims or may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed. We cannot predict how the courts will rule in any potential lawsuit against us. Decisions in favor of parties that bring lawsuits against us could subject us to significant liability for damages, adversely affect our results of operations and harm our reputation.


If we are unsuccessful in selling new services and products, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

In the future, we may offer new products or services. There is a risk that such products or services may not work as intended, or that the marketing of the products or services may not be as successful as anticipated. The sale of new products and services generally requires substantial investment. We intend to continue to make substantial investments in new products and services, and it is possible that we may not acquire new products or product enhancements that compete effectively within our target markets or differentiate our products based on functionality, performance or cost, and thus our new products may not result in meaningful revenue. In addition, any delays in releasing new or enhanced products or services could cause us to lose revenue opportunities and potential customers. Any technical flaws in product releases could diminish the innovative impact of our products and have a negative effect on customer adoption and our reputation. If we fail to introduce new products or services that meet the demands of our customers or target markets or do not achieve market acceptance, or if we fail to penetrate new markets, our business, financial conditions and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our operating results and our ability to grow may fluctuate on a seasonal basis and from quarter to quarter and year to year, which could make our future performance difficult to predict and could cause our operating results for a particular period to fall below expectations.

Our quarterly and annual operating results and our ability to grow are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly in the future. Historically, our sales volume has been highest during late spring, summer, and early fall. During this time, consumers in many locations see greater energy needs due to operating air conditioning systems and warm-weather appliances such as swimming pool pumps. Our door-to-door sales efforts are also aided during these months by increased daylight hours, and we have more sales personnel working during these months. We typically have largely or entirely scaled down our sales efforts during the late fall, winter and early spring. Snow, cold weather or other inclement weather can delay our installation of products and services.

We have experienced seasonal and quarterly fluctuations in the past and expect to experience such fluctuations in the future. In addition to the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, the following factors could cause our operating results to fluctuate:

expiration or initiation of any governmental rebates or incentives;

significant fluctuations in customer demand for our solar energy services, solar energy systems and energy storage systems;

our subcontractors’ ability to complete installations in a timely manner;

our and our subcontractors’ ability to gain interconnection permission for an installed solar energy system from the relevant utility;

the availability, terms and costs of suitable financing;

our ability to continue to expand our operations and the amount and timing of expenditures related to this expansion;


announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital-raising activities or commitments;

changes in our pricing policies or terms or those of our competitors, including electric utilities;

actual or anticipated developments in our competitors’ businesses, technology or the competitive landscape; and

natural disasters or other weather or meteorological conditions.

For these or other reasons, the results of any prior quarterly or annual periods should not be relied upon as indications of our future performance.

We may issue notesbe unable to generate sufficient cash flows or obtain access to external financing necessary to fund our operations and make adequate capital investments as planned due to the general economic environment, cost inflation, and/or the market pressure driving down the average selling prices of our products and services, among other factors.

To acquire new products, support future growth, achieve operating efficiencies and maintain product quality, we may need to make significant capital investments in product and process technology as well as enhancing our digital capabilities. The delayed disposition of such projects, or the inability to realize the full anticipated value of such projects on disposition, could have a negative impact on our liquidity.

Certain municipalities where we install systems also require performance bonds in cash, issued by an insurance company or bonding agency, or bank guarantees or letters of credit issued by financial institutions, which are returned to us upon satisfaction of contractual requirements.

We manage our working capital requirements and fund our committed capital expenditures with our current cash and cash equivalents and cash generated from operations. If our capital resources are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, we may seek to sell additional equity investments or debt securities or obtain debt financing. Market conditions, however, could limit our ability to raise capital by issuing new equity or debt securities on acceptable terms, or at all, and lenders may be unwilling to lend funds on acceptable terms, or at all. The sale of additional equity investments may result in additional dilution to our equity holders. Debt financing would result in increased expenses and could impose new restrictive covenants. Financing arrangements may not be available to us or may not be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us. If financing is not available, we may be forced to seek to sell assets or reduce or delay capital investments, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.

If we cannot generate sufficient cash flows, find other sources of capital to fund our operations and projects, make adequate capital investments to remain technologically and price competitive, or provide bonding or letters of credit required by our projects, we may need to sell additional equity investments or debt securities, or obtain debt financings. If adequate funds from these or other sources are not available on acceptable terms or at all, our ability to fund our operations, including making digital investments, develop and expand our distribution network, maintain our research and development efforts, meet any debt service obligations we take on in the future or otherwise incur substantial debt,respond to completecompetitive pressures would be significantly impaired. Our inability to do any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, combination,results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

Inflation could result in decreased value from future contractual payments and higher expenses for labor and equipment, which, in turn, could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Any future increase in inflation may adversely affect our leveragecosts, including our subcontractors’ cost of labor and equipment, and may result in a decrease in value in our future contractual payments. These factors could adversely impact our reputation, business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

While we believe that inflationary pressures have contributed to increased costs of labor and components that we purchase, we believe that the increased cost of these items were also due to a combination of other factors, including general supply chain issues resulting from COVID-19, other supply chain constraints, increased demand for solar systems in the U.S. and Europe and tariffs and trade regulations. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of cost increases attributable to inflationary pressures.


Fluctuations in interest rates could adversely affect our business and financial conditionresults.

We are exposed to interest rate risk because many of our customers depend on debt financing to purchase our solar power systems. An increase in interest rates could make it difficult for our customers to obtain the financing necessary to purchase our solar power systems on favorable terms, or at all, and thus negatively impactlower demand for our solar power products, reduce revenue and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flow. An increase in interest rates could lower a customer’s return on investment in a system or make alternative investments more attractive relative to solar power systems, which, in each case, could cause our customers to seek alternative investments that promise higher returns or demand higher returns from our solar power systems, which could reduce our revenue and gross margin and adversely affect our financial results. While we believe that increases in interest rates have led to higher financing costs for our customers, lower demand for our products and lower revenue than we would have otherwise experienced, we do not have information that allows us to quantify the valueadverse affects attributable to increased interest rates.

We may incur debt in the future, which could introduce debt servicing costs and risks to our business.

We and our subsidiaries may incur debt in the future, and such debt arrangements may restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness, including secured indebtedness. These restrictions could inhibit our ability to pursue our business strategies. Furthermore, there is no assurance that we will be able to enter into debt instruments on acceptable terms or at all. If we were unable to satisfy financial covenants and other terms under new instruments, or obtain waivers or forbearance from our lenders, or if we were unable to obtain refinancing or new financings for our working capital, equipment, and other needs on acceptable terms if and when needed, our business would be adversely affected.

So long as the convertible preferred units (the “Convertible OpCo Preferred Units”) of OpCo remain outstanding, the Sponsor holds certain consent rights over OpCo’s ability to incur indebtedness, which could adversely affect the future business and operations of OpCo and Zeo, including by decreasing its business flexibility.

The terms of the amended and restated limited liability company agreement of OpCo (the “OpCo A&R LLC Agreement”) grant Sponsor certain consent rights with respect to certain actions, including OpCo’s incurrence of indebtedness for borrowed money, subject to certain enumerated exceptions, so long as the Convertible OpCo Preferred Units remain outstanding. As a result, OpCo needs to obtain the prior written consent of Sponsor before incurring any additional indebtedness (subject to the terms of OpCo A&R LLC Agreement). Because Sponsor has interests that are different than, or in addition to and which may conflict with, the interests of OpCo and Zeo, there is no assurance that Sponsor will consent to any proposed future incurrence of debt. Therefore, Sponsor has the ability to influence the outcome of certain matters affecting OpCo and Zeo, and OpCo may be unable to raise additional debt financing to operate during general economic or business downturns, take advantage of new business opportunities, and/or pursue its business strategies.

We have suppliers that are based or manufacture the products we sell outside the United States, which may subject us to additional business risks, including logistical complexity and political instability.

A portion of our shareholders’ investmentsupply agreements are with manufacturers and equipment vendors located outside of the United States. Risks we face in us.conducting business internationally include:

multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations relating to employment, safety, environmental protection, international trade, and other government approvals, permits, and licenses and regulatory requirements;

financial risks, such as longer sales and payment cycles, greater difficulty enforcing rights and remedies and capital controls or other restrictions on the transfer of funds;

currency fluctuations, government-fixed foreign exchange rates, the effects of currency hedging activity and the potential inability to hedge currency fluctuations;

Although

the effects of Russia’s war against Ukraine and other political and economic instability, including wars, acts of terrorism, political unrest, boycotts, curtailments of trade, nationalization of assets, and other business restrictions;

trade barriers such as import and export requirements or restrictions, licensing requirements, tariffs, taxes and other restrictions and expenses for which we may have responsibility, which could increase the prices of our products; and


liabilities associated with compliance with laws (for example, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) in the United States and similar laws outside of the United States).

the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine, which, while we believe Russia’s war on Ukraine has contributed to price increases for components that we purchase, we believe that the increases to the cost of our components were also due to a combination of other factors, including general supply chain issues resulting from COVID-19, other supply chain constraints, increased demand for solar systems in the U.S. and Europe, tariffs and trade regulations, rising inflation, and higher labor, material, and shipping costs. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of price increases attributable to Russia’s war on Ukraine and do not materially rely directly or indirectly on goods or services sources in Russia, Ukraine or Belarus or have any material business relationships, connections to, or assets in, Russia, Belarus or Ukraine.

We must work with our suppliers to effectively manage the flow of products in light of these risks. If we have no commitments asfail to do so, our available inventory may not correspond with product demand. If we are unable to successfully manage any such risks, any one or more could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

We are currently dependent on third-party leasing companies to offer customers the option of leasing our solar energy systems.

As of the date of this Report, our customers who have entered into leasing agreements have done so solely with third-party leasing companies established and managed by White Horse Energy. Thus far, such companies have had sufficient assets to issuefinance the purchase of systems for each of our customers who have signed agreements for leased solar energy systems to be installed on their home and for whom the installation processes have been completed. However, no assurance can be given that this will continue. Additionally, if such companies decide not to continue to provide financing for leases due to general market conditions, changes in tax benefits associated with our solar systems, concerns about our business or prospects, or any notesother reason, or other debt securities, orif they materially change the terms under which they are willing to otherwise incur outstanding debt following our initial public offering,pay us to install and service leased solar energy systems, we may choosewill need to incur substantial debtidentify new leasing partners and negotiate new terms.

We intend to complete our initial business combination. We and our officers have agreedseek out additional third-party investors to provide financing for customers wishing to lease their solar energy systems. However, no assurance can be given that we will be able to successfully do so.

System leases represented 8% of our installations in 2023, though we expect that percentage to increase in 2024. If (i) Solar terminates their relationship with us, (ii) Solar does not incur any indebtedness unless we have obtained from the lender a waiver of any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to the monies heldsufficient assets in the trust account. As such, no issuancefuture to provide financing for customers wishing to lease their solar energy systems, or (iii) we cannot enter into new arrangements with other third-party investors to provide financing for customers wishing to lease their solar energy systems, we may be unable to continue to increase the size of debt will affect the per-share amount available for redemption from the trust account. Nevertheless, the incurrence of debtour residential lease program, which could have a variety of negative effects, including:

default and foreclosurematerial, adverse effect on our assets if our operating revenues after an initial business, combination are insufficient to repay our debt obligations;results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition in the future.

 

accelerationWe typically bear the cost of maintenance and repair on solar energy systems we install that are owned and leased by third-party leasing companies.

We are obligated through a maintenance services agreement to provide maintenance and repair services for solar energy systems we install that are leased by third-party leasing companies to homeowners. In the maintenance services agreement, we have agreed to maintain the leased systems for a fixed fee that is calculated to cover our future expected maintenance costs. If our solar energy systems require an above-average amount of repairs or if the cost of repairing systems were higher than our estimate, we may need to perform such services without additional compensation.

Members of our obligations to repay the indebtedness even if we make all principal and interest payments when due if we breach certain covenantsmanagement team have interests in or are employed by other business ventures that require the maintenance of certain financial ratios or reserves without a waiver or renegotiation of that covenant;may divert their attention from our business.

 

Members of our immediate paymentmanagement team presently have, and may in the future have additional, ownership interests in, employment by and/or fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities with which they are affiliated with (such as Solar). Such other ventures and entities could divert the attention of our management from our business or create conflicts of interests.


Risks Related to Regulation and Policy

Our business currently depends on the availability of utility rebates, tax credits and other benefits, tax exemptions and exclusions, and other financial incentives on the federal, state, and/or local levels. We may be adversely affected by changes in, and application of these laws or other incentives to us, and the expiration, elimination or reduction of these benefits could adversely impact our business.

Our business depends on government policies that promote and support solar energy and enhance the economic viability of owning solar energy systems. U.S. federal, state and local governmental bodies provide incentives to owners, distributors, installers and manufacturers of solar energy systems to promote solar energy. These incentives include an investment tax credit (“Commercial ITC”) and income tax credit offered by the federal government, as well as other tax credits, rebates and SRECs associated with solar energy generation. We rely on these incentives to lower our cost of capital and to attract investors, all principalof which enable us to lower the price we charge customers for our solar service offerings. These incentives have had a significant impact on the development of solar energy but they could change at any time, as further described below. These incentives may also expire on a particular date, end when the allocated funding is exhausted, or be reduced, terminated or repealed without notice. The financial value of certain incentives may also decrease over time.

In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and accrued interest,Job Acts of 2017 (the “Tax Act”) was enacted. As part of the Tax Act, the corporate income tax rate was reduced, and there were other changes, including limiting or eliminating various other deductions, credits and tax preferences. The IRA implemented a corporate alternative minimum tax of 15% of financial statement income (subject to certain adjustments) for companies that report over $1 billion in profits to shareholders; similar to existing law, business credits (including Commercial ITCs) are limited to 75% of income in excess of $25,000 (with no limit against the first $25,000). We cannot predict whether and to what extent the U.S. corporate income tax rate will change under the Biden administration. The U.S. Congress is constantly considering changes to the tax code. Further limitations on, or elimination of, the tax benefits that support the financing of solar energy under current U.S. law could significantly and adversely impact our business.

Our business model also relies on multiple tax exemptions offered at the state and local levels. For example, some states have property tax exemptions that exempt the value of solar energy systems in determining values for calculation of local and state real and personal property taxes. State and local tax exemptions can have sunset dates, triggers for loss of the exemption, and can be changed by state legislatures and other regulators, and if solar energy systems were not exempt from such taxes, the property taxes payable by customers would be higher, which could offset any potential savings our solar service offerings could offer. Similarly, if state or local legislatures or tax administrators impose property taxes on third-party owners of solar energy systems, solar companies like us would be subject to higher costs.

In general, we rely on certain state and local tax exemptions that apply to the sale of equipment, sale of power, or both. These state and local tax exemptions can expire, can be changed by state legislatures, or their application to us can be challenged by regulators, tax administrators, or court rulings. Any changes to, or efforts to overturn, federal and state laws, regulations or policies that are supportive of solar energy generation or that remove costs or other limitations on other types of energy generation that compete with solar energy projects could materially and adversely affect our business.

We rely on certain utility rate structures, such as net metering, to offer competitive pricing to customers, and changes to those policies may significantly reduce demand for electricity from our solar energy systems.

As of December 31, 2023, a substantial majority of states have adopted net metering policies, including Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri. Net metering policies allow homeowners to serve their own energy load using on-site generation while avoiding the full retail volumetric charge for electricity. Electricity that is generated by a solar energy system and consumed on-site avoids a retail energy purchase from the applicable utility, and excess electricity that is exported back to the electric grid generates a retail credit within a homeowner’s monthly billing period. At the end of the monthly billing period, if the debt is payable on demand;homeowner has generated excess electricity within that month, the homeowner typically carries forward a credit for any excess electricity to be offset against future utility energy purchases. At the end of an annual billing period or calendar year, utilities either continue to carry forward a credit, or reconcile the homeowner’s final annual or calendar year bill using different rates (including zero credit) for the exported electricity.

 

our inabilityUtilities, their trade associations, and fossil fuel interests in the country are currently challenging net metering policies, and seeking to obtain necessary additional financing ifeliminate them, cap them, reduce the debt contains covenants restricting ourvalue of the credit provided to homeowners for excess generation, or impose charges on homeowners that have net metering.


A few states have moved away from traditional full retail net metering and instead values excess generation by customers’ solar systems in various ways. For example, in 2017, Nevada enacted legislation to restore net metering at a reduced credit and guarantee new customers the net metering rate in effect at the time they applied for interconnection for 20 years. In 2016, the Arizona Corporation Commission replaced retail net metering with a net-feed in tariff (a fixed export rate). Some states set limits on the total percentage of a utility’s customers that can adopt net metering or set a timeline to evaluate net metering successor tariffs. For example, South Carolina passed legislation in 2019 that required review of net metering after two years. In 2021, the South Carolina Public Service Commission approved a portion of Duke Energy’s proposal that maintains the net metering framework with time-of-use rates and rejected a proposal from Dominion Energy to eliminate net metering altogether. In 2021 legislation, Illinois changed its net metering threshold from a percentage of customers to full retail net metering offered to a date certain (December 31, 2024) with a directed successor tariff that includes values that distributed resources provide to the distribution grid. New Jersey currently has no net metering cap; however, it has a threshold that triggers commission review of its net metering policy. States we serve now or in the future may adopt similar policies or net metering caps. If the net metering caps in these jurisdictions are reached without an extension of net metering policies, homeowners in those jurisdictions will not have access to the economic value proposition net metering provides. Our ability to obtain such financing whilesell our solar service offerings may be adversely impacted by the debtfailure to extend existing limits to net metering or the elimination of currently existing net metering policies. The failure to adopt a net metering policy where it currently is outstanding;not in place would pose a barrier to entry in those states. On April 26, 2022, Florida Governor DeSantis vetoed legislation that would have established a threshold date and percentage trigger when retail net metering would have faced declines in the immediate export rate.

 

Additionally, the imposition of charges that only or disproportionately impact homeowners that have solar energy systems, or the introduction of rate designs mentioned above, would adversely impact our inabilitybusiness. Because fixed charges cannot easily be avoided with the installation of an on-site battery, which can mitigate or eliminate the negative impacts of net metering changes, these fixed charges have the potential to pay dividendscause a more significant adverse impact. In June of 2021, two of four commissioners of FERC, including its chairperson, issued a letter stating there was a “strong case” such fixed charges in Alabama “may be violating the Commission’s PURPA regulations, undermining the statute’s purpose of encouraging Qualifying Facilities,” which is the Commission’s term for on-site generation. Litigation regarding the legality of these charges is ongoing in federal court. Most recently, on our Class A ordinary shares;April 26, 2022, Florida Governor DeSantis vetoed legislation that would have allowed investor-owned utilities to petition the Public Service Commission for the ability to add fixed charges on solar customers. As part of the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) final decision on December 15, 2022, the CPUC rejected a solar specific fixed charge on solar customers.

 

using a substantial portionElectric utility policies, statutes, and regulations and changes to such statutes or regulations may present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to the purchase and use of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on our debt, which willsolar energy offerings that may significantly reduce the funds availabledemand for dividends on our Class A ordinary shares, expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;such offerings.

 

limitationsFederal, state and local government policies, statutes and regulations concerning electricity heavily influence the market for our solar energy offerings and are constantly evolving. These statutes, regulations, and administrative rulings relate to electricity pricing, net metering, consumer protection, incentives, taxation, competition with utilities and the interconnection of homeowner-owned and third party-owned solar energy systems to the electrical grid. These policies, statutes and regulations are constantly evolving. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, change and adopt different rates for residential customers on our flexibility in planning fora regular basis and reacting tothese changes in our business and in the industry in which we operate;

increased vulnerability to adverse changes in general economic, industry and competitive conditions and adverse changes in government regulation; and

limitationscan have a negative impact on our ability to borrow additional amounts for expenses, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements, execution of our strategy and other purposes and other disadvantages compareddeliver savings, or energy bill management, to our competitors who have less debt.customers.

 

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Our sponsor controlsIn addition, many utilities, their trade associations, and fossil fuel interests in the country, which have significantly greater economic, technical, operational, and political resources than the residential solar industry, are currently challenging solar-related policies to reduce the competitiveness of residential solar energy. Any adverse changes in solar-related policies could have a substantial interestnegative impact on our business and prospects.

We are not currently regulated as a utility under applicable laws, but we may be subject to regulation as a utility in usthe future or become subject to new federal and thusstate regulations for any additional solar service offerings we may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentiallyintroduce in a manner that youthe future.

Most federal, state, and municipal laws do not support.

Our sponsor ownscurrently regulate us as a utility. As a result, we are not subject to the various regulatory requirements applicable to U.S. utilities. However, any federal, state, local or other applicable regulations could place significant portionrestrictions on our ability to operate our business and execute our business plan by prohibiting or otherwise restricting our sale of electricity. These regulatory requirements could include restricting our issued and outstanding ordinary sharessale of electricity, as of March 28, 2023. Accordingly, it may exert a substantial influence on actions requiring a shareholder vote, potentially in a manner that you do not support, including amendments to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. If our sponsor purchases any additional Class A ordinary shares inwell as regulating the aftermarket or in privately negotiated transactions, this would increase its control. Neither our sponsor nor, to our knowledge, any of our officers or directors, have any current intention to purchase additional securities, other than as disclosed in this Report. Factors that would be considered in making such additional purchases would include consideration of the current trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. Assuming that only one-third of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares, representing a quorum under our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, are voted,solar service offerings. If we will not need any public shares in addition to our founder shares to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have an initial business combination approved. In addition, our board of directors, whose members were elected by our sponsor, is divided into three classes, each of which will generally serve for a term of three years with only one class of directors being elected in each year. We may not hold an annual meeting of shareholders to elect new directors priorbecome subject to the completion ofsame regulatory authorities as utilities or if new regulatory bodies are established to oversee our initial business, combination, in which case all of the current directors will continue in office until at least the completion of the business combination. If there is an annual meeting, as a consequence of our “staggered” board of directors, only a minority of the board of directors will be considered for election and our sponsor, because of its ownership position, will control the outcome, as only holders of our Class B ordinary shares will have the right to vote on the election of directors and to remove directors prior to our initial business combination. Accordingly, our sponsor will continue to exert control at least until the completion of our initial business combination. In addition, we have agreed not to enter into a definitive agreement regarding an initial business combination without the prior consent of our sponsor.

We may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of public warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants. As a result, the exercise price of your warrantsoperating costs could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of our Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.materially increase.

Our warrants were issued in registered form under a warrant agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and us. The warrant agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder for the purpose of (i) curing any ambiguity or correct any mistake, including to conform the provisions of the warrant agreement


Changes to the description of the terms of the warrantsapplicable laws and the warrant agreement set forth in this Report,regulations governing direct-to-home sales and marketing may limit or defective provision (ii) amending the provisions relating to cash dividends on ordinary shares as contemplated by and in accordance with the warrant agreement or (iii) adding or changing any provisions with respect to matters or questions arising under the warrant agreement as the parties to the warrant agreement may deem necessary or desirable and that the parties deem to not materially adversely affect the rights of the registered holders of the warrants, provided that the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants is required to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of public warrants. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the public warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 50% of the then-outstanding public warrants approve of such amendment and, solely with respect to any amendment to the terms of the private placement warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the private placement warrants, 50% of the number of the then outstanding private placement warrants. Althoughrestrict our ability to amendeffectively compete.

We utilize a direct-to-home sales model as a primary sales channel and are vulnerable to changes in laws and regulations related to direct sales and marketing that could impose additional limitations on unsolicited residential sales calls and may impose additional restrictions such as adjustments to our marketing materials and direct-selling processes, and new training for personnel. If additional laws and regulations affecting direct sales and marketing are passed in the termsmarkets in which we operate, it would take time to train our sales professionals to comply with such laws, and we may be exposed to fines or other penalties for violations of such laws. If we fail to compete effectively through our direct-selling efforts, our financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects could be adversely affected.

Increases in the cost or reduction in supply of solar energy system and energy storage system components due to tariffs or trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. government could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

China is a major producer of solar cells and other solar products. Certain solar cells, modules, laminates and panels from China are subject to various U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty rates, depending on the exporter supplying the product, imposed by the U.S. government as a result of determinations that the U.S. was materially injured as a result of such imports being sold at less than fair value and subsidized by the Chinese government. Historically, we and our subcontractors regularly surveyed the market to identify multiple alternative locations for product manufacturers. Nonetheless, many of the public warrants withsolar products we purchase are from manufacturers in China or from manufacturers in other jurisdictions who rely, in part, on products sourced in China. If alternative sources are not available on competitive terms in the consentfuture, we and our subcontractors may be required to purchase these products from manufacturers in China. In addition, tariffs on solar cells, modules and inverters in China may put upward pressure on prices of at least 50%these products in other jurisdictions from which we or our subcontractors currently purchase equipment, which could reduce our ability to offer competitive pricing to potential customers.

The antidumping and countervailing duties discussed above are subject to annual review and may be increased or decreased. Furthermore, under Section 301 of the then-outstanding public warrants is unlimited, examplesTrade Act of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase1974, the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of Class A ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.

Our warrant agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with our company.

Our warrant agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the warrant agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courtsOffice of the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of America areimports from China, including inverters and certain AC modules and non-lithium-ion batteries, effective September 24, 2018. In May 2019, the soletariffs were increased from 10% to 25% and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interestmay be raised by the USTR in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in our warrant agreement. If any action,future. Since these tariffs impact the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisionspurchase price of the warrant agreement, issolar products, these tariffs raise the cost associated with purchasing these solar products from China and reduce the competitive pressure on providers of solar cells not subject to these tariffs.

In August 2021, an anonymous trade group filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce (the “Department of Commerce”) requesting an investigation into whether solar panels and cells imported from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are circumventing anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed on solar products manufactured in a court other than a courtChina. The group also requested the imposition of tariffs on such imports ranging from 50%—250%. In November 2021, the Department of Commerce rejected the petition, citing the petitioners’ ongoing anonymity as one of the Statereasons for its decision. In March 2022, the Department of New York orCommerce announced it is initiating country-wide circumvention inquiries to determine whether imports of solar cell and modules produced in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam that use components from China are circumventing anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on solar cells and modules from China. The Department of Commerce’s inquiries were initiated pursuant to a petition filed by Auxin Solar, Inc. on February 8, 2022.

While the investigation remains ongoing, in December 2022, the Department of Commerce announced its preliminary determination in the investigation. In its determination, the Department of Commerce found that certain Chinese solar manufacturers circumvented U.S. import duties by routing some of their operations through Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Given the Department of Commerce preliminarily found that circumvention was occurring through each of the four Southeast Asian countries, the Department of Commerce made a “country-wide” circumvention finding, which designates each country as one through which solar cells and modules are being circumvented from China. However, companies in these countries will be permitted to certify they are not circumventing the U.S. import duties, in which case the circumvention findings may not apply. The Department of Commerce will take a number of additional steps before issuing a final determination. In particular, the Department of Commerce will conduct in-person audits to verify the information that was the basis of its preliminary determination. Furthermore, the Department of Commerce will gather public comments on the preliminary determination to consider before issuing its final determination.


Notably, however, on June 6, 2022, the President of the United States District Courtissued an emergency declaration establishing a tariff exemption of two years for solar panels and cells imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, delaying the Southern Districtpossibility of New York (a “foreign action”)the imposition of dumping duties until the end of such two-year period. In September 2022, the Department of Commerce issued its final rule effectuating the two-year exemption period, and new dumping duties will not be imposed on solar panels and cells imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam until the earlier of two years after the date of the emergency declaration or when the emergency is terminated. Tariffs may be reinstated following the exemption period, but imports of solar cells and modules will not be subject to retroactive tariffs during the exemption period. The addition of new dumping duties would significantly disrupt the supply of solar cells and modules to customers in the nameU.S., as a large percentage of any holdersolar cells and modules used in the U.S. are imported from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. If imposed, these or similar tariffs could put upward pressure on prices of these solar products, which could reduce our warrants, such holder shallability to offer competitive pricing to potential customers.

In addition, in December 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended the President extend tariffs initially imposed in 2018 on imported crystalline silicon PV cells and modules for another four years, until 2026. Under Presidential Proclamation 10339, published in February 2022, President Biden extended the tariff beyond the scheduled expiration date of February 6, 2022, with an initial tariff of 14.75%, which will gradually be deemedreduced to have consented to: (x)14% by the personal jurisdictioneighth year of the statemeasure. Since such actions increase the cost of imported solar products, to the extent we or our subcontractors use imported solar products or domestic producers are able to raise their prices for their solar products, the overall cost of the solar energy systems will increase, which could inhibit our ability to offer competitive pricing in certain markets.

Additionally, the U.S. government has imposed various trade restrictions on Chinese entities determined to be acting contrary to U.S. foreign policy and federal courts locatednational security interests. For example, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has added a number of Chinese entities to its entity list for enabling human rights abuses in the StateXUAR or for procuring U.S. technology to advance China’s military modernization efforts, thereby imposing severe trade restrictions against these designated entities. Moreover, in June 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a Withhold Release Order pursuant to Section 307 of New Yorkthe Tariff Act of 1930 excluding the entry into U.S. commerce of silica-based products (such as polysilicon) manufactured by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd. (“Hoshine”) and related companies, as well as goods made using those products, based on allegations related to Hoshine labor practices in the XUAR to manufacture such products. Additionally, in December 2021, Congress passed the UFLPA, which, with limited exception, prohibits the importation of all goods or articles mined or produced in whole or in part in the XUAR, or goods or articles mined or produced by entities working with the XUAR government to recruit, transport or receive forced labor from the XUAR. To date, intensive examinations, withhold release orders, and related governmental procedures have resulted in supply chain and operational delays throughout the industry. Although we maintain policies and procedures designed to maintain compliance with applicable governmental laws and regulations, these and other similar trade restrictions that may be imposed in the future may cause us to incur substantially higher compliance and due diligence costs in connection with procurement and have the effect of restricting the global supply of, and raising prices for, polysilicon and solar products, which could increase the overall cost of solar energy systems, reduce our ability to offer competitive pricing in certain markets and adversely impact our business and results of operations. Further, any action broughtoperational delays or other supply chain disruption resulting from the human rights concerns or any of the supply chain risks articulated above, associated governmental responses, or a desire to source products, components, or materials from other manufacturers or regions could result in shipping, sales and installation delays, cancellations, penalty payments, or loss of revenue and market share, or may cause our key suppliers to seek to re-negotiate terms and pricing with us, any such courtof which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.

While we believe the tariffs and trade regulations described above have contributed to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having serviceprice increases for components that we purchase, we believe that these price increases were due largely to a combination of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counselother factors, including supply chain constraints, increased demand for solar systems in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.

This choice-of-forum provisionU.S. and Europe, rising inflation, and higher labor, material, and shipping costs. We do not have information that allows us to quantify the specific amount of price increases attributable to the tariffs and trade regulations described. We cannot predict what additional actions the U.S. may limit a warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with our company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our warrant agreement inapplicable or unenforceableadopt with respect to onetariffs or moreother trade regulations or what actions may be taken by other countries in retaliation for such measures. The tariffs described above, the adoption and expansion of trade restrictions, the specified typesoccurrence of actionsa trade war or proceedings, we may incurother governmental action related to tariffs, trade agreements or related policies have the potential to adversely impact our supply chain and access to equipment, our costs and ability to economically serve certain markets. If additional costs associated with resolving such matters inmeasures are imposed or other jurisdictions,negotiated outcomes occur, our ability or the ability of our subcontractors to purchase these products on competitive terms or to access specialized technologies from other countries could be further limited, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.


Any failure to comply with laws and regulations relating to interactions by us or third parties (such as our dealers and subcontractors) with customers or with licensing requirements applicable to our business could result in negative publicity, claims, investigations and litigation, and may adversely affect our financial performance.

Our business involves transactions with customers. We and our subcontractors and dealers must comply with numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations that govern matters relating to our interactions with customers, including those pertaining to privacy and data security, home improvement contracts, warranties and direct-to-home solicitation, along with certain rules and regulations specific to the marketing and sale of residential solar products and services. These laws and regulations are dynamic and subject to potentially differing interpretations, and various federal, state and local legislative and regulatory bodies may expand current laws or regulations, or enact new laws and regulations, regarding these matters. Changes in these laws or regulations or their interpretation could dramatically affect how we do business, acquire customers, and manage and use information we collect from and about current and prospective customers and the costs associated therewith. We strive to comply with all applicable laws and regulations relating to our interactions with customers. It is possible, however, that these requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Noncompliance with any such laws or regulations, or the perception that we or our subcontractors or dealers have violated such laws or regulations or engaged in deceptive practices that could result in a violation, could also expose us to claims, proceedings, litigation and investigations by private parties and regulatory authorities, as well as substantial fines and negative publicity, each of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant expenses to comply with such laws and regulations, and increased regulation of matters relating to our interactions with customers could require us to modify our operations and incur significant additional expenses, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Any investigations, actions, adoption or amendment of regulations relating to the marketing of our products could divert management’s attention from our business, require us to modify our operations and incur significant additional expenses, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations or could reduce the number of our potential customers.

We cannot ensure that our sales professionals and other personnel will always comply with our standard practices and policies, as well as applicable laws and regulations. In any of the numerous interactions between our sales professionals or other personnel and our customers or potential customers, our sales professionals or other personnel may, without our knowledge and despite our efforts to effectively train them and enforce compliance, engage in conduct that is or may be prohibited under our standard practices and policies and applicable laws and regulations. Any such non-compliance, or the perception of non-compliance, may expose us to claims, proceedings, litigation, investigations or enforcement actions by private parties or regulatory authorities, as well as substantial fines and negative publicity, each of which may materially and adversely affect our business and reputation. We have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant expenses to comply with the laws, regulations and industry standards that apply to us.

In addition, our affiliations with third-party dealers and subcontractors may subject us to alleged liability in connection with actual or alleged violations of law by such third parties, whether or not actually attributable to us, which may expose us to significant damages and penalties, and we may incur substantial expenses in defending against legal actions related to third parties, whether or not we are ultimately found liable.

Compliance with environmental laws and regulations can be expensive, and noncompliance with these laws and regulations may result in adverse publicity and potentially significant monetary damages and fines.

We are required to comply with all applicable foreign, U.S. federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding pollution control and protection of safety and the environment. These law and regulations may include obligations relating to the release, emissions or discharge of materials into the air, water and ground, the generation, storage, handling, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes and the health and safety of our employees and other persons. Under some statutes and regulations, a government agency, or other parties, may seek recovery and response costs from owners or operators of property where releases of hazardous substances have occurred or are ongoing, even if the owner or operator was not responsible for such release or otherwise at fault. We use solar energy system and energy storage components that may contain toxic, volatile and otherwise hazardous substances in our operations. Any failure by us to control the use of, transport of, or to restrict adequately the discharge of, hazardous substances could subject us to, among other matters, potentially significant monetary damages and fines or liabilities or suspensions of our business operations. In addition, if more stringent laws and regulations are adopted in the future, the costs of compliance with these new laws and regulations could be substantial. If we fail to comply with present or future environmental laws and regulations, we may be required to pay substantial fines, suspend production or cease operations, or be subjected to other sanctions. Private parties may also have the right to pursue legal actions to enforce compliance as well as to seek damages for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations or for personal injury or property damage.


In addition, U.S. legislation includes disclosure requirements regarding the use of “conflict” minerals mined from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries and procedures regarding a manufacturer’s efforts to prevent the sourcing of such “conflict” minerals. We have incurred and will incur additional costs to comply with the disclosure requirements, including costs related to determining the source of any of the relevant minerals and metals used in our products. The implementation of these requirements could affect the sourcing and availability of minerals used in the manufacture of solar products. As a result, there may only be a limited pool of suppliers who provide conflict-free minerals, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain products in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. Since our supply chain is complex, we have not been able to sufficiently verify, and in the future, we may not be able to sufficiently verify, the origins for these conflict minerals used in our products. As a result, we may face reputational challenges with our customers and other stakeholders if we are unable to sufficiently verify the origins for all conflict minerals used in our products.

Compliance with health and safety laws and regulations can be complex, and noncompliance with these laws and regulations may result in potentially significant monetary damages and fines.

We are subject to a number of federal and state laws and regulations, including the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) and comparable state statues, establishing requirements to protect the health and safety of workers. The OSHA hazard communication standard, the US EPA community right-to-know regulations under Title III of the federal Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act, and comparable state statutes, require maintenance of information about hazardous materials used or produced in operations and provision of this information to employees, state and local government authorities, and citizens. Other OSHA standards regulate specific worker safety aspects of our operations. Substantial fines and penalties can be imposed, and orders or injunctions limiting or prohibiting certain operations may be issued, in connection with any failure to comply with these laws and regulations.

Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and international privacy and data protection laws, rules, policies and other obligations. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation and could result in claims, increased cost of operations or otherwise harm our business.

Consumer personal privacy and data security have become significant issues and the subject of rapidly evolving regulation. Furthermore, federal, state and local government bodies or agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, more laws and regulations affecting data privacy. For example, new California legislation and regulations afford California consumers an array of new rights, including the right to be informed about what kinds of personal information companies have collected and the purpose for the collection. Complying with such laws or regulations, including in connection with any future expansion into new states (e.g., California), may significantly impact our business activities and require substantial compliance costs that adversely affect our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. To date, we have not experienced substantial compliance costs in connection with fulfilling the requirements with any such laws or regulations. However, we cannot be certain that compliance costs will not increase in the future with respect to such laws or regulations. Furthermore, if we expand to foreign markets we will be subject to additional privacy and data protection laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union.

We operate a call center that uses personal information to conduct follow-up marketing calls to prospective customers of our solar energy systems. The out-going marketing calls we make are subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and any failure to comply with the TCPA could result in significant fines and potential litigation from consumers.

Any inability to adequately address privacy and security concerns, even if unfounded, or comply with applicable privacy and data protection laws, regulations and policies, could result in additional cost and liability to us, damage our reputation, inhibit sales and adversely affect our business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations and policies that are applicable to our business may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our solutions. If we are not able to adjust to changing laws, regulations and standards related to privacy or security, our business may be harmed.


A change in our effective tax rate could have a significant adverse impact on our business, and an adverse outcome resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our results.

A number of factors may adversely affect our future effective tax rates, such as the jurisdictions in which our profits are determined to be earned and taxed; changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities; adjustments to estimated taxes upon finalization of various tax returns; adjustments to our interpretation of transfer pricing standards; changes in available tax credits, grants and other incentives; changes in stock-based compensation expense; the availability of loss or credit carryforwards to offset taxable income; changes in tax laws or the interpretation of such tax laws (for example federal and state taxes); and changes in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). A change in our effective tax rate due to any of these factors may adversely affect our future results from operations.

Significant judgment is required to determine the recognition and measurement attributes prescribed in the accounting guidance for uncertainty in income taxes. The accounting guidance for uncertainty in income taxes applies to all income tax positions, including the potential recovery of previously paid taxes, which if settled unfavorably could adversely affect our provision for income taxes. In addition, we are subject to examination of our income tax returns by various tax authorities. We regularly assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from any examination to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. An adverse determination of an examination could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Additionally, U.S. tax reform may lead to further changes in (or departure from) these norms. As these and other tax laws and related regulations change, our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition could be materially impacted. Given the unpredictability of these possible changes and their potential interdependency, it is very difficult to assess whether the overall effect of such potential tax changes would be cumulatively positive or negative for our earnings and cash flow.

Risks Related to Ownership of Zeo Securities

Our management team has limited experience managing a public company, and regulatory compliance obligations may divert its attention from the day-to-day management of our businesses.

Most of the individuals who now constitute our management team have limited to no experience managing a publicly-traded company, interacting with public company investors and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our transition to being a public company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. These new obligations and constituents will require significant attention from our senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our businesses, which could adversely affect our businesses. It is probable that we will be required to expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company, which would increase our operating costs in future periods.

We will incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, Nasdaq listing requirements and other applicable securities laws and regulations. The expenses incurred by public companies generally for reporting and corporate governance purposes are greater than those for private companies. For example, the Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly, and current reports with respect to our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, and increase demand on our systems, particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company. In addition, as a public company, we may be subject to stockholder activism, which can lead to additional substantial costs, distract management, and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate. As a result of disclosure of information in this Report and in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition will become more visible, which may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors. We expect these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, and costly, although we are currently unable to estimate these costs with any degree of certainty.

We also expect that being a public company and being subject to new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain directors and officers liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These laws and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on the Board, committees of the Board or as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to delisting of Class A Common Stock, fines, sanctions, and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation. These factors may therefore strain our resources, divert management’s attention, and affect our ability to attract and retain qualified board members and executive officers.


A significant portion of the total outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock is restricted from immediate resale following the Closing of the Business Combination, but may be sold into the market shortly thereafter. This could cause the market price of Class A Common Stock to drop significantly, even if Zeo’s business is doing well.

Although the Sponsor and each other shareholder party to the Amendment to the Letter Agreement and each Lock-Up Seller party to the Lock-Up Agreement is prohibited from transferring any securities of Zeo until the earlier of (i) six months after the Closing and (ii) subsequent to the Closing, (a) satisfaction of the Early Lock-Up Termination or (b) the date on which Zeo completes a PubCo Sale (as defined in the Lock-Up Agreement), these shares of Class A Common Stock may be sold after the expiration or early termination or release of the respective applicable lock-up under the Amendment to the Letter Agreement or Lock-Up Agreement, as applicable. Additionally, the Initial Shareholders have agreed not to transfer an aggregate 500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock until two years after the Closing (with such shares being forfeited upon the occurrence of a Convertible OpCo Preferred Unit Optional Conversion within two years after Closing). We expect to file one or more registration statements to provide for the resale of such shares from time to time. As restrictions on resale end and the registration statements are available for use, the market price of Class A Common Stock could decline if the holders of currently restricted shares sell them or are perceived by the market as intending to sell them. These sales, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shares intend to sell shares, could reduce the market price of Class A Common Stock.

As a public reporting company, we are subject to rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding our internal control over financial reporting. If we fail to establish and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or report them in a timely manner, which could adversely affect our business.

We are a public reporting company subject to the rules and regulations established from time to time by the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. These rules and regulations require, among other things, that we establish and periodically evaluate procedures with respect to our internal control over financial reporting. Reporting obligations as a public company are likely to place a considerable strain on our financial and management systems, processes, and controls, as well as on our personnel.

As a public company, we are required to document and test our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act so that our management can certify as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting by the time our second annual report is filed with the SEC and thereafter, which requires us to document and make significant changes to our internal control over financial reporting. As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, as well as rules adopted, and to be adopted, by the SEC and Nasdaq, and other applicable securities rules and regulations, which impose various requirements on public companies, including the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and changes in corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these public company requirements. Moreover, we expect these rules and regulations to substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We may need to hire additional legal, accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge and maintain an internal audit function.

Likewise, as a public company, we may lose our status as an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and become subject to the SEC’s internal control over financial reporting management and auditor attestation requirements in the year in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which would occur once we are subject to Exchange Act reporting requirements for 12 months, have filed at least one SEC annual report and the market value of our common equity held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700 million as of the end of the prior fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter. If we become subject to the SEC’s internal control reporting and attestation requirements, we might not be able to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion. In addition, our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of poor design and changes in our business, including increased complexity resulting from any international expansion. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting could adversely affect the results of assessments by our independent registered public accounting firm and their attestation reports.

We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting, which includes hiring additional accounting and financial personnel to implement such processes and controls. We expect to incur costs related to implementing an internal audit and compliance function in the upcoming years to further improve our internal control environment.


We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate these material weaknesses, if management identifies additional material weaknesses in the future or if we otherwise fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial position or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business and stock price or cause our access to the capital markets to be impaired.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal controls over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. These material weaknesses are listed below:

Ineffective controls over period end financial disclosure and reporting processes, including not timely performing certain reconciliations and the completeness and accuracy of those reconciliations, and lack of effectiveness of controls over accurate accounting and financial reporting and reviewing the underlying financial statement elements that led to, for example, inappropriate revenue recognition, preparing consolidating financial statements that did not contain the required eliminating journal entries for intercompany transactions, and recording incorrect journal entries that also did not have the sufficient review and approval.

Insufficient controls around the review of certain technical accounting matters and related entries due to lack of sufficient staffing of adequate accounting resources.

Inadequate segregation of duties in various key processes, including user access within the information technology control environment.

Lack of documentation of policies and procedures including cybersecurity, user access reviews, and sufficient change management around the information technology control environment.

Incomplete mapping of our risk assessment to our accounting processes and control objectives and a lack of formality in our internal control activities, especially related to management review-type controls.

These control deficiencies could result in a misstatement in our accounts or disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to our financial statements that would not be prevented or detected. Accordingly, we determined that these control deficiencies constitute material weaknesses.

We are in the early stages of designing and implementing a plan to remediate the material weaknesses identified.

Our plan includes the below:

Designing and implementing a risk assessment process supporting the identification of risks.

Implementing systems and controls to enhance our review of significant accounting transactions and other new technical accounting and financial reporting issues and preparing and reviewing accounting memoranda addressing these issues.

Improving our internal control policies and procedures to specifically address controls around segregation of duties, cybersecurity, user access reviews, and changes in management.

Implementing specific user access, segregation of duties and change management controls within our financial reporting IT systems.

Hiring additional experienced accounting, financial reporting and internal control personnel and changing roles and responsibilities of our personnel as we transition to being a public company and are required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Section 404”). We are in the process of hiring additional resources and we are engaging with a third-party consulting firm to assist us with our formal internal control plan and to provide accounting services related to complex accounting transactions.

Implementing controls to enable an effective and timely review of period-end close procedures.

Implementing controls to enable an accurate and timely review of accounting records that support our accounting processes and maintain documents for internal accounting reviews.


We cannot assure you that these measures will significantly improve or remediate the material weaknesses described above. The implementation of these remediation measures is in the early stages and will require validation and testing of the design and operating effectiveness of our internal controls over a sustained period of financial reporting cycles and, as a result, the timing of when we will be able to fully remediate the material weaknesses is uncertain. If the steps we take do not remediate the material weaknesses in a timely manner, there could be a reasonable possibility that these control deficiencies or others may result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements that would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. This, in turn, could jeopardize our ability to comply with our reporting obligations, limit our ability to access the capital markets and adversely impact our stock price.

We and our independent registered public accounting firm were not required to perform an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 in accordance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that we have identified all, or that we will not in the future have additional, material weaknesses. Material weaknesses may still exist when we report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as required by reporting requirements under Section 404.

Implementing any appropriate changes to our internal controls may distract our officers and employees, entail substantial costs to modify our existing processes and take significant time to complete. These changes may not, however, be effective in maintaining the adequacy of our internal controls, and any failure to maintain that adequacy, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and harm our business. In addition, investors’ perceptions that our internal controls are inadequate or that we are unable to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis may harm our stock price and make it more difficult for us to effectively market and sell our products and services to new and existing customers.

However, if we identify future deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting or if we are unable to comply with the demands that are placed upon us as a public company, including the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in a timely or effective manner, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, or report them within the timeframes required by the SEC. We also could become subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In addition, if we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting when required, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, we may face restricted access to the capital markets and our stock price may be adversely affected.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may also become inadequate because of poor design or changes in our business, including increased complexity resulting from any international expansion, and weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods, undermine investor confidence in us and adversely affect the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on Nasdaq.

Changing laws and regulations could create uncertainty for Zeo regarding compliance matters and result in higher costs.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs, and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations and may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of themanagement’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs it may incur to respond to these requirements. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us, and our business may be adversely affected.


The rules and regulations applicable to public companies make it more expensive for Zeo to obtain and maintain director and officer liability insurance, which could adversely affect its ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

The rules and regulations applicable to public companies make it more expensive for Zeo to obtain and maintain director and officer liability insurance, and Zeo may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements. The potential for increased personal liability could also make it more difficult for Zeo to attract and retain qualified members of the Board, particularly to serve on its audit committee and compensation committee, and qualified executive officers.

An active, liquid market for Zeo’s securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of Zeo’s securities.

The price of Zeo’ssecurities may vary significantly due to factors specific to Zeoas well as to general market or economic conditions. Furthermore, an active, liquid trading market for Zeo’ssecurities may never develop, or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities without depressing the market price for the securities or at all unless an active, liquid market can be established and sustained. An inactive trading market may also impair Zeo’sability to attract and motivate employees through equity incentive awards and to acquire other companies, products or technologies by using shares of capital stock as consideration.

The market price of the shares of Class A Common Stock may decline.

The market price of the shares of Class A Common Stock may decline for a number of reasons, including if:

investors react negatively to the prospects of Zeo’sbusiness;

Zeo’sbusiness and prospects is not consistent with the expectations of financial or industry analysts; or

Zeo does not achieve the perceived benefits of the Business Combination as rapidly or to the extent anticipated by financial or industry analysts.

The price of Class A Common Stock may change significantly, even if Zeo’s business is doing well, and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.

The trading price of shares of Class A Common Stock is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced extreme volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your shares of Class A Common Stock at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as the following:

results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;

results of operations that vary from those of Zeo’s competitors;

changes in expectations as to Zeo’s future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors;

declines in the market prices of stocks generally;

strategic actions by Zeo or its competitors;

announcements by Zeo or its competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures, other strategic relationships or capital commitments;

any significant change in Zeo’s management;

changes in general economic or market conditions (including changes in interest rates or inflation) or trends in Zeo’s industry or markets;

changes in business or regulatory conditions, including new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to Zeo’s business;

future sales of Class A Common Stock or other securities;


dilution as a result of future exercises of Zeo Warrants or conversion of the Convertible OpCo Preferred Units;

investor perceptions of the investment opportunity associated with Class A Common Stock relative to other investment alternatives;

the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by Zeo or third parties, including Zeo’s filings with the SEC;

litigation involving Zeo, Zeo’s industry, or both, or investigations by regulators into the Board, Zeo’s operations or those of Zeo’s competitors;

guidance, if any, that Zeo provides to the public, any changes in this guidance or Zeo’s failure to meet this guidance;

the development and sustainability of an active trading market for Class A Common Stock;

actions by institutional or activist stockholders;

changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles; and

other events or factors, including those resulting from pandemics, natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.

These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of Class A Common Stock, regardless of Zeo’s actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of Class A Common Stock is low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If Zeo were involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of ourexecutive management from Zeo’s business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

Redeemable warrants issued in ESGEN’s initial public offering, entitling the holder thereof to purchase Class A Common Stock (the “Zeo Warrants”) will become exercisable for Zeo Common Stock, which would increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and boardresult in dilution to the stockholders of directors.Zeo.

We

Outstanding Zeo Warrants to purchase an aggregate of 13,799,989 shares of Zeo Common Stock are exercisable in accordance with the terms of the warrant agreement governing those securities. These Zeo Warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of the Business Combination. The exercise price of these Zeo Warrants is $11.50 per share. To the extent such Zeo Warrants are exercised, additional shares of Class A Common Stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the then existing holders of Class A Common Stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market.

Zeo stockholders may experience significant dilution as a result of a Convertible OpCo Preferred Unit Conversion.

Subject to the conditions described in the OpCo A&R LLC Agreement, holders of the Convertible OpCo Preferred Units may, or OpCo may require the holders of such Convertible OpCo Preferred Units to, convert all of such holder’s Convertible OpCo Preferred Units into such number of Exchangeable OpCo Units as determined by the conversion ratio applicable to the respective Convertible OpCo Preferred Unit Conversion. Upon the occurrence of a conversion of Convertible OpCo Preferred Units into Exchangeable OpCo Units, all Exchangeable OpCo Units received as a result of such conversion shall be immediately exchanged (together with an equal number of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock) into an equal number of shares of Class A Common Stock. Accordingly, if the Convertible OpCo Preferred Units are converted into Exchangeable OpCo Units and immediately thereafter exchanged for shares of Class A Common Stock, holders of Class A Common Stock could experience significant dilution. Further, if the holders of the shares of Class A Common Stock issued as a result of a Convertible OpCo Preferred Unit Conversion dispose of a substantial portion of such shares of Class A Common Stock in the public market, whether in a single transaction or series of transactions, it could adversely affect the market price for Zeo’s Class A Common Stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, could make it more difficult for Zeo or its stockholders to sell shares of Class A Common Stock in the future.


Zeo may be subject to securities class action litigation, which may harm its business and operating results.

Certain companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. Zeo may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against Zeo could result in substantial costs and damages and divert Zeo’s management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm Zeo’s business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.

Zeo may also be called on to defend itself against lawsuits relating to its business operations. Some of these claims may seek significant damages amounts. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation, the ultimate outcome of any such proceedings cannot be accurately predicted. A future unfavorable outcome in a legal proceeding could have an adverse impact on Zeo’s business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, current and future litigation, regardless of its merits, could result in substantial legal fees, settlements or judgment costs and a diversion of Zeo’s management’s attention and resources that are needed to successfully run Zeo’s business.

Because there are no current plans to pay cash dividends on shares of Class A Common Stock for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your shares of Class A Common Stock at a price greater than what you paid for them.

Zeo intends to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion (which may include potential acquisitions) and debt repayment, and there are no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of Class A Common Stock will be at the sole discretion of the Board. The Board may take into account general and economic conditions, Zeo’s financial condition and results of operations, Zeo’s available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, implications of the payment of dividends by Zeo’s to its stockholders or by its subsidiaries to it and such other factors as the Board may deem relevant. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in the shares of Class A Common Stock unless you sell such shares for a price greater than that which you paid for it.

Zeo may issue additional shares of Class A Common Stock or other equity securities without seeking approval of its stockholders, which would dilute your ownership interests and may depress the market price of Class A Common Stock.

Zeo has Zeo Warrants outstanding to purchase up to an aggregate of 13,799,989 shares of Class A Common Stock. Additionally, Zeo will issue shares of Class A Common Stock to the holders of Convertible OpCo Preferred Units upon the occurrence of a Convertible OpCo Preferred Unit Conversion. Further, Zeo may choose to seek third-party financing to provide additional working capital for Zeo’s business, in which event Zeo may issue additional shares of Class A Common Stock or other equity securities. Zeo may also issue additional shares of Class A Common Stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank in the future for any reason or in connection with, among other things, future acquisitions, the redemption of outstanding Zeo Warrants or repayment of outstanding indebtedness, without stockholder approval, in a number of circumstances.

The issuance of additional shares of Class A Common Stock or other equity securities of equal or senior rank would have the following effects:

Zeo’s existing shareholders’ proportionate ownership interest in Zeo will decrease;

the amount of cash available per share, including for payment of dividends in the future, may decrease;

the relative voting strength of each previously outstanding share of Class A Common Stock may be diminished; and

the market price of the shares of Class A Common Stock may decline.

Zeo intends to file a registration statement with the SEC on Form S-8 that will automatically become effective upon filing. Our issuance of additional shares of Class A Common Stock or convertible securities could make it difficult for another company to acquire us, may dilute your ownership of us and could adversely affect the price of Class A Common Stock.

Zeo intends to file a registration statement with the SEC on Form S-8 providing for the registration of shares of Class A Common Stock issued or reserved for issuance under the 2024 Plan. Subject to the expiration of any applicable lock-ups, shares registered under the registration statement on Form S-8 will automatically become effective upon filing and be available for resale immediately in the public market without restriction. The initial registration statement on Form S-8 is expected to cover approximately 3,220,400 shares of Class A Common Stock.

In addition, the shares of Class A Common Stock reserved for future issuance under the 2024 Plan will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to provisions relating to various vesting agreements, lock-up agreements and, in some cases, limitations on volume and manner of sale by affiliates under Rule 144, as applicable.


If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about Zeo’s business, if they change their recommendations regarding the shares of Class A Common Stock or if Zeo’s operating results do not meet their expectations, the price and trading volume of shares of Class A Common Stock could decline.

The trading market for shares of Class A Common Stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about Zeo or its businesses. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of Zeo, the trading price for shares of Class A Common Stock could be negatively impacted. In the event securities or industry analysts initiate coverage, if one or more of the analysts who cover Zeo downgrade its securities or publish unfavorable research about its businesses, or if Zeo’s operating results do not meet analyst expectations, the trading price of shares of Class A Common Stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of Zeo or fail to publish reports on Zeo regularly, demand for shares of Class A Common Stock could decrease, which might cause the share price and trading volume to decline. Accordingly, holders of Class A Common Stock may experience a loss as a result of a decline in the market price of Class A Common Stock. In addition, a decline in the market price of Class A Common Stock could adversely affect Zeo’s ability to issue additional securities and to obtain additional financing in the future.

The ability of Zeo’s management to require holders of Zeo Warrants to exercise such Zeo Warrants on a cashless basis will cause holders to receive fewer shares of Class A Common Stock upon their exercise of such Zeo Warrants than they would have received had they been able to exercise such Zeo Warrants for cash.

If Zeo calls the Zeo Warrants for redemption after the redemption criteria described elsewhere in this Report have been satisfied, Zeo’s management will have the option to require any holder that wishes to exercise Zeo Warrants (including any Zeo Warrants held by the Initial Shareholders or their permitted transferees) to do so on a “cashless basis.” If Zeo’s management chooses to require holders to exercise their Zeo Warrants on a cashless basis, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock received by a holder upon exercise will be fewer than it would have been had such holder exercised his, her or its Zeo Warrants for cash. This will have the effect of reducing the potential “upside” of the holder’s investment in Zeo.

Zeo may redeem your unexpired warrantsZeo Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your warrants worthless.for holders of Zeo Warrants.

We

Zeo will have the ability to redeem the outstanding public warrantsZeo Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, if certain conditions are met, including the conditionZeo Warrant; provided, that the closinglast reported sales price of ourshares of Class A ordinary sharesCommon Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third tradingbusiness day prior to properthe date Zeo sends the notice of such redemption.redemption to the holders of Zeo Warrants. If and when the warrantsZeo Warrants become redeemable by us, weZeo, Zeo may exercise ourits redemption right even if we are unablethere is a current registration statement in effect with respect to register or qualify the shares of Class A Common Stock underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the warrants.such Zeo Warrants. Redemption of the outstanding warrantsZeo Warrants could force you toto: (i) exercise your warrantsZeo Warrants and pay the related exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so,so; (ii) sell your warrantsZeo Warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrantsZeo Warrants; or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrantsZeo Warrants are called for redemption, we expect wouldis likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.Zeo Warrants.

In addition, we have the abilityevent Zeo determines to redeem the outstanding public warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a priceZeo Warrants, holders of $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption if certain conditions are met, including the conditions that the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to proper noticesuch Zeo Warrants would be notified of such redemption andas described in the warrant agreement governing the Zeo Warrants. Specifically, in the event that holdersZeo elects to redeem all of the redeemable Zeo Warrants as described above, Zeo will fix a Zeo Warrant redemption date. Notice of redemption will be able to exercise their warrantsmailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, by Zeo not less than 30 days prior to redemption for a numbersuch date to the registered holders of Class A ordinary shares determined basedthe redeemable Zeo Warrants to be redeemed at their last addresses as they appear on the redemption date andregistration books. Any notice mailed in the fair market value of our Class A ordinary shares. The valuemanner provided in the warrant agreement governing the Zeo Warrants will be conclusively presumed to have been duly given whether or not the registered holder received upon exercisesuch notice. In addition, beneficial owners of the warrants (1) mayredeemable Zeo Warrants will be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (2) may not compensate the holders for the valuenotified of such redemption via Zeo’s posting of the warrants, including becauseredemption notice to DTC.

If Zeo’s performance does not meet market expectations, the numberprice of ordinary shares received is capped at 0.361 Class A ordinary shares per warrant (subjectits securities may decline.

If Zeo’s performance does not meet market expectations, the price of Zeo Common Stock may decline. Fluctuations in the price of Zeo Common Stock could contribute to adjustment) irrespectivethe loss of all or part of your investment. If an active market for Zeo Common Stock develops and continues, the trading price of Zeo Common Stock could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond its control. Any of the remaining life offactors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in Zeo Common Stock and it may trade at prices significantly below the warrants. In addition, our ability to redeemprice you paid for them.


Factors affecting the outstanding warrants when the market value equals or exceeds $10.00, which is less than the $11.50 per share exercisetrading price of the warrants, could result in holders having to exercise their warrants at a time when they are out-of-the-money or holders receiving nominal consideration for their warrants.

None of the private placement warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by our sponsor, the Salient Client Accounts or their permitted transferees.

Our warrantsZeo Common Stock may have an adverse effectinclude:

actual or anticipated fluctuations in Zeo’s quarterly financial results or the quarterly financial results of companies perceived to be similar to it;

changes in the market’s expectations about its operating results;

success of competitors;

its operating results failing to meet market expectations in a particular period;

changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts concerning Zeo or the solar energy industry and market in general;

operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable to Zeo;

its ability to market new and enhanced products on a timely basis;

changes in laws and regulations affecting its business;

commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving Zeo;

changes in its capital structure, such as future issuances of securities or the incurrence of additional debt;

the volume of shares of its common stock available for public sale;

any significant change in its board or management;

sales of substantial amounts of common stock by its directors, executive officers or significant stockholders or the perception that such sales could occur; and

general economic and political conditions such as recessions, interest rates, fuel prices, international currency fluctuations and acts of war or terrorism.

Broad market and industry factors may depress the market price of our Class A ordinary sharesZeo Common Stock irrespective of its operating performance. The stock market in general and make it more difficultthe Nasdaq have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to effectuate our initial business combination.

We issued 13,800,000 warrants to purchase our Class A ordinary shares as partthe operating performance of the units offered in our initial public offeringparticular companies affected.

 The trading prices and simultaneously with the closing of initial public offering, we issued in a private placement an aggregate of 14,040,000 private placement warrants, each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. In addition, if the sponsor, its affiliates or a member of our management team makes any working capital loans, it may convert up to $1,500,000 of such loans into up to an additional 1,500,000 private placement warrants, at the price of $1.00 per warrant. We may also issue Class A ordinary shares in connection with our redemption of our warrants.

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To the extent we issue ordinary shares for any reason, including to effectuate a business combination, the potential for the issuance of a substantial number of additional Class A ordinary shares upon exercisevaluations of these warrants could make us a less attractive acquisition vehicle to a target business. Such warrants, when exercised, will increasestocks, and of Zeo’s securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the number of issued and outstanding Class A ordinary shares and reducemarket for solar energy or the value of the Class A ordinary shares issued to complete the business transaction. Therefore, our warrants may make it more difficult to effectuate a business transaction or increase the cost of acquiring the target business.

Because each unit contains one-half of one redeemable warrant and only a whole warrant may be exercised, the units may be worth less than unitsstocks of other blank check companies.

Each unit contains one-half of one redeemable warrant. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, no fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units, and only whole units will trade. Accordingly, unless you purchase at least two units, you will not be able to receive or trade a whole warrant. If, upon exercise of the warrants, a holder would be entitled to receive a fractional interest in a share, we will, upon exercise, round down to the nearest whole number the number of Class A ordinary sharescompanies which investors perceive to be issued to the warrant holder. This is different from other offerings similar to ours whose units include one ordinary share and one whole warrant to purchase one whole share. We have established the componentsZeo could depress its stock price regardless of the unitsits business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in this way in order to reduce the dilutive effect of the warrants upon completion of a business combination since the warrants will be exercisable in the aggregate for one-half of the number of shares compared to units that each contain a whole warrant to purchase one whole share, thus making us, we believe, a more attractive merger partner for target businesses. Nevertheless, this unit structure may cause our units to be worth less than if a unit included a warrant to purchase one whole share.

A provision of our warrant agreement may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

Unlike most blank check companies, if (i) we issue additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of our initial business combination at a Newly Issued Price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share, (ii) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of our initial business combination on the date of the consummation of our initial business combination (net of redemptions), and (iii) the Market Value is below $9.20 per share, then the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $18.00 per share redemption trigger prices will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price. This may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.

Our warrants are expected to be accounted for as a warrant liability and will be recorded at fair value upon issuance with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings, which may have an adverse effect on the market price of Zeo Common Stock also could adversely affect its ability to issue additional securities and its ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

Delaware law and our governing documents contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions, that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.

Our governing documents and the DGCL contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by the Board and therefore depress the trading price of Class A ordinary shares or mayCommon Stock. These provisions could also make it more difficult for usstockholders to consummate an initial business combination.take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of the Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in the management of Zeo. Among other things, our governing documents include provisions regarding:

the ability of the Board to issue shares of preferred stock, including “blank check” preferred stock and to determine the price and other terms of those shares, including preferences and voting rights, without stockholder approval, which could be used to significantly dilute the ownership of a hostile acquirer;

the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, Zeo’s directors and officers;


the exclusive right of the Board to elect a director to fill a vacancy created by the expansion of the Board or the resignation, death or removal of a director, which prevents stockholders from being able to fill vacancies on the Board;

the requirement that, subject to the special rights of the holders of one or more series of preferred stock, special meetings of the stockholders may be called only (i) by or at the direction of the Board, the Chairperson of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer, in each case, in accordance with our bylaws or (ii) for so long as the holders of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock beneficially own, directly or indirectly, a majority of the total voting power of stock entitled to vote generally in election of directors, by or at the request of stockholders collectively holding shares of capital stock of Zeo representing a majority of the total voting power of stock entitled to vote generally in election of directors, which could delay the ability of stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or to take action, including the removal of directors;

controlling the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of the Board and stockholder meetings;

the requirement for the affirmative vote of holders of at least 2/3 of the voting power of all of the then outstanding shares of the voting stock, voting together as a single class, to amend, alter, change or repeal certain provisions of the Proposed Charter, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders, delay changes in Zeo and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to effect such amendments to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt;

the ability of the Board to amend our bylaws, which may allow the Board to take additional actions to prevent an unsolicited takeover and inhibit the ability of an acquirer to amend our bylaws to facilitate an unsolicited takeover attempt; and

Following

advance notice procedures with which stockholders must comply to nominate candidates to the Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a stockholders’ meeting, which could preclude stockholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of stockholders, delay changes in the Board and discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of Zeo.

These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in the consummationBoard or management.

Any provision of our initial public offering andgoverning documents or Delaware law that has the concurrent private placementeffect of warrants, we issued an aggregatedelaying or preventing a change in control could limit the opportunity for stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of 27,840,000 warrants (comprised of the 13,800,000 warrants included in the units and the 14,040,000 private placement warrants). We account for these as a warrant liability and will record at fair value upon issuance any changes in fair value each period reported in earnings as determined us based upon a valuation report obtained from its independent third party valuation firm. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, potential targets may seek a special purpose acquisition companyCommon Stock and could also affect the price that does not have warrants thatsome investors are accountedwilling to pay for as a warrant liability, which may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination with a target business.shares of Class A Common Stock.

 

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We are an emerging growth companya holding company. Our only material asset is our equity interest in OpCo, and a smaller reporting company withinwe are accordingly be dependent upon distributions from OpCo to pay taxes, make payments under the meaning of the Securities Act,Tax Receivable Agreement and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “emerging growth companies” or “smaller reporting companies,” this could makecover our securities less attractive to investorscorporate and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.overhead expenses.

We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our equity interest in OpCo. We have no independent means of generating revenue. To the extent OpCo has available cash, we intend to cause OpCo to make generally pro rata distributions to the holders of OpCo Units, including us, in an “emerging growth company” withinamount sufficient to cause each OpCo unitholder to receive a distribution at least equal to (i) such OpCo unitholder’s allocable share of net taxable income as calculated with certain assumptions, multiplied by an assumed tax rate, and (ii) with respect to us, any payments required to be made by us under the meaningTax Receivable Agreement. The assumed tax rate for this purpose will be the combined maximum U.S. federal, state, and local rate of tax applicable to an individual resident in New York City, New York for the applicable taxable year. We intend to cause OpCo to make non-pro rata payments to us to reimburse us for our corporate and other overhead expenses. To the extent that we need funds and OpCo or its subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions or payments under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of any current or future financing arrangements, or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, our liquidity and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Moreover, because we have no independent means of generating revenue, our ability to make tax payments and payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be dependent on the ability of OpCo to make distributions to us in an amount sufficient to cover our tax obligations and obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. This ability, in turn, may depend on the ability of OpCo’s subsidiaries to make distributions to OpCo. We intend that such distributions from OpCo and its subsidiaries be funded with cash from operations or from future borrowings. The ability of OpCo, its subsidiaries and other entities in which it directly or indirectly hold an equity interest to make such distributions will be subject to, among other things, (i) the applicable provisions of Delaware law (or other applicable jurisdiction) that may limit the amount of funds available for distribution and (ii) restrictions in relevant debt instruments issued by OpCo or its subsidiaries and other entities in which it directly or indirectly holds an equity interest. To the extent that we are unable to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid, and such failure to make payments may result in a breach under the Tax Receivable Agreement in certain cases. Because distributions of OpCo will be used to fund Tax Receivable Agreement payments by us, OpCo’s liquidity will be affected negatively by the Tax Receivable Agreement in a material respect.


We will be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for certain tax benefits that we may claim, and the amounts of such payments could be significant.

In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement with the TRA Holders. This agreement generally provides for the payment by us to the TRA Holders of 85% of the Securities Act,net cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax and franchise tax (computed using simplifying assumptions to address the impact of state and local taxes) that we actually realize (or are deemed to realize in certain circumstances) in periods after the Business Combination as modified by the JOBS Act, and we may take advantagea result of certain exemptions from various reporting requirementsincreases in tax basis available to us pursuant to the exercise of the OpCo Exchange Rights or a Mandatory Exchange and certain benefits attributable to imputed interest. We will retain the benefit of the remaining 15% of any actual net cash tax savings that we realize.

The term of the Tax Receivable Agreement will continue until all tax benefits that are applicablesubject to the Tax Receivable Agreement have been utilized or expired, unless we experience a change of control (as defined in the Tax Receivable Agreement, which includes certain mergers, asset sales, or other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply withforms of business combinations) or the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation inTax Receivable Agreement otherwise terminates early (at our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As a result, our shareholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractiveelection or as a result of our reliance on these exemptions,breach or the trading pricescommencement of bankruptcy or similar proceedings by or against us), and we make the termination payments specified in the Tax Receivable Agreement in connection with such change of control or other early termination.

The payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are our securitiesobligations and not obligations of OpCo, and we expect that the payments required to be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will reduce the amount of cash provided by the tax savings that would otherwise have been available to us for other uses. Estimating the amount and timing of payments that may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities andbecome due under the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 102(b)(1)Tax Receivable Agreement is by its nature imprecise. For purposes of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from beingTax Receivable Agreement, net cash tax savings generally are calculated by comparing our actual tax liability (determined by using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income and franchise tax rate) to the amount we would have been required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that havepay had we not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a classbeen able to utilize any of securities registeredthe tax benefits subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. The actual increases in tax basis covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Exchange Act)Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending on a number of factors, including the timing of any redemption of Exchangeable OpCo Units, the price of Class A Common Stock at the time of each redemption, the extent to which such redemptions are required to comply withtaxable transactions, the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt outamount of the extended transition periodredeeming OpCo unitholder’s tax basis in its Exchangeable OpCo Units at the time of the relevant redemption, the depreciation and comply with the requirementsamortization periods that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt outthe increase in tax basis, the amount and timing of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies,taxable income we as an emerging growth company, can adoptgenerate in the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (1) the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30. To the extent we take advantage of such reduced disclosure obligations, it may also make comparison of our financial statements with other public companies difficult or impossible.

Compliance obligations under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may make it more difficult for us to effectuate a business combination, require substantial financial and management resources, and increase the time and costs of completing an acquisition.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and report on our system of internal controls beginning with this Report. We are not be required to comply with the independent registered public accounting firm attestation requirement on our internal control over financial reporting. The fact that we are a blank check company makes compliance with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act particularly burdensome on us as compared to other public companies because a target business with which we seek to complete our initial business combination may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of its internal controls. The development of the internal control of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such acquisition.

Because we are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, you may face difficulties in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights throughfuture, the U.S. federal courts may be limited.

We are an exempted company incorporatedincome tax rates then applicable, and the portion of our payments under the laws of the Cayman Islands. As a result, it may be difficult for investorsTax Receivable Agreement that constitute imputed interest or give rise to effect service of process within the United States upon our directorsdepreciable or officers, or enforce judgments obtained in the United States courts against our directors or officers.

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Our corporate affairs are governedamortizable tax basis. Any distributions made by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (as the same may be supplemented or amended from time to time) and the common law of the Cayman Islands, which we have designated as our exclusive forum for certain legal actions.

We are subject to the federal securities laws of the United States. The rights of shareholders to take action against the directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directorsOpCo to us in order to enable us to make payments under Cayman Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the Cayman Islands. The common law of the Cayman Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the Cayman IslandsTax Receivable Agreement, as well as from English common law, the decisions of whose courts are of persuasive authority, but are not binding on a court in the Cayman Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Cayman Islands law are different from what they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, the Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as comparedany corresponding pro rata distributions made to the United States, and certain states, such as Delaware, mayOpCo unitholders, could have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholders derivative action in a Federal courtsubstantial negative impact on our liquidity.

The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement following the exercise of the United States.

We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognizeOpCo Exchange Rights or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islandsa Mandatory Exchange will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be conditioned upon a TRA Holder having a continued ownership interest in respect of taxesus or a fine OpCo.

In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated and/or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgmentsignificantly exceed the actual benefits, if any, Zeo realizes in respect of the same matter, impeachable ontax attributes subject to the groundsTax Receivable Agreement.

If we experience a change of fraud or obtained in a manner, or becontrol (as defined under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which includes certain mergers, asset sales and other forms of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justicebusiness combinations) or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitiveTax Receivable Agreement otherwise terminates early (at our election or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.

Asas a result of allour breach or the commencement of bankruptcy or similar proceedings by or against us), our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement would accelerate and we would be required to make an immediate payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future payments to be made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and it is expected that such payment would be substantial. The calculation of anticipated future payments would be based upon certain assumptions and deemed events set forth in the Tax Receivable Agreement, including (i) that we have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the tax benefits covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement, and (ii) that any OpCo Units (other than those held by us) outstanding on the termination date are deemed to be redeemed on the termination date. If we were to experience a change of control or the Tax Receivable Agreement was otherwise terminated as of the Closing Date, we estimate that the early termination payment, calculated on the basis of the above public shareholdersassumptions and assuming a share price of $10.00 per share, would be approximately $66.4 million (calculated using a discount rate equal to (i) the greater of (a) 0.25% and (b) the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), plus (ii) 150 basis points). The foregoing amount is merely an estimate and the actual payment could differ materially. The aggregate amount of payments that are actually made under the Tax Receivable Agreement could substantially exceed the estimated termination payment described above.

Any early termination payment may have more difficultybe made significantly in protecting their interests inadvance of, and may materially exceed, the face of actions taken by management, membersactual realization, if any, of the boardfuture tax benefits to which the termination payment relates. Moreover, the obligation to make an early termination payment upon a change of directors or controlling shareholders than they would as public shareholders ofcontrol could have a United States company.

Provisions insubstantial negative impact on our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association may inhibit a takeover of us, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay in the future for our Class A ordinary sharesliquidity and could entrench management.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articleshave the effect of association contain provisions that may discourage unsolicited takeover proposals that shareholders may consider to be in their best interests. These provisions include a staggered board of directors, the ability of the board of directors to designate the terms of and issue new series of preference shares, and the fact that prior to the completion of our initial business combination only holders of our Class B ordinary shares, which have been issued to our sponsor, are entitled to vote on the election of directors, which may make more difficult the removal of management and may discourage transactions that otherwise could involve payment of a premium over prevailing market prices for our securities.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that the courts of the Cayman Islands are the exclusive forum fordelaying, deferring or preventing certain disputes between us and our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for complaints against us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, unless the company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum (a) the federal courts of the United States shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear, settle and/or determine any dispute, controversy or claim arising under the provisions of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, which are referred to as the “U.S. Actions;” and (b) save for such U.S. Actions, the courts of the Cayman Islands shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim or dispute arising out of or in connection with the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or otherwise related in any way to each member’s shareholding in the company, including but not limited to (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the company; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officermergers, asset sales, or other employeeforms of the company to the companybusiness combinations or the company’s members; (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provisionchanges of the Companies Act of the Cayman Islands or the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; or (iv) any action asserting a claim against the company concerning its internal affairs.

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This choice of forum provision may increase a shareholder’s cost and limit the shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any of our shares or other securities, whether by transfer, sale, operation of law or otherwise, shall be deemed to have notice of and have irrevocably agreed and consented to these provisions. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. It is possible that a court could find this type of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find this provision in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could have adverse effect on our business and financial performance.

General Risks

We are a recently incorporated company with limited 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 formed company, incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands with limited operating results. Accordingly, you have limited basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

Cyber incidents or attacks directed at us could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss.

We depend on digital technologies, including information systems, infrastructure and cloud applications and services, including those of third parties with which we may deal. Sophisticated and deliberate attacks on, or security breaches in, our systems or infrastructure, or the systems or infrastructure of third parties or the cloud, could lead to corruption or misappropriation of our assets, proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data. As an early stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We may not have sufficient resources to adequately protect against, or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to, cyber incidents. It is possible that any of these occurrences, or a combination of them, could have adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss.

Since only holders of our founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors, upon the listing of our shares on the Nasdaq, the Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, we may qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

Only holders of our founder shares have the right to vote on the appointment or removal of directors. As a result, the Nasdaq may consider us to be a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that

control.

we have a board that includes a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the Nasdaq;

 

we have a compensation committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and

we have a nominating committee of our board that is comprised entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.

We do not intend to utilize these exemptions and intend to comply with the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq, subject to applicable phase-in rules. However, if we determine in the future to utilize some or all of these exemptions, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements.

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Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.

In recent months, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. There can be no assurance that these trendswe will not continue.be able to satisfy our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.

The increased cost


In the event that payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are accelerated in connection with a change of control, the consideration payable to holders of Class A Common Stock in connection with such change of control could be substantially reduced.

If we experience a change of control (as defined under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which includes certain mergers, asset sales and decreased availabilityother forms of directorsbusiness combinations), we would be obligated to make a substantial immediate payment, and officers liability insurance could make it more difficultsuch payment may be significantly in advance of, and more expensive for usmay materially exceed, the actual realization, if any, of the future tax benefits to negotiate an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage aswhich the payment relates. As a result of becomingthis payment obligation, holders of Class A Common Stock could receive substantially less consideration in connection with a public company,change of control transaction than they would receive in the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense, accept less favorable termsabsence of such obligation. Further, any payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement will not be conditioned upon the TRA Holders having a continued interest in us or both. However,OpCo. Accordingly, the TRA Holders’ interests may conflict with those of the holders of Class A Common Stock.

We will not be reimbursed for any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impactpayments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are subsequently disallowed.

Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the post-business combination’s abilitytax reporting positions that we will determine. The IRS or another taxing authority may challenge all or part of the tax basis increases covered by the Tax Receivable Agreement, as well as other related tax positions we take, and a court could sustain such challenge. The TRA Holders will not be required to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

In addition, evenreimburse us for any payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreement if any tax benefits that have given rise to payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are subsequently disallowed, except that excess payments made to any TRA Holder will be netted against future payments that would otherwise be made to such TRA Holder, if any, after we were to complete an initial business combination, our directors and officers could stilldetermination of such excess (which determination may be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior tomade a number of years following the initial business combination.payment and after future payments have been made). As a result, in ordersuch circumstances, we could make payments that are greater than our actual net cash tax savings, if any, and we may not be able to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity, and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

We may be a passive foreign investment company (a “PFIC”),recoup those payments, which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax consequenceshave a substantial negative impact on our liquidity.

If OpCo were to U.S. investors.

If we arebecome a PFIC for anypublicly traded partnership taxable year (or portion thereof) that is included in the holding period of a U.S. Holder of our Class A ordinary shares or redeemable warrants, the U.S. holder may be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences and may be subject to additional reporting requirements. As used herein, the term “U.S. Holder” means a beneficial owner of Units, Class A ordinary shares or redeemable warrants that is for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (i) an individual citizen or resident of the United States, (ii) a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) that is created or organized (or treated as created or organized) in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia, (iii) an estate the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source or (iv) a trust if (A) a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trustpurposes, we and one or more United States persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust, or (B) it has in effect a valid election to be treated as a United States person. Our PFIC status for our current and subsequent taxable years may depend on whether we qualify for the PFIC start-up exception. Depending on the particular circumstances the application of the start-up exception mayOpCo might be subject to uncertainty,potentially significant tax inefficiencies, and there cannotwe would not be any assuranceable to recover payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreement even if the corresponding tax benefits were subsequently determined to have been unavailable due to such status.

We intend to operate such that we will qualify for the start-up exception. Accordingly, there can be no assurances with respect to our statusOpCo does not become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a PFIC for our current taxable year or any subsequent taxable year. Our actual PFIC status for any taxable year, however, will not be determinable until after the end of such taxable year. Moreover, if we determine we are a PFIC for any taxable year prior to our Business Combination, upon written request, we will endeavor to provide to a U.S. holder such information as the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) may require, including a PFIC Annual Information Statement, in order to enable the U.S. holder to make and maintain a qualified electing fund (“QEF”) election, but there can be no assurance that we will timely provide such required information, and such election would be unavailable with respect to our redeemable warrants in all cases. We urge U.S. investors to consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible application of the PFIC rules.

A new U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with redemptions of our shares.

On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IR Act”) was signed into federal law. The IR Act provides for, among other things, a new U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded domestic (i.e., U.S.) corporations and certain domestic subsidiaries of publicly traded foreign corporations. If we were to acquire a domestic corporation or engage in a transaction in which a domestic corporation becomes our parent or our affiliate and our securities trade on a U.S. stock exchange, we may become a “covered corporation” within the meaning of the IR Act. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its shareholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out and prevent the abuse or avoidance of the excise tax. The IR Act applies only to repurchases that occur after December 31, 2022.

Whether and to what extent the company would be subject to the excise tax in connection with a business combination or otherwise, would depend on a number of factors, including (i) the structure of a business combination, (ii) the fair market value of the redemptions and repurchases in connection with the business combination or otherwise, (iii) the nature and amount of any “PIPE” or other equity issuances in connection with a business combination (or otherwise issued not in connection with a business combination but issued within the same taxable year of a business combination) and (iv) the content of regulations and other guidance from the Treasury. In addition, because the excise tax would be payable by the company and not by the redeeming holder, the mechanics of any required payment of the excise tax have not been determined. The foregoing could cause a reduction in the cash available on hand to complete a business combination or a reduction in the cash available for a redemption of the Public Shares in connection with a business combination or otherwise.

An investment in our initial public offering may result in uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences.

An investment in our initial public offering may result in uncertain U.S. federal income tax consequences. For instance, there are no authorities that directly address instruments similar to the units we issued in our initial public offering, and the allocation an investor makes with respect to the purchase price of a unit between the underlying Class A ordinary share and the one-half of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share could be challenged by the IRS or a court. Furthermore, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of a cashless exercise of our warrants are unclear under current law. It is also unclear whether the redemption rights with respect to our Class A ordinary shares suspend the running of the holding period of a U.S. holder for purposes of determining whether any gain or loss recognized by such U.S. holder on a sale or exchange of Class A ordinary shares is long-term capital gain or loss and for determining whether any dividends we pay would be considered “qualified dividend income” (within the meaning of section 1(h)(11) of the Code) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Prospective investorsA “publicly traded partnership” is a partnership the interests of which are urgedtraded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. Under certain circumstances, transfers of OpCo Units could cause OpCo to consultbe treated as a publicly traded partnership. Applicable U.S. Treasury regulations provide for certain safe harbors from treatment as a publicly traded partnership, and we intend to operate such that redemptions or other transfers of OpCo Units qualify for one or more of such safe harbors. For example, we intend to limit the number of holders of OpCo Units, and the OpCo A&R LLC Agreement provides for certain limitations on the ability of holders of OpCo Units to transfer their OpCo Units and provides us, as the manager of OpCo, with the right to prohibit the exercise of an OpCo Exchange Right if we determine (based on the advice of counsel) there is a material risk that OpCo would be a publicly traded partnership as a result of such exercise.

If OpCo were to become a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax advisors with respect to thesepurposes, significant tax inefficiencies might result for us and other tax consequences when purchasing, holding or disposingfor OpCo, including as a result of our securities.

Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere could make it more difficult for usinability to consummate an initial business combination.

Recent increases in inflation and interest rates in the United States and elsewhere may lead to increased price volatility for publicly traded securities, including ours, and may lead to other national, regional and international economic disruptions, any of which could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination.

We identifiedfile a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and may identify additional material weaknesses in the future, or fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, which may result in material misstatements of our financial statements or cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations.

Our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022. We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, specifically,consolidated U.S. federal income tax return with OpCo. In addition, we did not design and maintain an effective control environment to prevent or detect material misstatements to the financial statements. Specifically, we lacked a sufficient complement of personnel with an appropriate level of internal controls and accounting knowledge, training and experience commensurate with our financial reporting requirements. Specifically, management did not design and maintain effective controls over the calculation of earnings per share and classification of the reinvestment of interest and dividend income in the Trust Account in the statement of cash flows.

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Risks Associated with Acquiring and Operating a Business in Foreign Countries

If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we may face additional burdens in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing such initial business combination, and if we effect such initial business combination, we would be subject to a variety of additional risks that may negatively impact our operations.

If we pursue a target company with operations or opportunities outside of the United States for our initial business combination, we would be subject to risks associated with cross-border business combinations, including in connection with investigating, agreeing to and completing our initial business combination, conducting due diligence in a foreign jurisdiction, having such transaction approved by any local governments, regulators or agencies and changes in the purchase price based on fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

If we effect our initial business combination with such a company, we would be subject to any special considerations or risks associated with companies operating in an international setting, including any of the following:

costs and difficulties inherent in managing cross-border business operations;

rules and regulations regarding currency redemption;

complex withholding taxes on individuals;

laws governing the manner in which future business combinations may be effected;

exchange listing and/or delisting requirements;

tariffs and trade barriers;

regulations related to customs and import/export matters;

local or regional economic policies and market conditions;

unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;

longer payment cycles;

tax issues, such as tax law changes and variations in tax laws as compared to the United States;

currency fluctuations and exchange controls;

rates of inflation;

challenges in collecting accounts receivable;

cultural and language differences;

employment regulations;

underdeveloped or unpredictable legal or regulatory systems;

corruption;

protection of intellectual property;

social unrest, crime, strikes, riots and civil disturbances;

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regime changes and political upheaval;

terrorist attacks, natural disasters and wars; and

deterioration of political relations with the United States.

We maymight not be able to adequately address these additional risks. If we were unable to do so, we may be unable to complete such initial business combination, or, if we complete such combination, our operations might suffer, either of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If our management following our initial business combination is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws, which could lead to various regulatory issues.

Following our initial business combination, our management may resign from their positions as officers or directors ofrealize tax benefits covered under the company and the management of the target business at the time of the business combination will remain in place. Management of the target business may not be familiar with United States securities laws. If new management is unfamiliar with United States securities laws, they may have to expend time and resources becoming familiar with such laws. This could be expensive and time-consuming and could lead to various regulatory issues which may adversely affect our operations.

After our initial business combination, substantially all of our assets may be located in a foreign country and substantially all of our revenue may be derived from our operations in any such country. Accordingly, our results of operations and prospects will be subject, to a significant extent, to the economic, political and social conditions and government policies, developments and conditions in the country in which we operate.

The economic, political and social conditions, as well as government policies, of the country in which our operations are located could affect our business. Economic growth could be uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy and such growth may not be sustained in the future. If in the future such country’s economy experiences a downturn or grows at a slower rate than expected, there may be less demand for spending in certain industries. A decrease in demand for spending in certain industries could materially and adversely affect our ability to find an attractive target business with which to consummate our initial business combination and if we effect our initial business combination, the ability of that target business to become profitable.

Exchange rate fluctuations and currency policies may cause a target business’ ability to succeed in the international markets to be diminished.

In the event we acquire a non-U.S. target, all revenues and income would likely be received in a foreign currency, and the dollar equivalent of our net assets and distributions, if any, could be adversely affected by reductions in the value of the local currency. The value of the currencies in our target regions fluctuate and are affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. Any change in the relative value of such currency against our reporting currency may affect the attractiveness of any target business or, following consummation of our initial business combination, our financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, if a currency appreciates in value against the dollar prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, the cost of a target business as measured in dollars will increase, which may make it less likely that we are able to consummate such transaction.

We may reincorporate in another jurisdiction in connection with our initial business combination, and the laws of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreementsTax Receivable Agreement, and we maywould not be able to enforcerecover any payments previously made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreement, even if the corresponding tax benefits (including any claimed increase in the tax basis of OpCo’s assets) were subsequently determined to have been unavailable.

In certain circumstances, OpCo will be required to make tax distributions to the OpCo unitholders, including us, and the tax distributions that OpCo will be required to make may be substantial. The OpCo tax distribution requirement may complicate our legal rights.ability to maintain our intended capital structure.

In connection

To the extent OpCo has available cash, we intend to cause OpCo to make generally pro rata distributions to the holders of OpCo Units, including us, in an amount sufficient to cause each OpCo unitholder to receive a distribution at least equal to (i) such OpCo unitholder’s allocable share of net taxable income as calculated with our initial business combination,certain assumptions, multiplied by an assumed tax rate, and (ii) with respect to us, any payments required to be made by us under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The assumed tax rate for this purpose will be the combined maximum U.S. federal, state, and local rate of tax applicable to an individual resident in New York City, New York for the applicable taxable year. The amount of tax distributions to such unitholder for any year may be reduced by prior operating distributions made to that unitholder for such year. As a result of certain assumptions in calculating the tax distribution payments, including the assumed tax rate, we may relocatereceive tax distributions from OpCo that exceed our actual tax liability and our obligations under the home jurisdictionTax Receivable Agreement by a material amount.

The receipt of such excess distributions would complicate our ability to maintain certain aspects of our businesscapital structure. Such cash, if retained, could cause the value of an OpCo Manager Unit to deviate from the Cayman Islands to another jurisdiction.value of a share of Class A Common Stock. If we determineretain such cash balances, the holders of Exchangeable OpCo Units would benefit from any value attributable to do this,such accumulated cash balances as a result of their exercise of the lawsOpCo Exchange Rights. We intend to take steps to eliminate any material cash balances. Such steps could include distributing such cash balances as dividends on the Class A Common Stock or reinvesting such cash balances in OpCo for additional OpCo Manager Units (with an accompanying stock dividend with respect to Class A Common Stock).

The tax distributions to the OpCo unitholders may be substantial and may, in the aggregate, exceed the amount of such jurisdiction may govern some or all of our future material agreements. The system of laws and the enforcement of existing laws in such jurisdiction maytaxes that OpCo would have paid if it were a similarly situated corporate taxpayer. Funds used by OpCo to satisfy its tax distribution obligations will generally not be as certainavailable for reinvestment in implementation and interpretation as in the United States. The inability to enforce or obtain a remedy under any of our future agreements could result in a significant loss of business, business opportunities or capital.its business.

 

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We are subject to changing law and regulations regarding regulatory matters, corporate governance and public disclosure that have increased both our costs and the risk of non-compliance.

We are subject to rules and regulations by various governing bodies, including, for example, the SEC, which are charged with the protection of investors and the oversight of companies whose securities are publicly traded, and to new and evolving regulatory measures under applicable law. Our efforts to comply with new and changing laws and regulations have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from seeking a business combination target.

Moreover, because these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance becomes available. This evolution may result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and additional costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to our disclosure and governance practices. If we fail to address and comply with these regulations and any subsequent changes, we may be subject to penalty and our business may be harmed.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

None.

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY.

Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy

We have developed and implemented, and continue to implement, cybersecurity risk management processes intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our critical systems and information. Primary cybersecurity oversight responsibility is shared by our board of directors, our audit and compliance committee (“Audit Committee”), and senior management.

Our cybersecurity risk management program includes physical, technological, and administrative controls intended to support our cybersecurity and data governance framework, including protections designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our key information systems and customer, employee, partner, and other third-party information stored on those systems. These measures include access controls, encryption, data handling requirements, and internal policies that govern our cybersecurity risk management and data protection practices. Our program also includes cybersecurity risk assessment processes designed to help identify material cybersecurity risks to our critical systems and information.

Over the past fiscal year, we have not identified risks from known cybersecurity threats that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, operating results, or financial condition.

We will continue to monitor and assess our cybersecurity risk management program as well as seek to improve such systems and processes as appropriate. If we were to experience a material cybersecurity incident in the future, such incident may have a material effect, including on our operations, business strategy, operating results, or financial condition. For more information regarding cybersecurity risks that we face and potential impacts on our business related thereto, see the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Report.


Cybersecurity Governance

With oversight from our board of directors, the Audit Committee is primarily responsible for assisting the board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities relating to risk assessment and management, including cybersecurity and other information technology risks. The Audit Committee oversees management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program, including processes and policies for determining risk tolerance, and reviews management’s strategies for adequately mitigating and managing identified risks relating to cybersecurity threats.

The Audit Committee will receive updates from members of management on our cybersecurity risks at its quarterly meetings, and reviews metrics about cyber threat response preparedness, program maturity, risk mitigation status, and the current and emerging threat landscape. In addition, management will provide updates to the Audit Committee, as necessary, regarding any material cybersecurity threats or incidents, as well as any incidents with lesser impact potential.

The Audit Committee reports to our board of directors regarding its activities, including those related to key cybersecurity risks, mitigation strategies, and ongoing developments, on a quarterly basis, or more frequently as needed. The board of directors also receives updates from management on our cyber risk management program and other matters relating to our data privacy and cybersecurity approach, including risk mitigations to bolster and enhance our data protection and data governance framework.

Our management team is responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats and for our overall cybersecurity risk management program on a day-to-day basis. Our management team supervises our efforts to prevent, detect, mitigate, and remediate cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, including through briefings from internal IT personnel, which may include threat intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in our IT environment.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

Our corporate headquarters are located in Florida under a lease that expires at the end of October 2026. We maintain offices for operations in Texas and Arkansas, and we have sales, marketing and executive offices in Utah and throughout Florida. We currently maintainlease the office and warehouse spaces that we use in our executive offices at 5956 Sherry Lane, Suite 1400, Dallas, Texas 75225. The cost foroperations, and we do not own any real property. We believe that our use of thisfacility space is included in the $10,000 per month feeadequately meets our needs and that we paywill be able to an affiliate of our sponsor for officeobtain any additional operating space administrative and support services (which is accrued in “Due to related party”). We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.that may be required on commercially reasonable terms..

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

To the knowledge of our management, there is no material litigation, arbitration or governmental proceeding currently pending against us or any members of our management team in their capacity as such.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.


PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

 

(a)

Market Information

Our units,

Following the Closing, on March 14, 2024, the Class A ordinary sharesCommon Stock and publicly traded warrants are each tradedbegan trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “ESACU”, “ESAC”symbols “ZEO” and “ESACW”“ZEOWW,” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on October 20, 2021. Our Class A ordinary shares and warrants began separate trading on December 13, 2021.

 

(b)

Holders

On March 28, 2023,22, 2024, there was one holder of record of our units, one holder of record of our Class A ordinary shares, 20 holders of record of our Class B ordinary sharesCommon Stock, and 1826 holders of record of our warrants.

 

(c)

Dividends

We have(c) Dividends

The Company has not paid any cash dividends on our ordinaryits shares of its common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination.date. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of our initial business combination.condition. The

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payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our boardthe Board.

(d) Recent Sales of directors at such time. If we increase the sizeUnregistered Securities; Use of our initial public offering, we will effect a share capitalization or other appropriate mechanism immediatelyProceeds from Registered Offerings

On March 13, 2024, prior to the consummationClosing, the Sponsor was issued 1,500,000 shares of our initialZeo Class V Common Stock pursuant to the terms of the Sponsor Subscription Agreement in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and/or Regulation D promulgated thereunder as a transaction by an issuer not involving a public offering in such amount aswithout any form of general solicitation or general advertising.

On March 13, 2024, at the Closing, the Sellers collectively received 33,730,000 shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock pursuant to maintain the number of founder shares, on an as-converted basis, at 20% of our issued and outstanding ordinary shares upon the consummation of our initial public offering. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with a business combination, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.

(d)

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

None.

(e)

Performance Graph

Not applicable.

(f)

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings

There has been no material change in the planned useterms of the proceedsBusiness Combination Agreement in reliance on the exemption from our initialregistration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and/or Regulation D promulgated thereunder as a transaction by an issuer not involving a public offering and private placement as is described in the final prospectus associated with our initial public offering (File No. 333-259836).without any form of general solicitation or general advertising.

 

(g)

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

None.

ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.

As discussed elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and below, Zeo became a publicly held entity in March 2024 upon the completion of the Business Combination with ESGEN.

The following discussion and analysis is exclusively attributable to the operations of ESGEN for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, as well as certain activities up to and including the effective date of the Business Combination, or March 13, 2024. This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and the related notes thereto, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and related notes included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data”the reported amounts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements reflecting our current expectations, estimates and assumptions concerning events and financial trends that may affect our future operating results or financial position.expenses during the reporting period. Actual results and the timing of events maycould differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements” appearing elsewhere in this Report.estimates.


Overview

We were incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on April 19, 2021 for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “Business Combination”). We have not selected any Business Combination target and we have not, nor has anyone on our behalf, initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any Business Combination target. We will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region in our identification and acquisition of a target company.

Our sponsor is ESGEN LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.company (the “Sponsor”).

The registration statement for our initial public offering (“initial public offering”, “IPO” or “Public Offering”) was declared effective on October 19, 2021. On October 22, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 27,600,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”“public shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (which included the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), and the sale of 14,040,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to our sponsorSponsor that closed simultaneously with ourthe initial public offering.

 

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Transaction costs amounted to $16,138,202 consisting of $5,520,000 of underwriting commissions, $9,660,000 of deferred underwriting commissions and $958,202 of other cash offering costs. Of this amount, $15,428,121 was charged to temporary equity and $710,081 was allocated to the warrants and expensed.

Following the closing of our initial public offering on October 22, 2021, $281,520,000 ($10.20 per Unit) from the net proceeds sold in our initial public offering, including proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, was deposited in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and, willuntil October 16, 2023, was only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations.

We To mitigate the risk of being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company under the Investment Company Act, on October 16, 2023, we instructed the Trustee with respect to the Trust Account, to liquidate the U.S. government securities or money market funds held in the Trust Account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account in demand deposits (i.e., in one or more bank accounts) until Aprilthe earliest of ESGEN’s completion of an initial business combination or July 22, 2023, with2024 (assuming the extensionSponsor deposits the required amount into the Trust Account for each New Additional Extension Date and unless the Company’s shareholders approve one or more further Additional Extensions), as described below,applicable.

Prior to shareholder approval of the First Extension Charter Amendment (as defined below), we had 15 months from the closing of our initial public offering to consummate the initial Business Combination. If we have not consummated the initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to us to pay income taxes, if any (less up to $100,000 of interest or dividends to pay winding up and dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.

On January 18, 2023, ourthe Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders votedto consider and vote upon, among other things, a proposal to amend ourthe Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Extension Proposal”“First Extension Charter Amendment”) to (i) extend the date by which the Company must consummate its initial Business Combination (the “Termination Date”) from January 22, 2023 to April 22, 2023 and (ii) in the event that the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination by April 22, 2023, to allow the Company, by resolution of the Company’s board of directors (the “Extended“Board”) and, without any approval of the Company’s shareholders, upon five days’ advance notice prior to each Additional Extension, to extend the Termination Date up to six times (with each such extension being upon five days’ advance notice), each by one additional month (for a total of up to six additional months to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension” and such date, an “Additional Extension Date”), provided that the dateSponsor or the Sponsor’s affiliates or permitted designees will deposit into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date the lesser of (a) $140,000 or (b) $0.04 for each public share that is then-outstanding, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Sponsor or the Sponsor’s affiliates or permitted designees (the “Termination Date”“Lenders” and each a “Lender”) by which we must mandatorily liquidate the company.. In connection with the vote to approve the First Extension Proposal,Charter Amendment, the holders of 24,703,445 Class A ordinary shares of ESGEN properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.35 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $255,875,757.$255,875,758. The Company currently has until July 22, 2024 (assuming the Sponsor deposits the required amount into the Trust Account for each New Additional Extension Date and unless the Company’s shareholders approve one or more further Additional Extensions) to complete an initial Business Combination.

Additionally,

On October 20, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting (the “Meeting”) and approved (i) (a) the extension (such proposal, the “Extension Proposal”) of the time period the Company has to complete an initial Business Combination from October 22, 2023 to January 22, 2024 (the “Charter Amendment”) and (b) in the event that we havethe Company has not consummated an initial business combinationBusiness Combination by January 22, 2024, to allow the Extended Date,Company, by resolution of the Board may extendand, without any approval of the Termination Date upCompany’s shareholders, upon five days’ advance notice prior to six times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to six additional monthsAdditional Extension, to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension Date”),six Additional Extensions, provided that wethe Sponsor or the Sponsor’s affiliates or permitted designees will deposit into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date the lesser of (a) $140,000(x) $35,000 or (b) $0.04(y) $0.0175 for each public share that is then-outstanding.then-outstanding, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by a Lender, and (ii) the amendment of the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to change certain provisions which restrict the Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, of the Company (the “Class B ordinary shares”) from converting to Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the “Class A ordinary shares”) prior to the consummation of an initial Business Combination (such proposal, the “Conversion Proposal”). As of the date of filing this report, the Company has deposited the requisite amounts into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date until March 22, 2024.


In connection with the vote to approve the above proposals, the holders of 1,488,000 Class A ordinary shares of ESGEN properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.21 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $16,679,055.

In connection with the approval of the Extension Proposal at the Meeting and the adoption of the Charter Amendment, the Sponsor contributed into the Trust Account $0.0525 per share for each Class A ordinary share that was not redeemed at the Meeting, for an aggregate contribution of $73,949.

In connection with the approval of the Conversion Proposal at the Meeting and the adoption of the Charter Amendment, the Sponsor converted all of its 5,619,077 Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares (the “Sponsor Share Conversion”). As a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and redemptions made in connection with the Extension Proposal and Conversion Proposal, 7,027,632 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding. Notwithstanding the Sponsor Share Conversion, the Sponsor will be not entitled to receive any funds held in the Trust Account with respect to any Class A ordinary shares issued to the Sponsor as a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and no additional amounts will be deposited into the Trust Account in respect of shares of Class A ordinary shares held by the Sponsor in connection with the extension of the Termination Date to the Extended Date or any Additional Extension Dates.

On March 13, 2024 (the “Closing Date”), the registrant consummated its previously announced business combination (the “Closing”), pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of April 19, 2023 (as amended on January 24, 2024, the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among Zeo Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation (f/k/a ESGEN Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company), ESGEN OpCo, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company(“OpCo”), Sunergy Renewables, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (“Sunergy”), the Sunergy equityholders set forth on the signature pages thereto or joined thereto (collectively, “Sellers” and each, a “Seller”, and collectively with Sunergy, the “Sunergy Parties”), for limited purposes, ESGEN LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), and for limited purposes, Timothy Bridgewater, an individual, in his capacity as the Sellers Representative (collectively, the “Business Combination”). Prior to the Closing, (i) except as otherwise specified in the Business Combination Agreement, each issued and outstanding Class B ordinary share of ESGEN was converted into one Class A ordinary share of ESGEN (the “ESGEN Class A Ordinary Shares” and such conversion, the “ESGEN Share Conversion”); and (ii) ESGEN was domesticated into the State of Delaware so as to become a Delaware corporation (the “Domestication”). In connection with the Closing, the registrant changed its name from “ESGEN Acquisition Corporation” to “Zeo Energy Corp.”

Following, each then-outstanding ESGEN Class A Ordinary Share was converted into one share of Class A common stock of the registrant, par value $0.0001 per share (“Zeo Class A Common Stock”), and each then-outstanding ESGEN Public Warrant converted automatically into a warrant of the registrant, exercisable for one share of Zeo Class A Common Stock. Additionally, each outstanding unit of ESGEN was cancelled and separated into one share of Zeo Class A Common Stock and one-half of one warrant of the registrant.

In accordance with the terms of the Business Combination Agreement, Sunergy caused all holders of any options, warrants or rights to subscribe for or purchase any equity interests of Sunergy or its subsidiaries or securities (including debt securities) convertible into or exchangeable for, or that otherwise confer on the holder any right to acquire, any equity interests of Sunergy or any subsidiary thereof (collectively, the “Sunergy Convertible Interests”) existing immediately prior to the Closing to either exchange or convert all such holder’s Sunergy Convertible Interests into limited liability interests of Sunergy (the “Sunergy Company Interests”) in accordance with the governing documents of Sunergy or the Sunergy Convertible Interests.

At the Closing, ESGEN contributed to OpCo (1) all of its assets (excluding its interests in OpCo, but including the amount of cash in ESGEN’s Trust Account (the “Trust Account”) as of immediately prior to the Closing (after giving effect to the exercise of redemption rights by ESGEN shareholders)), and (2) a number of newly issued shares (the “Seller Class V Shares”) of Class V common stock of the registrant, par value $0.0001 per share(“Zeo Class V Common Stock”), which are non-economic, voting shares of Zeo, equal to the number of Seller OpCo Units (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement)and in exchange, OpCo issued to ESGEN (i) a number of Class A common units of OpCo (the “Manager OpCo Units”) which equaled the total number of shares of the Zeo Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately after the Closing and (ii) a number of warrants to purchase Manager OpCo Units which equaled the number of SPAC Warrants (as defined in the Business Combination Agreement) issued and outstanding immediately after the Closing (the transactions described above in this paragraph, the “ESGEN Contribution”). Immediately following the ESGEN Contribution, (x) the Sellers contributed to OpCo the Sunergy Company Interests and (y) in exchange therefor, OpCo transferred to the Sellers the Seller OpCo Units and the Seller Class V Shares.


Prior to the Closing, Sellers transferred 24.167% of their Sunergy Company Interests (which were thereafter exchanged for Seller OpCo Units and Seller Class V Shares at the Closing, as described above) pro rata to Sun Managers, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Sun Managers”), in exchange for Class A Units (as defined in the Sun Managers limited liability company agreement (the “SM LLCA”) in Sun Managers. In connection with such transfer, Sun Managers executed a joinder to, and became a “Seller” for purposes of, the Business Combination Agreement. Sun Managers intends to grant Class B Units (as defined in the SM LLCA) in Sun Managers through the Sun Managers, LLC Management Incentive Plan (the “Management Incentive Plan”) adopted by Sun Managers to certain eligible employees or service providers of OpCo, Sunergy or their subsidiaries, in the discretion of Timothy Bridgewater, as manager of Sun Managers. Such Class B Units may be subject to a vesting schedule, and once such Class B Units become vested, there may be an exchange opportunity through which the grantees may request (subject to the terms of the Management Incentive Plan and the OpCo A&R LLC Agreement (as defined below)) the exchange of their Class B Units into Seller OpCo Units (together with an equal number of Seller Class V Shares), which may then be converted into Zeo Class A Common Stock (subject to the terms of the Management Incentive Plan and the OpCo A&R LLC Agreement). Grants under the Management Incentive Plan will be made after Closing.

As of the Closing Date, upon consummation of the Business Combination, the only outstanding shares of capital stock of the registrant were shares of Zeo Class A Common Stock and Zeo Class V Common Stock.

In connection with entering into the Business Combination Agreement, ESGEN and the Sponsor entered into a subscription agreement, dated April 19, 2023, which ESGEN, the Sponsor and OpCo subsequently amended and restated on January 24, 2024 (the “Sponsor Subscription Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 preferred units of OpCo(“Convertible OpCo Preferred Unitrs”) convertible into Exchangeable OpCo Unites (as defined below) (and be issued an equal number of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock) concurrently with the Closing at a cash purchase price of $10.00 per unit and up to an additional 500,000 Convertible OpCo Preferred Units (together with the concurrent issuance of an equal number of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock) during the six months after Closing if called for by Zeo. Prior to the Closing, ESGEN informed the Sponsor that it wished to call for the additional 500,000 Convertible OpCo Preferred Units at the Closing and, as a result, a total of 1,500,000 Convertible OpCo Preferred Units and an equal number of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock were issued to Sponsor pursuant to the Sponsor Subscription Agreement for aggregate consideration of $15,000,000.

On April 5, 2023, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Note”) in the principal amount of up to $1,500,000 to the Sponsor, which may be drawn down by the Company from time to time prior to the consummation of the Sunergy Business Combination. The Note does not bear interest, matures on the date of consummation of the Sunergy Business Combination and is subject to customary events of default. As of December 31, 2023, there was $1,238,449 outstanding under the Note.

On October 17, 2023, ESGEN issued an amended and restated promissory note (the “October 2023 Promissory Note”) in the principal amount of up to $2,500,000 to the Sponsor. The October 2023 Promissory Note amends, restates, replaces and supersedes the Note dated April 5, 2023. The October 2023 Promissory Note could be drawn down by ESGEN from time to time prior to the consummation of ESGEN’s initial Business Combination. The October 2023 Promissory Note did not bear interest, matured on the date of consummation of the Business Combination and was subject to customary events of default. The October 2023 Promissory Note, as well as the promissory note issued on April 17, 2021 to the Sponsor (“April 2021 Promissory Note”), was not repaid and was cancelled at the closing of the Business Combination.

On January 24, 2024, ESGEN issued a new promissory note (“January 2024 Promissory Note”) in the principal amount of up to $750,000 to the Sponsor. The January 2024 Promissory Note could be drawn down by ESGEN from time to time prior to the consummation of ESGEN’s initial Business Combination for specific uses as designated therein. The January 2024 Promissory Note did not bear interest, matured on the date of consummation of the Business Combination and was subject to customary events of default. The principal amount under the January 2024 Promissory Note was paid at the closing of the Business Combination from the funds that ESGEN had available to it outside of its Trust Account.

On March 6, 2024, the Company and, following consummation of the Business Combination, New PubCo held its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “Meeting”) and adopted the following proposals.

1. To approve and adopt the Business Combination Agreement.

2. To approve an amendment to the Company’s existing organizational documents to eliminate the requirement that the Company retain at least $5,000,001 of net tangible assets following the redemption of Public Shares in connection with the Business Combination and to authorize ESGEN to redeem Public Shares in amounts that would cause ESGEN’s net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.

3. To approve the domestication of the Company.

4. To approve and adopt the proposed charter and proposed bylaws of New PubCo.

5. To approve the following material differences between the Existing Organizational Documents and the Proposed Charter upon the Domestication.

A. Advisory Charter Proposal 5A – the increase in the authorized share capital of ESGEN from $27,600 divided into 250,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, 25,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, and 1,000,000 preference shares, par value $0.0001 per share, to authorized capital stock of 410,000,000 shares, consisting of (i) 300,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New PubCo (“New PubCo Class A Common Stock”), (ii) 100,000,000 shares of Class V common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New PubCo (“New PubCo Class V Common Stock” and, together with the New PubCo Class A Common Stock, the “New PubCo Common Stock”), and (iii) 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New PubCo.


B. Advisory Charter Proposal 5B – To provide that the Proposed Charter may be amended by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of outstanding shares of New PubCo Common Stock entitled to vote at an election of directors, voting together as a single class, in addition to the affirmative vote of any particular class that shall be entitled to vote separately upon any proposed amendment to the Proposed Charter that would alter or change the powers, preferences or special rights of such class of New PubCo Common Stock in a manner that is disproportionately adverse as compared to the other classes of New PubCo Common Stock.

C. Advisory Charter Proposal 5C – To provide for (i) the filling of newly-created directorships or an vacancy on the New PubCo Board by a majority vote of the remaining directors then in office, even if less than a quorum, and not by the stockholders and (ii) the removal of directors with or without cause and only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority in voting power of all the then outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.

D. Advisory Charter Proposal 5D – To provide that, unless New PubCo consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Delaware Court of Chancery and any appellate court thereof shall be the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law.

E. Advisory Charter Proposal 5E – To provide that each holder of record of New PubCo Class A Commo Stock and New PubCo Class V Common Stock shall be entitled to one vote per share on all matters which stockholders generally are entitled to vote.

F. Advisory Charter Proposal 5F – To provide that the Proposed Charter will not contain provisions related to blank check company status.

G. Advisory Charter Proposal 5G – To provide that the stockholders of New PubCo may act by written consent for so long as the holders of shares of New PubCo Class V Common Stock beneficially own, directly or indirectly, a majority of the total voting power of New PubCo Common Stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors of New PubCo:

6. To approve, for the purposes of complying with the applicable provisions of Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635, the issuance of shares of New PubCo Class A Common Stock, New PubCo Class V Common Stock and New PubCo Warrants.

7. To approve the 2024 Omnibus Incentive Equity Plan of New PubCo.

8. To approve the election of six (6) directors who will serve on the New PubCo Board upon consummation of the Business Combination until New PubCo’s next annual meeting of stockholders and until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal.

On March 11, 2024, the Company entered into a non-redemption agreement (the “Non-Redemption Agreement”) with The K2 Principal Fund L.P. (“K2”), pursuant to which K2 agreed (i) to purchase at least 174,826 of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A ordinary shares”), in the open market from investors who had elected to redeem such shares in connection with the Company’s March 6, 2024 extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and (ii) not to redeem and to validly rescind any redemption requests on such purchased Class A ordinary shares.

In exchange for the foregoing commitments to purchase and not redeem such Class A ordinary shares, the Company agreed to issue, for no consideration an aggregate of 225,174 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Zeo Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation and the successor to ESGEN following the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, at the consummation of the Business Combination.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

All of our activity from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2022,2023, was in preparation for our initial public offering, and since our initial public offering, our activity has been limited toincluding the search for a prospective initialeffectuation of the Charter Amendment and the negotiation and entry into the Business Combination.Combination Agreement. We will not generate any operating revenues until the closing and completion of our initial Business Combination.


For the year ended December 31, 2023, we had a net loss of $3,001,194, which consisted of a change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $317,376 and operating costs of $5,059,125, partially offset by interest and investment income on marketable securities and cash held in Trust Account of $1,950,267 and recovery of deferred offering costs allocated to warrants of $425,040.

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had a net income of $14,334,250, which consisted of a change in the fair value of warrant liabilities of $13,179,936, interest and investment income on marketable securities and cash held in Trust Account of $3,984,431, partially offset by a loss from operations of $2,830,117.

For the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, we had a net income of $9,460,263, which consisted of change in fair value of warrant liabilities of $10,944,240, investment income on marketable securities held in Trust Account of $2,137, partially offset by a loss from operation including formation and operating costs and operating costs – related party of $776,033 and warrant issuance costs of $710,081.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2022,2023, we had cash of $614,767$60,518 and owe $1,866,992$5,669,349 in accounts payable and accrued offering costs and expenses and an additional $315,539$2,122,937 payable to related parties.

Prior to the completion of our initial public offering, our liquidity needs had been satisfied through a capital contribution from the sponsorSponsor of $25,000 and a loan to us of up to $300,000 by our sponsorSponsor under an unsecured promissory note, which had an outstanding balance of $171,346 at December 31, 2023 and 2022. The Sponsor has agreed to defer repayment of the loan until the close of the Business Combination. On April 5, 2023, we issued the Note in the principal amount of up to $1,500,000 to our Sponsor, which may be drawn down by us from time to time prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination. As of December 31, 2023, there was $1,612,398 outstanding under the Note.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination,business combination, our Sponsor, an affiliate of our Sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, provide us Working Capital Loans. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no amounts outstanding under any Working Capital Loans.

 

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Based on the foregoing, management believesThe Company anticipates that weits cash will not havebe sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity to meet our needs throughallow the earlierCompany to operate for at least the next 12 months from the issuance of the consummationfinancial statements. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, we will be using these funds for paying existing accounts payable, identifyingits acquisition plans and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.

In connection with the company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC Subtopic 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern”, the company has until April 22, 2023 (as extended) to consummate a Business Combination. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date and an extension not obtained, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolutionclosing of the company. Although the company intends to consummate a Business Combination on or before April 22, 2023 (as extended), it is uncertain whether the Company will be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and an extension is not obtained, as well as the potential for us to have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to a Business Combination, and potential subsequent dissolution, raisescombination described in Note 10. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. It is uncertain whether the company

The Company will seek additional capital through other financing alternatives. There can be no assurance that new financings or other transactions will be ableavailable to consummatethe Company on commercially acceptable terms, or at all. Should the Company fail to raise additional cash from outside sources, this would have a Business Combination or obtain an extension by this time. No adjustmentsmaterial adverse impact on its operations.

The accompanying financial statements have been madeprepared assuming the Company will continue to operate as a going concern, which contemplates the carrying amountsrealization of assets and settlement of liabilities in the normal course of business, and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classifications of liabilities should the company be requiredthat may result from uncertainty related to liquidate after April 22, 2023 (as extended).its ability to continue as a going concern.

Contractual Obligations

Other than the below, we do not have any long-term debt obligations, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations, purchase obligations or long-termlong- term liabilities.

Underwriting Agreement

We granted the

The IPO underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,600,000 additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the IPO price less the underwriting commissions. The underwriters exercised the full over-allotment at the consummation of our initial public offering on October 22, 2021.

The underwriters earned an underwriting commission of two percent (2%) of the gross proceeds of the IPO, or $5,520,000, which we paid in cash at closing of the offering.

Additionally, the underwriters arewere entitled to a deferred underwriting commissionunderwriters fee of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of our initial public offeringIPO upon the completion of our initial Business Combination. In April 2023, the IPO underwriters waived any right to receive such deferred underwriters fee and will therefore receive no additional underwriters fee in connection with the Closing.


Office Space, Secretarial and Administrative Services

Commencing on the date that our securities were first listed on the Nasdaq through

Through the earlier of consummation of ourthe initial Business Combination andor the liquidation, we pay our sponsor a total ofthe Company incurs $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services (which is accrued in “Dueprovided by the Sponsor. For the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company incurred $120,000, pursuant to related party”).this agreement. No amounts have been paid for these services. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company has accrued and 2021, we had incurred $120,000reported on the balance sheets $264,193 and $24,193,$144,193, respectively, pursuant to this agreement, which was accruedand included in “Due to related party”.

Registration Rights

The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement signed at the closing of our initial public offering.offering (the “IPO Registration Rights Agreement”). The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that we register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of the initial Business Combination. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the Founder Shares, and (ii) in the case of the Private PlacementPlacement. Warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Private Placement Warrants, 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Working Capital Loans and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and expected shareholder rights agreement signed at the closing of our initial public offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the company register such securities.

 

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In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of its initial Business Combination. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which occurs (i) in the case of the Founder Shares, as described in the following paragraph, and (ii) in the case of the Private Placement Warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Except as described herein, the sponsorSponsor and its directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the sponsorSponsor and its directors and executive officers with respect to any founder shares. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the Sponsor with respect to any Founder Shares.

In addition, pursuant to the registration and shareholder rights agreement, the sponsor,Sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial Business Combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to the board of directors, as long as the sponsorSponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.

A&R Registration Rights Agreement

The Amended Business Combination Agreement contemplates that, at the Closing, Sunergy, Sunergy’s underlying equityholders and the Initial Shareholders (as defined below) (collectively, the “New PubCo Holders”) and New PubCo will enter into an amended and restated IPO Registration Rights Agreement (the “A&R Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, New PubCo and the Initial Shareholders will agree to amend and restate the Registration and Shareholder Rights Agreement, dated as of October 22, 2021, entered into by them in connection with ESGEN’s initial public offering. Pursuant to the A&R Registration Rights Agreement, New PubCo will agree that, within 30 days following the consummation of the Sunergy Business Combination, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file a resale shelf registration statement on behalf of Sunergy, Sunergy’s underlying equityholders and the Initial Shareholders registering (i) New PubCo’s private placement warrants, (ii) any outstanding shares of New PubCo Class A Common Stock held by the New PubCo Holders, (iii) any shares of New PubCo Class A Common Stock issued or issuable upon exchange of an equivalent number of Class B units of OpCo and Class V common stock of New PubCo, par value $0.0001 per share, issued to the Sellers pursuant to the Amended Business Combination Agreement, (iv) any shares of New PubCo Class A Common Stock issued or to be issued to any of the New PubCo Holders in connection with the Sunergy Business Combination and (v) any other equity security of New PubCo issued or issuable with respect to any of the foregoing by way of a stock dividend or stock split or in connection of shares, recapitalization, merger, consolidation or reorganization (collectively, the “Registrable Securities”); provided, however, that as to any particular Registrable Securities, such securities shall cease to be Registrable Securities when (A) a registration statement with respect to the sale of such Registrable Securities becomes effective under the Securities Act and such Registrable Securities shall have been sold, transferred, disposed of or exchanged in accordance with such registration statement, (B) such Registrable Securities shall have been otherwise transferred and such transferee is not entitled to the registration rights provided in the A&R Registration Rights Agreement, (C) such Registrable Securities shall have ceased to be outstanding, or (D) such Registrable Securities may be sold without registration pursuant to Rule 144 and Rule 145, as applicable, promulgated under the Securities Act (or any successor rule promulgated thereto) (but with no volume or other restrictions or limitations).


Additionally, the A&R Registration Rights Agreement will also provide, subject to certain underwriter cutbacks and suspension periods, (i) certain demand rights entitling the New PubCo Holders the right to require New PubCo to effect an underwritten offering and (ii) certain piggyback rights entitling the New PubCo Holders the right to include such New PubCo Holder’s Registrable Securities in any underwritten offering that New PubCo proposes to consummate for its own account or for the account of its stockholders.

Concurrently with the execution of the Amended Business Combination Agreement, the Sponsor, the independent directors of the board of directors of ESGEN and one or more client accounts of Westwood Group Holdings, Inc. (successor to Salient Capital Advisors, LLC) (collectively, the “Initial Shareholders”) entered into an amendment (as amended, the “Amendment to the Letter Agreement”) to that certain Letter Agreement, dated as of October 22, 2021, by and between the Initial Shareholders, pursuant to which, among other things, each of the Initial Shareholders agreed (i) not to transfer his, her or its ESGEN Class B ordinary shares (or the ESGEN Class A Common Stock issuable in exchange for such ESGEN Class B ordinary shares pursuant to the Amended Business Combination Agreement) prior to the earlier of (A) six months after the Closing or (B) subsequent to the Closing (x) if the last sale price of the ESGEN Class A Common Stock quoted on Nasdaq is greater than or equal to $12 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-consecutive trading day period commencing at least 90 days after Closing, or (y) the date on which ESGEN completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the Company’s shareholders having the right to exchange their ESGEN Class A ordinary shares (including any shares of ESGEN Class A Common Stock issuable in exchange for such ESGEN Class A ordinary shares) for cash, securities or other property and (ii) each Initial Shareholder agreed to waive any adjustment to the conversion ratio set forth in the governing documents of ESGEN with respect to the ESGEN Class B ordinary shares prior to the earlier of the ESGEN Share Conversion or the Closing.

Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of these financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. We have not identified any critical accounting estimates.

 

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Refer to Note 2 (“Significant Accounting Policies”) in the financial statements for the recent accounting pronouncements.

Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements

As of December 31, 2022,2023, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K and did not have any commitments or contractual obligations.


ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item. As of December 31, 2022, we were not subject to any market or interest rate risk. The net proceeds of our initial public offering, including amounts in the Trust Account, were invested in U.S. government securities with a maturity of 185 days or less or in amended, that invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Due to the short-term nature of these investments, we believe there will be no associated material exposure to interest rate risk.

 

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We have not engaged in any hedging activities since our inception, and we do not expect to engage in any hedging activities with respect to the market risk to which we are exposed.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENT AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.

This information appears following Item 15 of this Report and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

None.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Disclosure controls are procedures that are designed with the objective of ensuring that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Exchange Act, such as this Report, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of ensuring that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, (our “Certifying Officers”), the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022,2023, pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, our Certifying Officersprincipal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2022,2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective because of the identification of a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting described below. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

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


Management’s Report on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for us. Under the supervision and with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 20222023 based on criteria specified in Internal Control - Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our assessment, our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, concluded that, as of December 31, 2022,2023, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.2023. We identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, specifically, we did not design and maintain an effective control environment to prevent or detect material misstatements to the financial statements. Specifically, we lacked a sufficient complement of personnel with an appropriate level of internal controls and accounting knowledge, training and experience commensurate with our financial reporting requirements. Specifically, management did not design and maintain effective controls over the calculation of earnings per share and classification of the reinvestment of interest and dividend income in the Trust Account in the statement of cash flows.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

 

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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. Further, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all disclosure controls and procedures, no evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures can provide absolute assurance that we have detected all our control deficiencies and instances of fraud, if any. The design of disclosure controls and procedures also is based partly on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.

None.

ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS.

Not applicable.


PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.

Our officers directors and director nomineesdirectors are as follows:

 

Name

 Age 

Position

Andrea Bernatova

Timothy Bridgewater
 4162 Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director

Nader Daylami

Kalen Larsen
 3429 Chief FinancialOperating Officer

James P Benson

Gianluca “Luke” Guy
 6346 Chief Installation and Strategy Officer and Director (Chairman)

Michael C. Mayon

Brandon Bridgewater
 4228Chief Sales Officer
Stirling Adams58General Counsel and Secretary of the Board
Dr. Abigail M. Allen39 Director

Sanjay Bishnoi

James P. Benson
 4964 Director

Larry L. Helm

Neil Bush
 7568 Director

Mark M. Jacobs

 6061 Director

Andrea (“Andrejka”) Bernatova

Timothy Bridgewater. Mr. Bridgewater has served as Zeo’s Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and chairman of the board since its creation in October 2021. He served as a founder and manager for Sunergy’s predecessor company Sun First Energy since October 2019 until the Contribution of Sun First Energy, LLC into Sunergy in October 2021. From July 2002 to the present, Mr. Bridgewater has been a founder and managing director of Capitol Financial Strategies, LLC (also known as Interlink Capital Strategies), an investment advisory services company, where he has advised on debt and private equity investments in industries ranging from mining, building materials, renewable energy, and automotive component manufacturing to electronics and software technologies in the U.S. and Asia. Mr. Bridgewater is the manager of Sunergy Solar LLC. From October 2018 to September 2020, Mr. Bridgewater held the position of manager at Micro Bolt, an energy development company. Since April 2020, he has served as a manager at Prometheus Power Partners, LLC, a commercial and utility-scale solar energy development company. From November 2019 to April 2021, Mr. Bridgewater served as the Chief Financial Officer of Tintic Consolidated Metals, LLC, a mining company, and from November 2019 to November 2021, he served as a Vice President for that company. Mr. Bridgewater earned his B.S. in Finance from Brigham Young University and completed graduate studies in International Economics from University of Utah. We believe that Mr. Bridgewater is qualified to serve both as a member of our management team and the Board because of his visionary leadership of Zeo from inception to date, his experience in energy development, and his over 30 years of commercial and international banking, international finance and business development experience working in the U.S., Asia and Latin America.

Kalen Larsen. Mr. Larsen serves as Zeo’s Chief Operating Officer, overseeing regional sales, dealer relations, operations, and process enhancements. He served as Zeo’s Chief of Sales and Marketing from October 2021 until Closing. In September 2019, he co-founded Sun First Energy and co-managed sales and operations there until its Contribution that formed Sunergy in October 2021. Mr. Larsen began his solar career in October 2016 at Vivint Solar, LLC and worked there until October 2017. He worked at and co-managed a sales office at Vivint Inc. from October 2017 to March 2019, and subsequently, he managed a sales office for Atlantic Key Energy, LLC from March 2019 to October 2019. Mr. Larsen holds an associate degree from Weber State University with an emphasis in Spanish. We believe Mr. Larsen is qualified to serve as a member of our management team because of his sales and operations experience and proven track record in the solar energy industry.

Gianluca “Luke” Guy. Mr. Guy serves as Zeo’s Chief Installation and Strategy Officer, and has served as a director since the Closing of the Business Combination Mr. Guy also currently serves as the Financially Responsible Officer at Sunergy Roofing & Construction, Inc., a subsidiary of Zeo, which he co-founded in November 2020. Mr. Guy is also the co-founder of Sunergy Solar, and oversaw sales, finance, and construction operations until its Contribution that formed Sunergy in October 2021. From January 2013 to August 2015, Mr. Guy operated JHL Group, LLC, a company he founded that provided marketing and sales for solar energy installation companies. Mr. Guy holds a construction financial officer license in the state of Florida. We believe that Mr. Guy is qualified to serve as a member of our management team and the Board because of his pivotal role in driving Zeo’s business expansion through his expertise in sales, finance, construction, and strategic leadership.

Brandon Bridgewater. Mr. Bridgewater has served as Zeo’s Chief Sales Officer since October, 2021 and is the son of Timothy Bridgewater, Zeo’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Bridgewater co-founded Sun First Energy, LLC, as its President and Chief Sales Officer, in September 2019 until its Contribution that formed Sunergy in October 2021. From September 2017 to December 2018, Mr. Bridgewater served as a Sales Manager at Vivint Smart Home, Inc., a smart home company in the United States and Canada. From August 2015 to September 2017, he served as an Area Manager for Aptive Environmental, LLC, a pest control solution company. Mr. Bridgewater earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Finance (with an emphasis in Real Estate) from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Business in 2019. We believe that Mr. Bridgewater is qualified to serve as a member of our management team because of his track record in the boardsolar energy industry and range of directors. Ms. Bernatovasales experience.


Stirling Adams. Mr. Adams serves as Zeo’s General Counsel and Secretary. Mr. Adams brings 30 years of legal experience to the executive team. He has worked as a sole practitioner attorney since November 2022, focusing on renewable energy and nuclear energy ventures and financing. From August 2016 to October 2022, he served as Vice President, Associate General Counsel, and Head of Intellectual Property at Micro Focus International plc (now owned by OpenText Corporation), where he oversaw the CFOcompany’s efforts to develop and Senior Advisor of Enchanted Rock Energy, a blue-chip resiliency microgrid company from 2019 to 2021. From 2018 to 2019, she was the CFO of Goodnight Midstream, one of the largest midstream water infrastructure companies in the US.protect intellectual property. Prior to Goodnight, Ms. Bernatovathat, he spent 21 years as in-house counsel at Novell, Inc., which was the co-founder, EVPacquired by Micro Focus in 2014 through The Attachmate Group, where he served in various roles, including at times supervising legal affairs for one or more of Novell’s business units, for its consulting services arm, and CFOfor its Latin American and emerging markets businesses. Throughout most of Core Midstream,his career, Mr. Adams has been engaged in international business transactions, technology licensing, and M&A transactions. He has lived and worked in Europe, South America, and China. He has taught as an adjunct professor of law at Brigham Young University, and holds a venture infrastructure platform,J.D. degree from 2016Boston University, along with a B.S. in Computer Science and Statistics from Brigham Young University. We believe that Mr. Adams is qualified to 2018. Ms. Bernatova started her corporate careerserve as the Vice Presidenta member of Finance and Investor Relations at PennTex Midstream Partners (NA: PTXP) from 2014 to 2016. At PennTex, she was part of theour management team which startedbecause of his extensive legal expertise.

Dr. Abigail M. Allen. Dr. Allen serves as a director of Zeo. Dr. Allen is a tenured associate professor of accounting at the company, grew the platform significantly ultimately leading to an IPOMarriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Dr. Allen holds a doctorate in 2015 and successfully exited the company via a sale to Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ET) and Eagle Claw Midstream in 2016. Prior to her corporate and entrepreneurial experiences, Ms. Bernatova was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse in New York and Houston and served in investment roles at The Blackstone Group in New York and at Mubadala Development Company, ~$250 billion Abu Dhabi investment fund, based in the United Arab Emirates, where she focused primarily on transactions in the renewable sector under the partnership with Masdar. Ms. Bernatova received her A.B. in Governmentbusiness administration from Harvard University with a Citation in Spanish. Due to her extensive operationalBusiness School, as well as undergraduate and leadership experience in the energy industry, we believe Ms. Bernatova is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Nader Daylami serves as our Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Daylami served as the Executive Vice President, Finance & Business Development, of Bruin E&P Partners, LLC (“Bruin”), an energy development company focused in North America. Mr. Daylami co-founded Bruin in 2015, joining as Director of Finance. At Bruin, he and the management team grew the company significantly via acquisition and organic growth ultimately leading to an exit via a sale to Enerplus Corporation (NYSE: ERF) in 2021. Prior to his time at Bruin, Mr. Daylami served in multiple strategic and commercial roles at Ursa Resources. Mr. Daylami began his career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley focused on mergers and acquisitions and capital markets in the energy sector. Mr. Daylami holds bachelormaster’s degrees in Economics & Mathematicsaccounting from the University of California, San Diego.Southern California. She is a licensed CPA. Prior to BYU, Dr. Allen was a Lecturer in the Accounting and Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Prior to academia, Dr. Allen worked as an external auditor for Deloitte. Dr. Allen’s research focuses on the political economy and economic consequences of accounting standard setting, as well as corporate governance and diversity. Her work has been published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, Management Science and the Journal of Law Finance and Accounting and has been cited and discussed in Forbes Magazine, Harvard Business Review, Columbia Law School Blue Sky blog, and the Institute for Truth in Accounting.

 

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James P. Benson.Mr. Benson serves as the Chairmana director of our board of directors.Zeo. Mr. Benson is a founding partner of Energy Spectrum, where he oversees Energy Spectrum’s efforts in sourcing investments, transaction evaluation, negotiation, executing and financing, monitoring of portfolio companies and the firm’s management and strategy. With approximately 37 years of venture capital and private equity, investment banking, financial advisory and commercial banking experience, Mr. Benson brings extensive relationships and his network across the energy industry to the company. Mr. Benson currently serves as a director on the boards of multiple Energy Spectrum portfolio companies and has been on two public boards in the past. Prior to co-founding Energy Spectrum in 1996, Mr. Benson served for 10ten years as a Managing Director at R. Reid Investments Inc., where his experience included energy-related private placements of debt and equity, acquisitions and divestitures. Mr. Benson began his career at InterFirst Bank Dallas, where he served for four years and was responsible for various energy financings and financial recapitalizations. Mr. Benson received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Kansas and his Master of Business Administration degree in Finance from Texas Christian University. Due to his extensive investment experience in the energy industry, we believe Mr. Benson is well-qualifiedwell qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Michael C. Mayon serves as a member of our board of directors.

Neil Bush. Mr. Mayon is a Partner at Energy Spectrum, where he is responsible for leading investment sourcing, conducting financial and strategic due diligence and monitoring portfolio company performance. Currently, Mr. MayonBush serves as a director of Zeo. Mr. Bush has served on the boardsboard of eight active Energy Spectrum portfolio companies. Prior to joining Energy Spectrum,directors of FutureTech II Acquisition Corp. since February 2022. Mr. Mayon was an Associate with Key Principal Partners, a private equity fund that provides mezzanineBush has been the sole member of Neil Bush Global Advisors, LLC since January 1998. Additionally, Mr. Bush has been on the board of directors for Hong Kong Finance Investment Holding Group since 2012. Mr. Bush has also served as the co-chairman for CIIC since 2006 and equity capital to middle market companies. Mr. Mayon began his career as an investment banker with Bancadviser to CP Group since 2015. Further, Mr. Bush has served as a partner for Asia & America Consultants since March 2016 and the chairman of America SecuritiesSinghaiyi since April 2013. Mr. Bush served on the board of Greffex, Inc. since June 2020 and Growth Capital Partners.the Points of Light Foundation. Mr. Mayon received his BachelorBush was appointed director of Business AdministrationRebound International, LLC in Finance and Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences degrees from Southern Methodist University, and his Master of Business Administration degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.early 2022. Due to his extensive investment experience in the energy industry, we believe Mr. MayonBush is well-qualifiedwell qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Sanjay Bishnoi

Mark M. Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs serves as a memberdirector of our board of directors. Mr. Bishnoi is a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Enerflex Ltd. (TSX: EFX), where he oversees all aspects of Enerflex’s financial affairs, including reporting, compliance, treasury, corporate governance and capital market activity, in addition to guiding the strategy and investor relations functions. Mr. Bishnoi brings over 20 years of financial and leadership experience within the energy and professional services sectors, with deep capabilities in North American energy infrastructure. Mr. Bishnoi joined Enerflex from Caprock Midstream, a privately owned natural gas, crude oil and water oriented midstream venture based in Houston, TX sponsored by Energy Spectrum. Mr. Bishnoi was the Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer for approximately five years prior to the company’s sale. Mr. Bishnoi’s prior experience includes GE Corporate Ventures (Managing Director) and GE Energy Financial Services’ Natural Resources platform (Vice President), as well as financial and operational roles with The Dow Chemical Company, El Paso Corporation, The Boston Consulting Group and Imperial Oil Resources. Mr. Bishnoi received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary, a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Due to his extensive operational and leadership experience in the energy industry, we believe Mr. Bishnoi is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Larry L. Helm serves as a member of our board of directors. Mr. Helm currently serves as Non-Executive Chairmain of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: TCBI). He served as interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Capital Bank, N.A. and Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc., from May 2020 to January 2021, and has been chairman of the board of directors for Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. since 2012 and a director since 2006 until his appointment as chairman. From 2016 to 2020, Mr. Helm served as a senior advisor at Accelerate Resources, a data-driven energy company engaged in the development and production of oil and gas assets. Mr. Helm’s prior experience includes executive management roles with Halcón Resources Corporation (now Battalion Oil Corporation) and Petrohawk Energy Corporation as well as 30+ years of middle market energy lending with Bank One Corporation and InterFirst Bank. Halcón Resources Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 2016. Mr. Helm received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Trinity University and a M.B.A. in Banking and Finance from the University of North Texas. Due to his extensive operational and leadership experience in the energy industry, we believe Mr. Helm is well-qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Mark M. Jacobs serves as a member of our board of directors.Zeo. Mr. Jacobs brings more than 30 years of executive management, operations and investment banking experience across multiple segments within the broader energy industry. Since his retirement, Mr. Jacobs has served as an independent outside consultant serving the energy industry and privately-held entities undertaking a change in control as well as serving as board chair for a number of nonprofit organizations. Mr. Jacobs previously served as CEO, President and Director of Reliant Energy, a publicly-traded, Fortune 500 energy company. During Mr. Jacobs’ tenure, he led the company through a series of crises including the impact of Hurricane Ike and the financial market crisis in 2008. He initiated and negotiated a merger-of-

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equalsmerger-of-equals with Mirant Corporation to form GenOn Energy in 2010 where he served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a Director of the largest competitive generator in the U.S. Mr. Jacobs was originally recruited to Reliant Energy in 2002 to serve as Chief Financial Officer. In that role, Mr. Jacobs brokered a landmark $6.2B debt restructuring transaction, leading the company away from a potential bankruptcy filing and repositioned the company to compete in the emerging competitive electricity market. Prior to Reliant Energy, Mr. Jacobs served as a Managing Director within the Natural Resources Group and Mergers & Acquisitions Department at Goldman Sachs & Co. where he provided strategic advice for large public and private corporations related to M&A and capital markets. Mr. Jacobs received a B.B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Due to his extensive operational and leadership experience in the energy industry, we believe Mr. Jacobs is well-qualifiedwell qualified to serve on our board of directors.

Number


Family Relationships

Timothy Bridgewater is the father of Brandon Bridgewater. There are no other family relationships among our directors and Termsexecutive officers.

Corporate Governance

Composition of Officethe Board of Officers and Directors

Our

Zeo’s business affairs are managed under the direction of its board of directors, which consists of six members. Under our bylaws, each director will hold office until the expiration of the term of the class, if any, for which elected and until such director’s successor is divided into three classes, with only one classelected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation, disqualification, or removal. Pursuant to our charter, the number of directors on the Board will be fixed exclusively by one or more resolutions adopted from time to time by the board. Any vacancies on the Board and any newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the number of directors will also be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors then in office, even though less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director.

Director Independence

As a result of Zeo’s common stock being electedlisted on Nasdaq, Zeo is required to comply with the applicable rules of such exchange in determining whether a director is independent. The Board has undertaken a review of the independence of the individuals named above and have determined that each year,of Dr. Abigail M. Allen, Neil Bush, James P. Benson and Mark M. Jacobs qualifies as “independent” as defined under the applicable Nasdaq rules.

Committees of the Board of Directors

The Board directs the management of its business and affairs, as provided by Delaware law, and conducts its business through meetings of the board of directors and standing committees. Zeo has a standing audit committee and compensation committee, each of which operates under a written charter.

In addition, from time to time, special committees may be established under the direction of the Board when it deems it necessary or advisable to address specific issues. Current copies of Zeo’s committee charters are posted on its website (investors.zeoenergy.com), as required by applicable SEC and Nasdaq rules. The information on or available through any of such website is not deemed incorporated in this Report and does not form part of this Report.

Audit Committee

Zeo has an audit committee consisting of Dr. Abigail M. Allen, James P. Benson and Mark M. Jacobs, and Dr. Allen serves as the chair of the audit committee. The Board has determined that each of these individuals meets the independence requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act and the applicable listing standards of Nasdaq. Each member of Zeo’s audit committee is able to read and understand fundamental financial statements in accordance with Nasdaq audit committee requirements. In arriving at this determination, the board examined each class (exceptproposed audit committee member’s scope of experience and the nature of their prior and/or current employment.

The Board has determined that Dr. Abigail M. Allen qualifies as an audit committee financial expert within the meaning of SEC regulations and meets the financial sophistication requirements of the Nasdaq rules. In making this determination, the Board considered formal education and previous and current experience in financial and accounting roles. Both Zeo’s independent registered public accounting firm and management periodically meet privately with Zeo’s audit committee.

The audit committee’s responsibilities include, among other things:

appointing, compensating, retaining, evaluating, terminating and overseeing Zeo’s independent registered public accounting firm;

discussing with Zeo’s independent registered public accounting firm their independence from management;

reviewing with Zeo’s independent registered public accounting firm the scope and results of their audit;


pre-approving all audit and permissible non-audit services to be performed by Zeo’s independent registered public accounting firm;

overseeing the financial reporting process and discussing with management and Zeo’s independent registered public accounting firm the interim and annual financial statements that Zeo files with the SEC;

reviewing and monitoring Zeo’s accounting principles, accounting policies, financial and accounting controls and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; and

establishing procedures for the confidential anonymous submission of concerns regarding questionable accounting, internal controls or auditing matters.

Compensation Committee

Zeo has a compensation committee consisting of Neil Bush, James P. Benson and Mark M. Jacobs, and Mr. Bush serves as the chair of the compensation committee. All members are non-employee directors, as defined in Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act. The Board has determined that each proposed member is “independent” as defined under the applicable Nasdaq listing standards, including the standards specific to members of a compensation committee. The compensation committee’s responsibilities include, among other things:

reviewing and setting or making recommendations to the Board regarding the compensation of Zeo’s executive officers;

making recommendations to the Board regarding the compensation of Zeo’s directors;

reviewing and approving or making recommendations to the Board regarding Zeo’s incentive compensation and equity-based plans and arrangements; and

appointing and overseeing any compensation consultants.

We believe that the composition and functioning of Zeo’s compensation committee meets the requirements for thoseindependence under the current Nasdaq listing standards.

Director Nominations

Zeo does not have a nominating committee. However, Zeo will form a nominating committee as and when required to do so by law or Nasdaq rules. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(2) of Nasdaq rules, a majority of the independent directors appointed priormay recommend a director nominee for selection by the Board. The ESGEN Board believes that the Zeo independent directors can satisfactorily carry out the responsibility of properly selecting or approving director nominees without the formation of a standing nominating committee. The directors who participate in the consideration and recommendation of director nominees are Dr. Abigail M. Allen, James P. Benson, Neil Bush and Mark M. Jacobs. In accordance with Rule 5605(e)(1)(A) of Nasdaq rules, all such directors are independent. As there is no standing nominating committee, we do not have a nominating committee charter in place.

The Board will also consider director candidates recommended for nomination by its stockholders during such times as they are seeking proposed nominees to our firststand for election at the next annual meeting of shareholders) servingstockholders (or, if applicable, a three-year term. In accordance with the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the Nasdaq. The term of office of the first class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Bishnoi and Mayon, will expire at our first annualspecial meeting of shareholders. The termstockholders). Zeo’s stockholders that wish to nominate a director for election should follow the procedures set forth in our bylaws.

Zeo has not formally established any specific, minimum qualifications that must be met or skills that are necessary for directors to possess. In general, in identifying and evaluating nominees for director, the Board will consider educational background, diversity of office of the second class of directors, consisting of Messrs. Helm and Benson, will expire at our second annual meeting of shareholders. The term of office of the third class of directors, consisting of Mr. Jacobs Ms. Bernatova, will expire at our third annual meeting of shareholders.

Prior to our initial business combination, only holdersprofessional experience, knowledge of our founder shares will havebusiness, integrity, professional reputation, independence, wisdom, and the rightability to voterepresent the best interests of its stockholders.

Code of Ethics

Zeo has a code of ethics that applies to all of its executive officers, directors and employees, including its principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller or persons performing similar functions. The code of ethics is available on Zeo’s website (investors.zeoenergy.com). 

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of Zeo’s executive officers currently serves, or has served during the election of directors. Holders of our public shares will not be entitled to vote on the election of directors during such time. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of our founder shares may by ordinary resolutionlast year, as a matter of Cayman Islands law remove a member of the board of directors for any reason. Incumbent directors shall also have the ability to appoint additional directors or to appoint replacement directors in the event of a casual vacancy.

Our sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial business combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors, as long as the sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and shareholder rights agreement.

Our officers are appointed by the board of directors and serve at the discretion of the board of directors, rather than for specific terms of office. Our board of directors is authorized to appoint persons to the offices set forth in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association as it deems appropriate. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide that our officers may consist of one or more chairperson of the board, chief executive officer, president, chief financial officer, vice presidents, secretary, treasurer and such other offices as may be determined by the board of directors.

Director Independence

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majority of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Bishnoi, Jacobs, Helm, Benson and Mayon are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.

Executive Officer and Director Compensation

None of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation for services rendered to us. Through the earlier of consummation of our initial business combination and our liquidation, we will reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month. In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors, or their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will review on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor, officers or directors, or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and officers for their out-of-pocket expenses

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incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will be paid by the company to our sponsor, officers and directors, or their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors has three standing committees: an audit committee, a nominating committee and a compensation committee. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the Nasdaq and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act require that the audit committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors. Subject to phase-in rules and a limited exception, the rules of the Nasdaq require that the compensation committee and the nominating committee of a listed company be comprised solely of independent directors.

Audit Committee

We established an audit committee of the board of directors. Messrs. Bishnoi, Jacobs and Helm serve as members of our audit committee. Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Bishnoi, Jacobs and Helm are independent under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules. Mr. Bishnoi serves as the chairman of the audit committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards and applicable SEC rules, all the directors on the audit committee must be independent. Each member of the audit committee is financially literate and our board of directors has determined that Mr. Bishnoi qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

The audit committee is responsible for:

meeting with our independent registered public accounting firm regarding, among other issues, audits, and adequacy of our accounting and control systems;

monitoring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm;

verifying the rotation of the lead (or coordinating) audit partner having primary responsibility for the audit and the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit as required by law;

inquiring and discussing with management our compliance with applicable laws and regulations;

pre-approving all audit services and permitted non-audit services to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm, including the fees and terms of the services to be performed;

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appointing or replacing the independent registered public accounting firm;

determining the compensation and oversight of the work of the independent registered public accounting firm (including resolution of disagreements between management and the independent auditor regarding financial reporting) for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or related work;

establishing procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or reports which raise material issues regarding our financial statements or accounting policies;

monitoring compliance on a quarterly basis with the terms of our initial public offering and, if any noncompliance is identified, immediately taking all action necessary to rectify such noncompliance or otherwise causing compliance with the terms of our initial public offering; and

reviewing and approving all payments made to our existing shareholders, officers or directors and their respective affiliates. Any payments made to members of our audit committee will be reviewed and approved by our board of directors, with the interested director or directors abstaining from such review and approval.

Nominating Committee

We established a nominating committee of our board of directors. The members of our nominating committee are Messrs. Jacobs, Helm and Bishnoi and Mr. Jacobs serves as chairman of the nominating committee. Under the Nasdaq listing standards, we are required to have a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each Messrs. Jacobs, Helm and Bishnoi are independent.

The nominating committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our board of directors. The nominating committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.

Guidelines for Selecting Director Nominees

The guidelines for selecting nominees, which are specified in a charter adopted by us, generally provides that persons to be nominated:

should have demonstrated notable or significant achievements in business, education or public service;

should possess the requisite intelligence, education and experience to make a significant contribution to the board of directors and bring a range of skills, diverse perspectives and backgrounds to its deliberations; and

should have the highest ethical standards, a strong sense of professionalism and intense dedication to serving the interests of the shareholders.

The nominating committee will consider a number of qualifications relating to management and leadership experience, background and integrity and professionalism in evaluating a person’s candidacy for membership on the board of directors. The nominating committee may require certain skills or attributes, such as financial or accounting experience, to meet specific board needs that arise from time to time and will also consider the overall experience and makeup of its members to obtain a broad and diverse mix of board members. The nominating committee does not distinguish among nominees recommended by shareholders and other persons.

Compensation Committee

We established a compensation committee of our board of directors. The members of our compensation committee are Messrs. Helm, Jacobs and Bishnoi and Mr. Helm and serves as chairman of the compensation committee.

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Under the Nasdaq listing standards, we are required to have a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors. Our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Helm, Jacobs and Bishnoi are independent. We have adopted a compensation committee charter, which details the principal functions of the compensation committee, including:

reviewing and approving on an annual basis the corporate goals and objectives relevant to our President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, evaluating our President’s, Chief Financial Officer’s and Chief Operating Officer’s performance in light of such goals and objectives and determining and approving the remuneration (if any) of our President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer based on such evaluation;

reviewing and approving the compensation of all of our other Section 16 officers;

reviewing our executive compensation policies and plans;

implementing and administering our incentive compensation equity-based remuneration plans;

assisting management in complying with our proxy statement and annual report disclosure requirements;

approving all special perquisites, special cash payments and other special compensation and benefit arrangements for our officers and employees;

producing a report on executive compensation to be included in our annual proxy statement; and

reviewing, evaluating and recommending changes, if appropriate, to the remuneration for directors.

The charter also provides that the compensation committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other adviser and will be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the work of any such adviser. However, before engaging or receiving advice from a compensation consultant, external legal counsel or any other adviser, the compensation committee will consider the independence of each such adviser, including the factors required by the Nasdaq and the SEC.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of our officers currently serves, and in the past year has not served, as a member of the compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors.

Code of Ethics

We have adoptedas a Code of Ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees. A copymember of the Code of Ethics will be provided without charge upon request from us. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers of certain provisions of our Code of Ethics in a Current Report on Form 8-K.

Conflicts of Interest

Under Cayman Islands law, directors and officers owe the following fiduciary duties:

Board.

duty to act in good faith in what the director or officer believes to be in the best interests of the company as a whole;

 

duty to exercise powers for the purposes for which those powers were conferred and not for a collateral purpose;


 

directors should not improperly fetter the exercise of future discretion;

duty not to put themselves in a position in which there is a conflict between their duty to the company and their personal interests; and

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duty to exercise independent judgment.

In addition to the above, directors also owe a duty of care which is not fiduciary in nature. This duty has been defined as a requirement to act as a reasonably diligent person having both the general knowledge, skill and experience that may reasonably be expected of a person carrying out the same functions as are carried out by that director in relation to the company and the general knowledge skill and experience of that director.

As set out above, directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position of conflict and this includes a duty not to engage in self-dealing, or to otherwise benefit as a result of their position. However, in some instances what would otherwise be a breach of this duty can be forgiven and/or authorized in advance by the shareholders provided that there is full disclosure by the directors. This can be done by way of permission granted in the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or alternatively by shareholder approval at shareholder meetings.

Certain of our officers and directors presently have, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary and contractual duties to other entities. As a result, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, then he or she may need to honor such fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity. If these other entities decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from pursuing the same. However, we do not expect these duties to materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provide that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we renounce any interest or expectancy in or in being offered an opportunity to participate in any business combination opportunity (i) which may be a corporate opportunity for both us and our sponsor or its affiliates and any companies in which our sponsor or its affiliates have invested about which any of our officers or directors acquires knowledge or (ii) the presentation of which would breach an existing legal obligation of a director or officer to another entity, and we will waive any claim or cause of action we may have in respect thereof. In addition our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will contain provisions to exculpate and indemnify, to the maximum extent permitted by law, such persons in respect of any liability, obligation or duty to the company that may arise as a consequence of such persons becoming aware of any business opportunity or failing to present such business opportunity.

Below is a table summarizing the entities to which our officers and directors currently have fiduciary duties, contractual obligations or other material management relationships:

Individual

EntityEntity’s BusinessAffiliation
Andrea Bernatova
Nader Daylami
James P. BensonEnergy SpectrumAsset ManagementFounding Partner
Certain Portfolio Companies of
Energy Spectrum
Asset ManagementBoard Member
Special Purpose Acquisition
Company
Director
Michael C. MayonEnergy SpectrumAsset ManagementPartner
Certain Portfolio Companies of
Energy Spectrum
Asset ManagementBoard Member
Sanjay BishnoiEnerflex Ltd.Energy ServicesSenior Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
Larry L. HelmTexas Capital Bancshares, Inc.Commercial BankingNon-Executive Chairman
Mark M. Jacobs

Potential investors should also be aware of the following other potential conflicts of interest:

Our officers and directors are not required to, and will not, commit their full time to our affairs, which may result in a conflict of interest in allocating their time between our operations and our search for a business combination and their other businesses. We do not intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination. Each of our officers is engaged in several other business endeavors for which he may be entitled to substantial compensation, and our officers are not obligated to contribute any specific number of hours per week to our affairs.

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Our sponsor subscribed for founder shares prior to the date of our initial public offering and purchased private placement warrants in a transaction that will close simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering.

Our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have entered into an agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and public shares held by them in connection with (i) the completion of our initial business combination and (ii) a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to provide holders of our Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 18 months from the closing of our initial public offering (or up to 24 months, if we extend the time to complete a business combination) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares. Additionally, our initial shareholders have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to its founder shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. If we do not complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame, the private placement warrants will expire worthless. Except as described herein, our initial shareholders and our directors and officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our initial shareholders and our directors and officers with respect to any founder shares. Except as described herein, the private placement warrants will not be transferable until 30 days following the completion of our initial business combination. Because each of our officers and director nominees will own ordinary shares or warrants directly or indirectly, they may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination.

Our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors is included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination. In addition, our initial shareholders, officers and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates.

Members of our management team may directly or indirectly own our founders shares, Class A ordinary shares and/or private placement warrants following our initial public offering, and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. In particular, because the founder shares were purchased at approximately $0.004 per share, the holders of our founder shares (including members of our management team that directly or indirectly own founder shares) could make a substantial profit after our initial business combination even if our public shareholders lose money on their investment as a result of a decrease in the post-combination value of their ordinary shares (after accounting for any adjustments in connection with an exchange or other transaction contemplated by the business combination). Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors were to be included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

Energy Spectrum manages several investment vehicles. Funds that are managed by Energy Spectrum or their affiliates may compete with us for acquisition opportunities. If these funds decide to pursue any such opportunity, we may be precluded from procuring such opportunities. In addition, investment ideas generated within Energy Spectrum may be suitable for both us and for a current or future Energy Spectrum fund and may be directed to such investment vehicle rather than to us. Neither Energy Spectrum nor members of our management team who are also employed by Energy Spectrum have any obligation to present us with any opportunity for a potential business combination of which they become aware. Energy Spectrum and/or our management, in their capacities as officers or managing directors of Energy Spectrum or in their other endeavors, may be required to present potential business combinations to the related entities described above, current or future Energy Spectrum investment vehicles, or third parties, before they present such opportunities to us.

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We cannot assure you that any of the above mentioned conflicts will be resolved in our favor. We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

Furthermore, in no event will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or their respective affiliates, be paid by us any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination. Further, (which is accrued in “Due to related party”) we also reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to us in the amount of $10,000 per month; provided, that upon completion of our initial business combination or our liquidation, we will cease paying these monthly fees.

If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution, subject to any higher approval threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands or other applicable law. In such case, our initial shareholders and each member of our management team have agreed to vote their founder shares and public shares in favor of our initial business combination.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against willful default, willful neglect, actual fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association will provide for indemnification of our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by law, including for any liability incurred in their capacities as such, except through their own actual fraud, willful default or willful neglect. We will enter into agreements with our directors and officers to provide contractual indemnification in addition to the indemnification provided for in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. We expect to purchase a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance that insures our officers and directors against the cost of defense, settlement or payment of a judgment in some circumstances and insures us against our obligations to indemnify our officers and directors.

Our officers and directors have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies in the trust account, and have agreed to waive any right, title, interest or claim of any kind they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any services provided to us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason whatsoever (except to the extent they are entitled to funds from the trust account due to their ownership of public shares). Accordingly, any indemnification provided will only be able to be satisfied by us if (i) we have sufficient funds outside of the trust account or (ii) we consummate an initial business combination.

Our indemnification obligations may discourage shareholders from bringing a lawsuit against our officers or directors for breach of their fiduciary duty. These provisions also may have the effect of reducing the likelihood of derivative litigation against our officers and directors, even though such an action, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our shareholders. Furthermore, a shareholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against our officers and directors pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

We believe that these provisions, the insurance and the indemnity agreements are necessary to attract and retain talented and experienced officers and directors.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.

None

ESGEN

On April 27, 2021, the Sponsor paid an aggregate of our officers or directors have received any cash compensation$25,000 for services renderedcertain expenses on behalf of ESGEN in exchange for issuance of 5,750,000 ESGEN Class B ordinary shares. In September 2021, certain shareholders surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 1,437,500 ESGEN Class B ordinary shares, leaving 5,750,000 founder shares outstanding. On September 10, 2021, the Sponsor transferred 115,000 founder shares to us. Through the earliereach of consummation of our initial business combinationLarry L. Helm, Mark M. Jacobs and our liquidation, we will reimburse an affiliate of our sponsor for office space, secretarial and administrative services provided to usSanjay Bishnoi, ESGEN’s independent directors. In October 2021, a share dividend was issued which resulted in the amount of $10,000 per month.6,900,000 founder shares outstanding. In addition, our sponsor,the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or their respective affiliates will be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expensesout-of-pocketexpenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will reviewreviews on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to our sponsor,the Sponsor, executive officers or directors, or their affiliates. Any such payments prior to an initial business combination will be made using funds held outside the trust account.Trust Account. Other than quarterly audit committee review of such reimbursements, we do not expect to have any additional controls in place governing our reimbursement payments to our directors and executive officers for their out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with our activities on our behalf in connection with identifying and consummating an initial business combination. Other than these payments and reimbursements, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will bewere paid by the companyESGEN to our sponsor,the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or their respective affiliates, prior to completion of our initial business combination.

After the completion of our initial business combination, directors or members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting or management fees from the combined company. All of these fees will be fully disclosed to shareholders, to the extent then known, in the proxy solicitation materials or tender offer materials furnished to our shareholders in connection with a proposed business combination. We have not established any limit on the amount of such fees that may be paid by the combined company to our directors or members of management. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of the proposed business combination, because the directors of the post-combination business will be responsible for determining executive officer and director compensation. Any compensation to be paid to our officers will be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, either by a compensation committee constituted solely by independent directors or by a majority of the independent directors on our board of directors.

We do not intend to take any action to ensure that members of our management team maintain their positions with us after the consummation of our initial business combination, although it is possible that some or all of our officers and directors may negotiate employment or consulting arrangements to remain with us after our initial business combination. The existence or terms of any such employment or consulting arrangements to retain their positions with us may influence our management’s motivation in identifying or selecting a target business but we do not believe that the ability of our management to remain with us after the consummation of our initial business combination will be a determining factor in our decision to proceed with any potential business combination. We are not party to any agreements with our executive officers and directors that provide for benefits upon termination of employment.

Sunergy Executive Compensation

The following table sets forth information concerning the compensation of the named executive officers for the years ended December 31, 2023:

Name and Principal Position Year  Salary ($)  Option
Awards ($)
  Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation
($)
  All Other
Compensation
($)(1)
  Total ($) 
Timothy Bridgewater
Chairman, CEO and CFO
  2023           $756,000  $756,000 
   2022           $760,422  $760,422 
Anton Hruby
COO
  2023           $1,900,000  $1,900,000 
   2022           $1,943,352  $1,943,352 
Gianluca Guy
Chief Installation and Strategy Officer
  2023           $1,900,000  $1,900,000 
   2022           $1,943,352  $1,943,352 

(1)For 2022, the amounts in this column represent the distributions paid to the NEOs with respect to their partnership interests in Sunergy. For 2023, the amounts in this column represent the estimated distributions for 2023 to be paid to the NEOs with respect to their partnership interests in Sunergy.
(2)Mr. Hruby was COO until November 2023, and Mr. Larsen then became an executive officer upon Mr. Hruby’s departure.

Narrative to Executive Compensation Table

Employment Agreement with Timothy Bridgewater

The Company (or one of its subsidiaries) has entered into an Executive Employment Agreement (the “Bridgewater Agreement”) with Mr. Timothy Bridgewater, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. The period of the Bridgewater Agreement commenced on the Closing and continues through the third anniversary of the Closing, and is subject to automatic renewals for one (1) year periods, unless either party terminates employment or provides ninety (90) day notice of intent not to renew.

In recognition of Mr. Bridgewater’s responsibilities as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, and based on comparison to peer organizations with similar activities and risk profiles, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Bridgewater a base salary of $390,000.

For each year the Bridgewater Agreement is in effect, the Compensation Committee of the Board may choose to provide a discretionary cash bonus to Mr. Bridgewater, and such bonus shall be performance based and the performance goals shall be as set forth by the Compensation Committee.


In addition, Mr. Bridgewater is eligible to receive certain grants of vested shares under the Incentive Plan (as defined below) in accordance with the following schedule:

50,000 vested shares to be granted on the date that is 12 months after the effective date of the Bridgewater Agreement;

50,000 vested shares to be granted on the date that is 24 months after the effective date of the Bridgewater Agreement; and

50,000 vested shares to be granted on the date that is 35 months after the effective date of the Bridgewater Agreement.

Further, if, within three (3) years of the effective date of the Bridgewater Agreement, (i) the volume-weighted average price of shares of the publicly traded stock of the Company exceeds $7.50 for 20 or more days of any consecutive 30-day period, then Mr. Bridgewater will be granted vested equity from the Incentive Plan (as defined below) equal to 1% of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company, (ii) the volume-weighted average price of shares of the publicly traded stock of the Company exceeds $12.50 for 20 or more days of any consecutive 30-day period, then Mr. Bridgewater will be granted additional vested equity from the Incentive Plan equal to 1% of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company, (iii) and the volume-weighted average price of shares of the publicly traded stock of the Company exceeds $15.00 for 20 or more days of any consecutive 30-day period, then Mr. Bridgewater will be granted additional vested equity from the Incentive Plan equal to 1% of the total issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company.

In addition, Mr. Bridgewater is eligible to participate in the Company’s employee benefits plan for its senior executives or employees, including the Company’s medical plans. Mr. Bridgewater is also entitled to receive six (6) weeks of paid time off in accordance with the Company’s policy for its senior executives. In addition, Mr. Bridgewater is entitled to reimbursement by the Company for all reasonable expenses incurred by him in connection with this employment. Reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, business travel expenses.

The Company may terminate Mr. Bridgewater’s employment with or without Cause (as defined in the Bridgewater Agreement). The Company has agreed to provide thirty (30) days in notice to Mr. Bridgewater if he is terminated without Cause (or base salary in lieu of such notice), but no notice is required if he is terminated for Cause. For termination for Cause, Mr. Bridgewater (with his attorney) shall have the opportunity to respond to all relevant allegations upon which a contemplated termination for Cause is based.

Mr. Bridgewater may terminate his employment with or without Good Reason (as defined in the Bridgewater Agreement). If Mr. Bridgewater intends to terminate his employment without Good Reason, he has agreed to provide thirty (30) days’ written notice. For termination for Good Reason, Mr. Bridgewater has agreed that he will provide the Company with notice within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of a Good Reason event, after which the Company will have thirty (30) days to cure the Good Reason event, and, if not cured, Mr. Bridgewater will terminate employment within fifteen (15) days following the expiration of the cure period.

In the event of termination for any reason, Mr. Bridgewater shall continue to receive his full salary through the date of termination, any unreimbursed and approved business expenses, accrued but unused paid time off days, and any payments, benefits, or fringe benefits Mr. Bridgewater was entitled to under plan terms.

If the Company terminates Mr. Bridgewater without Cause or Mr. Bridgewater terminates for Good Reason, and there is no Change of Control (as defined in the Bridgewater Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Bridgewater the following:

(i)a lump sum cash payment, payable on the date of termination, equal to the sum of the following: (x) one year’s base salary, and (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year, and the greater of (I) any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or (II) the average annual cash bonus for the three preceding completed years (provided, however, that if Mr. Bridgewater has not been employed for at least three years in which an annual cash bonus was paid, such calculation will assume that an annual cash bonus equal to any target annual cash bonus opportunity was paid in the missing years), and (z) any other target long-term incentive award granted to Mr. Bridgewater for the year in which the termination occurs;

(ii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(iii)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.


If the Company terminates Mr. Bridgewater without Cause or Mr. Bridgewater terminates for Good Reason, and such termination occurs within two (2) years following or six (6) months prior to a Change of Control (as defined in the Bridgewater Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Bridgewater the following:

(i)pro-rated, based on the number of days worked during the year in which the termination occurs, the greater of any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or the highest actual annual cash bonus paid during the three preceding completed years;

(ii)a lump sum cash payment equal to the sum of the following: (x) one year’s base salary, (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year, and (z) any other target long-term incentive award granted for the year in which termination occurs;

(iii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(iv)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.

Employment Agreement with Kalen Larsen

The Company (or one of its subsidiaries) has entered into an Executive Employment Agreement (the “Larsen Agreement”) with Mr. Kalen Larsen, the Company’s Chief Operations Officer. The period of the Larsen Agreement commenced on the Closing and continues through the third anniversary of the Closing, and is subject to automatic renewals for one (1) year periods unless either party terminates employment or provides ninety (90) day notice of intent not to renew.

In recognition of Mr. Larsen’s responsibilities as the Company’s Chief Operations Officer, and based on comparison to peer organizations with similar activities and risk profiles, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Larsen a minimum salary of at least $684 per week or such greater amount as required to qualify for an exemption from overtime under Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. From the second year the Larsen Agreement is in effect, the Compensation Committee of the Board may choose to provide a discretionary cash bonus to Mr. Larsen, and such bonus shall be performance based and the performance goals shall be as set forth by the Compensation Committee.

In addition, Mr. Larsen is eligible to participate in the Company’s employee benefits plan for its senior executives or employees, including the Company’s medical plans. Mr. Larsen is also entitled to receive six (6) weeks of paid time off in accordance with the Company’s policy for its senior executives. In addition, Mr. Larsen is entitled to reimbursement by the Company for all reasonable expenses incurred by him in connection with this employment. Reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, business travel expenses.

The Company may terminate Mr. Larsen’s employment with or without Cause (as defined in the Larsen Agreement). The Company has agreed to provide thirty (30) days in notice to Mr. Larsen if he is terminated without Cause (or base salary in lieu of such notice), but no notice is required if he is terminated for Cause. For termination for Cause, Mr. Larsen (with his attorney) shall have the opportunity to respond to all relevant allegations upon which a contemplated termination for Cause is based.

Mr. Larsen may terminate his employment with or without Good Reason (as defined in the Larsen Agreement). If Mr. Larsen intends to terminate his employment without Good Reason, he has agreed to provide thirty (30) days’ written notice. For termination for Good Reason, Mr. Larsen has agreed that he will provide the Company with notice within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of a Good Reason event, the Company will have thirty (30) days to cure the Good Reason, and, if not cured, Mr. Larsen will terminate employment within fifteen (15) days following the expiration of the cure period.

In the event of termination for any reason, Mr. Larsen shall continue to receive his full salary through the date of termination, any unreimbursed and approved business expenses, accrued but unused paid time off days, and any payments, benefits, or fringe benefits Mr. Larsen was entitled to under plan terms.

If the Company terminates Mr. Larsen without Cause or Mr. Larsen terminates for Good Reason, and there is no Change of Control (as defined in the Larsen Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Larsen the following:

(iv)a lump sum cash payment, payable on the date of termination, equal to the sum of the following: (x) the greater of $350,000 or Mr. Larsen’s then-current base salary, and (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year, and the greater of (I) any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or (II) the average annual cash bonus, if any, for the three preceding completed years (provided, however, that if Mr. Larsen has not been employed for at least three years in which an annual cash bonus was paid, such calculation will assume that an annual cash bonus equal to any target annual cash bonus opportunity was paid in the missing years; a cash bonus does not refer to a distribution of cash made to Mr. Larsen as a result of Mr. Larsen’s ownership interests in the Company or any affiliated entity), and (z) and any target long-term incentive award granted to Mr. Larsen for the year in which termination occurs;

(v)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(vi)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.


If the Company terminates Mr. Larsen without Cause or Mr. Larsen terminates for Good Reason, and such termination occurs within two (2) years following or six (6) months prior to Change of Control (as defined in the Larsen Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Larsen the following:

(v)pro-rated, based on the number of days worked during the year in which the termination occurs, the greater of any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or the highest actual annual cash bonus paid during the three preceding completed years (a cash bonus does not refer to a distribution of cash made to Mr. Larsen as a result of Mr. Larsen’s ownership interests in the Company or any affiliated entity);

(vi)a lump sum cash payment equal to the sum of the following: (x) the greater of $350,000 or Mr. Larsen’s then-current base salary, and (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year;

(vii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(viii)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.

Employment Agreement with Gianluca Guy

The Company (or one or its subsidiaries) has entered into an Executive Employment Agreement (the “Guy Agreement”) with Mr. Gianluca Guy, the Company’s Chief Installation and Strategy Officer. The period of the Guy Agreement commenced on the Closing and continues through the third anniversary of the Closing, and is subject to automatic renewals for one (1) year periods unless either party terminates employment or provides ninety (90) day notice of intent not to renew.

In recognition of Mr. Guy’s responsibilities as the Company’s Chief Installation and Strategy Officer, and based on comparison to peer organizations with similar activities and risk profiles, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Guy a minimum salary of at least $684 per week or such greater amount as required to qualify for an exemption from overtime under Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. From the second year the Guy Agreement is in effect, the Compensation Committee of the Board may choose to provide a discretionary cash bonus to Mr. Guy, and such bonus shall be performance based and the performance goals shall be as set forth by the Compensation Committee.

In addition, Mr. Guy is eligible to participate in the Company’s employee benefits plan for its senior executives or employees, including the Company’s medical plans. Mr. Guy is also entitled to receive six (6) weeks of paid time off in accordance with the Company’s policy for its senior executives. In addition, Mr. Guy is entitled to reimbursement by the Company for all reasonable expenses incurred by him in connection with this employment. Reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, business travel expenses.

The Company may terminate Mr. Guy’s employment with or without Cause (as defined in the Guy Agreement). The Company has agreed to provide thirty (30) days in notice to Mr. Guy if he is terminated without Cause (or base salary in lieu of such notice), but no notice is required if he is terminated for Cause. For termination for Cause, Mr. Guy (with his attorney) shall have the opportunity to respond to all relevant allegations upon which a contemplated termination for Cause is based.

Mr. Guy may terminate his employment with or without Good Reason (as defined in the Guy Agreement). If Mr. Guy intends to terminate his employment without Good Reason, he has agreed to provide thirty (30) days’ written notice. For termination for Good Reason, Mr. Guy has agreed that he will provide the Company with notice within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of a Good Reason event, the Company will have thirty (30) days to cure the Good Reason, and, if not cured, Mr. Guy will terminate employment within fifteen (15) days following the expiration of the cure period.

In the event of termination for any reason, Mr. Guy shall continue to receive his full salary through the date of termination, any unreimbursed and approved business expenses, accrued but unused paid time off days, and any payments, benefits, or fringe benefits Mr. Guy was entitled to under plan terms.


If the Company terminates Mr. Guy without Cause or Mr. Guy terminates for Good Reason, and there is no Change of Control (as defined in the Guy Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Guy the following:

(i)a lump sum cash payment, payable on the date of termination, equal to the sum of the following: (x) the greater of $350,000 or Mr. Guy’s then-current base salary, and (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year, and the greater of (I) any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or (II) the average annual cash bonus, if any, for the three preceding completed years (provided, however, that if Mr. Guy has not been employed for at least three years in which an annual cash bonus was paid, such calculation will assume that an annual cash bonus equal to any target annual cash bonus opportunity was paid in the missing years; a cash bonus does not refer to a distribution of cash made to Mr. Guy as a result of Mr. Guy’s ownership interests in the Company or any affiliated entity), and (z) and any target long-term incentive award granted to Mr. Guy for the year in which termination occurs;

(ii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(iii)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.

If the Company terminates Mr. Guy without Cause or Mr. Guy terminates for Good Reason, and such termination occurs within two (2) years following or six (6) months prior to a Change of Control (as defined in the Guy Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Guy the following:

(i)pro-rated, based on the number of days worked during the year in which the termination occurs, the greater of any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or the highest actual annual cash bonus paid during the three preceding completed years (a cash bonus does not refer to a distribution of cash made to Mr. Guy as a result of Mr. Guy’s ownership interests in the Company or any affiliated entity);

(ii)a lump sum cash payment equal to the sum of the following: (x) the greater of $350,000 or Mr. Guy’s then-current base salary, and (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year;

(iii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(iv)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.

Employment Agreement with Brandon Bridgewater

The Company (or one of its subsidiaries) has entered into an Executive Employment Agreement (the “Brandon Bridgewater Agreement”) with Mr. Brandon Bridgewater, the Company’s Chief Sales Officer. The period of the Brandon Bridgewater Agreement commenced on the Closing and continues through the third anniversary of the Closing, and is subject to automatic renewals for one (1) year periods unless either party terminates employment or provides ninety (90) day notice of intent not to renew.

In recognition of Mr. Brandon Bridgewater’s responsibilities as the Company’s Chief Sales Officer, and based on comparison to peer organizations with similar activities and risk profiles, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Brandon Bridgewater a minimum salary of at least $684 per week or such greater amount as required to qualify for an exemption from overtime under Section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. From the second year the Brandon Bridgewater Agreement is in effect, the Compensation Committee of the Board may choose to provide a discretionary cash bonus to Mr. Brandon Bridgewater, and such bonus shall be performance based and the performance goals shall be as set forth by the Compensation Committee.

In addition, Mr. Brandon Bridgewater is eligible to participate in the Company’s employee benefits plan for its senior executives or employees, including the Company’s medical plans. Mr. Brandon Bridgewater is also entitled to receive six (6) weeks of paid time off in accordance with the Company’s policy for its senior executives. In addition, Mr. Brandon Bridgewater is entitled to reimbursement by the Company for all reasonable expenses incurred by him in connection with this employment. Reimbursable expenses include, but are not limited to, business travel expenses.


The Company may terminate Mr. Brandon Bridgewater’s employment with or without Cause (as defined in the Brandon Bridgewater Agreement). The Company has agreed to provide thirty (30) days in notice to Mr. Brandon Bridgewater if he is terminated without Cause (or base salary in lieu of such notice), but no notice is required if he is terminated for Cause. For termination for Cause, Mr. Brandon Bridgewater (with his attorney) shall have the opportunity to respond to all relevant allegations upon which a contemplated termination for Cause is based.

Mr. Brandon Bridgewater may terminate his employment with or without Good Reason (as defined in the Brandon Bridgewater Agreement). If Mr. Brandon Bridgewater intends to terminate his employment without Good Reason, he has agreed to provide thirty (30) days’ written notice. For termination for Good Reason, Mr. Brandon Bridgewater has agreed that he will provide the Company with notice within thirty (30) days after receiving notice of a Good Reason event, the Company will have thirty (30) days to cure the Good Reason, and, if not cured, Mr. Brandon Bridgewater will terminate employment within fifteen (15) days following the expiration of the cure period.

In the event of termination for any reason, Mr. Brandon Bridgewater shall continue to receive his full salary through the date of termination, any unreimbursed and approved business expenses, accrued but unused paid time off days, and any payments, benefits, or fringe benefits Mr. Brandon Bridgewater was entitled to under plan terms.

If the Company terminates Mr. Brandon Bridgewater without Cause or Mr. Brandon Bridgewater terminates for Good Reason, and there is no Change of Control (as defined in the Brandon Bridgewater Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Brandon Bridgewater the following:

(i)a lump sum cash payment, payable on the date of termination, equal to the sum of the following: (x) one year’s base salary, and (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year, and the greater of (I) any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or (II) the average annual cash bonus for the three preceding completed years (provided, however, that if Mr. Brandon Bridgewater has not been employed for at least three years in which an annual cash bonus was paid, such calculation will assume that an annual cash bonus equal to any target annual cash bonus opportunity was paid in the missing years), and (z) any other target long-term incentive award granted to Mr. Brandon Bridgewater for the year in which the termination occurs;

(ii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(iii)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.

If the Company terminates Mr. Brandon Bridgewater without Cause or Mr. Brandon Bridgewater terminates for Good Reason, and such termination occurs within two (2) years following or six (6) months prior to a Change of Control (as defined in the Brandon Bridgewater Agreement), the Company has agreed to also provide Mr. Brandon Bridgewater the following:

(i)pro-rated, based on the number of days worked during the year in which the termination occurs, the greater of any annual target cash bonus opportunity for the year of termination or the highest actual annual cash bonus paid during the three preceding completed years;

(ii)a lump sum cash payment equal to the sum of the following: (x) one year’s base salary, (y) any unpaid annual bonus for the preceding calendar year, and (z) any other target long-term incentive award granted for the year in which termination occurs;

(iii)accelerated vesting of any outstanding equity grants so that such equity grants vest completely as of the date of termination; and

(iv)to the extent eligible, continuation health insurance coverage under COBRA for twelve (12) months following termination.


Potential Payments on Termination or Change in Control

Sunergy has not previously offered or had in place for our named executive officers any formal retirement, severance or similar compensation programs providing for additional benefits or payments in connection with a termination of employment, change in job responsibility or change in control.

The compensation of the Company’s directors after the consummation of the Business Combination will be determined by the Compensation Committee.

Equity-Based Awards

Sunergy did not have any equity-based plans or awards in 2023.

Sunergy Compensation of Directors

Sunergy had four managers that made up its Board of Managers (Anton Hruby, Gianluca Guy, Kalen Larsen, and Brandon Bridgewater). None of the directors received any separate payments that solely relate to their roles as directors of Sunergy for the year that ended December 31, 2023. Any amounts they received consisted solely of distributions of company profits with respect to their individual LLC’s ownership shares of Sunergy.

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS.

The following table sets forth information known to the Company regarding the beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares of the Company’s common stock as of March 28, 2023 based on information obtained from22, 2024 by:

each person known by the Company to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the Company’s outstanding common stock;

each of the Company’s named executive officers and directors; and

all executive officers and directors as a group.

Beneficial ownership is determined according to the persons named below, with respect torules of the SEC, which generally provide that a person has beneficial ownership of our ordinary shares, by:

a security if he, she or it possesses sole or shared voting or investment power over that security, including options, warrants and certain other derivative securities that are currently exercisable or will become exercisable within 60 days.

each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding ordinary shares;

 

eachThe percentage of beneficial ownership is based on 5,026,964 shares of Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding and 35,230,000 shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock issued and outstanding as of the Closing Date.

In accordance with SEC rules, shares of our executive officers and directors that beneficially owns our ordinary shares; and

all our executive officers and directors as a group.

The table below does not include the Class A ordinary shares and Class B ordinary shares underlying the private placementcommon stock which may be acquired upon exercise of stock options or warrants held by our sponsor because these securitieswhich are notcurrently exercisable or which become exercisable within 60 days of this Report.the date of the Closing are deemed beneficially owned by the holders of such options and warrants and are deemed outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of ownership of such person, but are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage of ownership of any other person.

 

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   Class B Ordinary Shares  Class A Ordinary Shares 

Name of Beneficial Owner (1)

  Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
   Approximate
Percentage
of Class (2)
  Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
   Approximate
Percentage
of Class (2)
 

ESGEN LLC (our sponsor) (3)

   5,619,077    81.4  —      —   

Sea Otter Advisors LLC (4)

   —      —     165,000    5.7

Andrea Bernatova

   —      —     —      —   

Nader Daylami

   —      —     —      —   

James P. Benson

   —      —     —      —   

Michael C. Mayon

   —      —     —      —   

Sanjay Bishnoi

   138,000    2  —      —   

Larry L. Helm

   138,000    2  —      —   

Mark M. Jacobs

   138,000    2  —      —   

All officers and directors as a group (7 individuals)

   414,000    6  —      —   

 

Unless otherwise indicated, the business address of each of the entities, directors and executives in this table is 7625 Little Rd, Suite 200A, New Port Richey, FL 34654. Unless otherwise indicated and subject to community property laws and similar laws, except as otherwise indicated below, the Company believes that all parties named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock beneficially owned by them.

Name and Address of Beneficial Owners Number of
Shares of
Class A
Common
Stock
  %  Number of
Shares of
Class V
Common
Stock
  %  % of
total
voting
power
 
Directors and Executive Officers                    
Directors and executive officers(1)                    
Timothy Bridgewater(2)  --   --   10,460,410   29.7%  26.0%
Gianluca Guy  --   --   5,900,478   16.7%  14.7%
Brandon Bridgewater  --   --   5,515,664   15.7%  13.7%
Kalen Larsen  --   --   5,515,664   15.7%  13.7%
Stirling Adams  --   --   --   --   -- 
Dr. Abigail M. Allen  --   --   --   --   -- 
James P. Benson  --   --   --   --   -- 
Neil Bush  --   --   --   --   -- 
Mark Jacobs  80,000   1.6%  --   --   * 
All directors and executive officers as a group (9 individuals)  80,000   1.6%  27,392,216   77.8%  68.2%
                     
Five Percent Holders                    
Anton Hruby  --       5,900,478   1116.7%  14.7%
ESGEN LLC(3)  3,257,436   64.8%  1,500,000   4.3%  11.8%

(1)*Less than 1%.

(1)Unless otherwise noted, the business address of each of the following individuals or entitiesdirectors and officers is 5956 Sherry Lane,7625 Little Rd, Suite 1400, Dallas, Texas 75225.

200A, New Port Richey, FL 34654.

(2)

The ownership information is based on 2,896,555total number of shares of Zeo Class A ordinaryV Common Stock owned by Timothy Bridgewater comprise (i) 2,308,883 shares (which includesof Zeo Class A ordinaryV Common Stock owned of record by LCB Trust, his family trust entity and (ii) 8,151,527 shares that are underlyingof Zeo Class V Common Stock held of record by Sun Managers, LLC for which as the units) 6,900,000 Class B ordinary shares outstanding as of March 28, 2023. Other than with respect to Sea Otter Advisors LLC, the company does not believe any redemptions were reflected in recent statements filed with the SEC pursuant to section 13(g) of the Exchange Act.

(3)

ESGENmanager he has voting and investment power. Sun Managers, LLC is the record holder of the Class B ordinaryexpected to use such shares reported herein. in connection with a management equity program. Mr. Bridgewater disclaims beneficial ownership over any such shares held by Sun Managers, LLC.

(3)James P. Benson, Michael C. Mayon and Andrea Bernatova are the managers of ESGEN LLC, and each of them disclaims beneficial ownership over any securities owned by ESGEN LLC in which he or she does not have any pecuniary interest.

(4)

Based on a Schedule 13D filed by Sea Otter Advisors LLC on March 13, 2023. Sea Otter Advisors LLC serves as the investment advisor to Sea Otter Trading LLC and has sole voting power and sole dispositive power over the Class A ordinary shares held thereby. The business address of the business office of Sea Otter Advisors LLC and Sea Otter TradingESGEN LLC is 107 Grand St, 7th Floor, New York, New York 10013.

5956 Sherry Lane, Suite 1400, Dallas, Texas 75225.

Our sponsor, officers and directors are deemed to be our “promoter” as such term is defined under the federal securities laws.

Changes in Control

None.

 

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.

As more fully discussed

ESGEN

ESGEN Class B Ordinary Shares 

On April 27, 2021, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain of our offering and formation costs in consideration of 7,187,500 ESGEN Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. The Sponsor transferred 138,000 ESGEN Class B ordinary shares to each of our independent directors and 866,923 ESGEN Class B ordinary shares to the Westwood Client Accounts. 

ESGEN Private Placement Warrants 

The Sponsor purchased an aggregate of 11,240,000 ESGEN Private Placement Warrants for a purchase price of $1.00 per whole warrant, or $11,240,000 in the section of this Report entitled “Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance—Conflicts of Interest,” if anyaggregate, in a private placement that occurred simultaneously with the closing of our officersIPO. Each ESGEN Private Placement Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The ESGEN Private Placement Warrants (including the ESGEN Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity that falls withinsold by the line of business of any entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may need to honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us.

We currently maintain our executive offices at 5956 Sherry Lane, Suite 1400, Dallas, Texas 75225. The cost for our use of this space is included inholder until 30 days after the $10,000 per month fee we pay to an affiliatecompletion of our sponsorinitial business combination. 

Pursuant to the Amended Letter Agreement entered into on January 24, 2024, the Sponsor and the other Initial Shareholders agreed to forfeit, for office space, administrative and support services, (which is accruedno consideration, all ESGEN Private Placement Warrants held by them in “Due to related party”).connection with Closing. 

Promissory Notes 

No compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, will bewere paid byto the company to our sponsor,Sponsor, its officers and directors, or their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the completion of anour initial business combination. However, these individuals will bewere reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with activities on our behalf such as identifying potential target businesses and performing due diligence on suitable business combinations. Our audit committee will reviewreviewed on a quarterly basis all payments that were made by us to the Sponsor, and our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates and will determinedetermined which expenses and the amount of expenses that will bewere reimbursed. There iswas no cap or ceiling on the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by such persons in connection with activities on our behalf.

On

The Sponsor advanced $262,268 to cover expenses related to our IPO under the April 27, 2021 our sponsor agreed to loan us up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of our initial public offering. We borrowed a total of $262,268. This loan was non-interest bearing, unsecured and due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of our initial public offering. The loan was to be repaid upon the closing of our initial public offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the trust account. In connection with the closing of our initial public offering, we paid down $90,922 of the outstanding balance.Promissory Note. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had2023, $171,346 outstanding under the promissory note.

In addition, in order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended initial business combination, our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor or certain of our officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete an initial business combination, we may repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. In the event that the initial business combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the trust account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our trust account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into warrants at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identicalcovered expenses remains outstanding and is due to the private placement warrants, including as to exercise price, exercisability and exercise period. The terms of such loans by our officers and directors, if any, have not been determined and no written agreements exist with respect to such loans. We do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor, its affiliates or our management team as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to fundsSponsor. 

On April 5, 2023, ESGEN issued the April 2023 Promissory Note in our trust account.

If we anticipate that we may not be able to consummate our initial business combination within 18 months, we may, but are not obligated to, extend the period of time to consummate a business combination by an additional one month on six separate occasions (for a totalprincipal amount of up to 24 months, to complete a business combination). Pursuant$1,500,000 to the terms of ourSponsor, which was amended and restated memorandum and articles of association andby the trust agreement entered into between us and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company on the date of our initial public offering, in orderOctober 2023 Promissory Note, which could be drawn down by ESGEN from time to extend the time available for us to consummate our initial business combination, we, upon five days advance notice prior to the applicable deadline, must deposit into the trust account for each one month extension (of which there may be no more than six such extensions) the lesser of $140,000 or $0.04 for each Class A ordinary share that is then-outstanding, on or prior to the date of the applicable deadline. Any such payments would be funded from the proceeds of a non-interest bearing loan between our sponsor and us. The terms in connection with any such loans have not yet been negotiated. If we complete our initial business combination, we would repay such loaned amounts out of the proceeds of the trust account released to us. The letter agreement with our initial shareholders contains a provision pursuant to which our sponsor has agreed to waive its right to be repaid for such loans in the event that we do not complete a business combination. In the event that we determine to effect an extension, we intend to issue a press release announcing such intention at least five days prior to the applicable deadline. In addition, we intend to issue a press release the day after the applicable deadline announcing whether or not the funds had been timely deposited. Our sponsor and their affiliates or designees are not obligated to enter into any such loan agreement with us that would allow us to fund the trust account to extend the time for us to complete our initial business combination.

After our initial business combination, members of our management team who remain with us may be paid consulting, management or other fees from the combined company with any and all amounts being fully disclosed to our shareholders, to the extent then known, in the tender offer or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, furnished to our shareholders. It is unlikely the amount of such compensation will be known at the time of distribution of such tender offer materials or at the time of a shareholder meeting held to consider our initial business combination, as applicable, as it will be up to the directors of the post-combination business to determine executive and director compensation.

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We entered into a registration and shareholder rights agreement pursuant to which our sponsor is entitled to certain registration rights with respect to the private placement warrants, the warrants issuable upon conversion of working capital loans (if any) and the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the foregoing and upon conversion of the founder shares, and, upon consummation of our initial business combination, to nominate three individuals for election to our board of directors,combination. The October 2023 Promissory Note, as longwell as the sponsor holds any securities coveredApril 2021 Promissory Note was not be repaid and was cancelled at Closing. As of January 31, 2024, ESGEN had drawn $1,787,047.65 and $171,346 under the October 2023 Promissory Note and April 2021 Promissory Note, respectively. 

On January 24, 2024, ESGEN issued the January 2024 Promissory Note in the principal amount of up to $750,000 to the Sponsor. The January 2024 Promissory Note could be drawn down by ESGEN from time to time prior to the consummation of our initial Business Combination for specific uses as designated therein. The January 2024 Promissory Note does not bear interest, matured on the date of consummation of the Business Combination and is subject to customary events of default. The principal amount under the January 2024 Promissory Note was paid at Closing from funds that ESGEN had available to it outside of its Trust Account. 

Office Space, Secretarial and Administrative Services 

Until Closing, ESGEN incurred $10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services provided by the registrationSponsor. No amounts were paid for these services. As of each of December 31, 2023 and shareholder rights agreement.December 31, 2022, the Company reported on the balance sheets $120,000 pursuant to this agreement, in “Due to related party”. 

We


Amendment to the Letter Agreement 

Concurrently with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, the Initial Shareholders entered into an agreementthe Amendment to indemnify our sponsorthe Letter Agreement, pursuant to which, among other things, each of the Initial Shareholders agreed (i) not to transfer his, her or its ESGEN Class B ordinary shares (or the New PubCo Class A Common Stock issuable in exchange for such ESGEN Class B ordinary shares pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement) prior to the earlier of (a) six months after the Closing or (b) subsequent to the Closing (A) if the last sale price of the New PubCo Class A Common Stock quoted on Nasdaq is greater than or equal to $12 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and Energy Spectrum andthe like) for any 20 trading days within a 30-consecutive trading day period commencing at least 90 days after Closing, or (B) the date on which New PubCo completes a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of New PubCo’s stockholders having the right to exchange their affiliates fromNew PubCo Class A Common Stock for cash, securities or other property, (ii) to waive any claims made byadjustment to the company or a third partyconversion ratio set forth in respectthe governing documents of any investment opportunities sourced by them, any liability arisingESGEN with respect to the ESGEN Class B ordinary shares prior to the earlier of the ESGEN Share Conversion or the Closing, (iii) the Sponsor agreed to irrevocably surrender and forfeit 2,361,641 ESGEN ordinary shares, (iv) the Initial Shareholders other than Sponsor agreed to irrevocably surrender and forfeit 538,359 ESGEN ordinary shares, (v) the Initial Shareholders and Sponsor agreed to forfeit an additional 500,000 shares of New PubCo Class A Common Stock if, within two years of Closing, the Convertible OpCo Preferred Units are redeemed or converted (with such shares subject to a lock-up for two years after Closing) and (vi) the Initial Shareholders agreed to forfeit all of their activitiesESGEN Private Placement Warrants in connection with our affairs,Closing. 

Lock-Up Agreement 

At the Closing, ESGEN and each of the Lock-Up Sellers entered into the Lock-Up Agreement, pursuant to which each of the Lock-Up Sellers agreed not to transfer any of its respective Exchangeable OpCo Units and corresponding shares of New PubCo Class V Common Stock received in connection with the Business Combination until the earlier of (i) six months after the Closing Date and (ii) subsequent to the Closing Date, (a) if the last sale price of New PubCo Class A Common Stock quoted on Nasdaq is greater than or equal to $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations, and the like) for any 20 trading days within any period of 30 consecutive trading days commencing at least 90 days after the Closing Date or (b) the date on which New PubCo completes a PubCo Sale (as defined in the Lock-Up Agreement). 

PIPE Financing 

At Closing, the Sponsor purchased $10,000,000 of Convertible OpCo Preferred Units in a private placement and has committed, pursuant to the Sponsor Subscription Agreement, to purchase an additional $5,000,0000 of Convertible OpCo Preferred Units if called for by New PubCo within six months of Closing.

Sunergy

Zeo’s customers who have entered into leasing agreements have done so solely with third-party leasing companies established and managed by White Horse Energy, a holding company of which Timothy Bridgewater, Zeo’s Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, is the owner and manager. Mr. Bridgewater, through White Horse, holds 1% or less of the membership interests of the third-party leasing companies that are provided without a separate written agreement between usown the installed solar energy systems leased by Zeo Customers, with the remainder of the membership interests being held by third parties. As of December 31, 2023, the third-party leasing companies had purchased approximately $19.0 million in solar energy systems from Zeo for their leasing customers. As of that date, the third-party leasing companies had entered into leasing agreements with customers for approximately $6.0 million in leased systems to be installed by Zeo, if the development and any such party. Such indemnity providesinstallation of all of those systems continued to completion. Subject to investor and customer demand, White Horse Energy intends to attract additional investors to form third-party leasing companies that the indemnified parties cannot access the funds held in our trust account.will be able to fund additional installations of solar systems by Zeo.

Policy


Policies and Procedures for Approval of Related PartyPerson Transactions

The audit committee of our board of directorsBoard has adopted a charter, providing forpolicy with respect to the review, approval and/orand ratification of “relatedrelated party transactions,” which are those transactions required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 of Regulation S-K as promulgated bytransactions. Under the SEC, by the audit committee. At its meetings, thepolicy, Zeo’s audit committee shall be provided withis responsible for reviewing and approving related person transactions. In the details of each new, existing, or proposed related party transaction, including the terms of the transaction, any contractual restrictions that the company has already committed to, the business purpose of the transaction, and the benefits of the transaction to the company and to the relevant related party. Any member of the committee who has an interest in the related party transaction under review by the committee shall abstain from voting on the approval of the related party transaction, but may, if so requested by the chairperson of the committee, participate in some or all of the committee’s discussions of the related party transaction. Upon completioncourse of its review and approval of the related party transactions, Zeo’s audit committee will consider the relevant facts and circumstances to decide whether to approve such transactions. In particular, Zeo’s policy requires Zeo’s audit committee to consider, among other factors it deems appropriate:

the related person’s relationship to Zeo and interest in the transaction;

the material facts of the proposed transaction, including the proposed aggregate value of the transaction;

the impact on a director’s or a director nominee’s independence in the event the related person is a director or director nominee or an immediate family member of the director or director nominee;

the benefits to Zeo of the proposed transaction;

if applicable, the availability of other sources of comparable products or services; and

an assessment of whether the proposed transaction is on terms that are comparable to the terms available to an unrelated third party or to employees generally.

Zeo’s audit committee will only approve those transactions that are in, or are not inconsistent with, Zeo’s best interests and those of Zeo’s stockholders, as Zeo’s audit committee determines in good faith. In addition, under Zeo’s code of business conduct and ethics, its employees, directors and director nominees have an affirmative responsibility to disclose any transaction the committee may determineor relationship that reasonably could be expected to permit orgive rise to prohibit the related party transaction.

Director Independence

Nasdaq listing standards require that a majorityconflict of our board of directors be independent. An “independent director” is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship which in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Bishnoi, Jacobs, Helm, Benson and Mayon are “independent directors” as defined in the Nasdaq listing standards. Our independent directors will have regularly scheduled meetings at which only independent directors are present.interest.

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.

The following is a summary of fees paid to BDO USA LLP (“BDO”)P.C. (BDO) for services rendered.

Audit Fees. Audit fees consist of fees billed for professional services rendered for the audit of our year-end financial statements, reviews of our quarterly financial statements and services that are normally provided by our independent registered public accounting firm in connection with statutory and regulatory filings. The aggregate fees billed by BDO for audit fees, inclusive of required filings with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 20222023 and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021,2022, and of services rendered in connection with our initial public offering, totaled $210,945 and $85,300, and $239,750, respectively.

Audit-Related Fees. Audit-related fees consist of fees billed for assurance and related services that are reasonably related to performance of the audit or review of our year-end financial statements and are not reported under “Audit Fees.” These services include attest services that are not required by statute or regulation and consultation concerning financial accounting and reporting standards. We did not pay BDO any audit-related fees during the year ended December 31, 20222023 and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.2022.

Tax Fees. Tax fees consist of fees billed for professional services relating to tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice. We did not pay BDO any tax fees during the year ended December 31, 20222023 and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.2022.

 

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All Other Fees. All other fees consist of fees billed for all other services. We did not pay BDO anyThe aggregate fees billed for other fees during the year ended December 31, 2022 and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021.2023 and 2022 totaled $0 and $0, respectively.


PART IV

ITEM 15. EXHIBIT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.

The following documents are filed as part of this Form 10-K:

(1) Financial Statements:Statements: Our financial statements are listed in the “Index to Financial Statements” on page F-1.

(2)

(2) Financial Statement Schedules:Schedules: None.

(3) Exhibits

We hereby file as part of this Report the exhibits listed in the attached Exhibit Index. Copies of such material can also be obtained on the SEC website at www.sec.gov.

 

Exhibit No.

Description

  3.1Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
  3.2Amendment to the Amended and Restated Articles of Association (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 20, 2023)
  4.1Description of the Registrant’s Securities (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on April 1, 2022).
  4.2Specimen Unit Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).
  4.3Specimen Class A Ordinary Share Certificate (incorporated by Reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).
  4.4Specimen Warrant Certificate (incorporated by Reference to Exhibit 4.3 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).
  4.5Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
10.1Investment Management Trust Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company and the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
10.2Registration and Shareholder Rights Agreement among the Registrant, the Sponsor and the Holders signatory thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
10.3Form of Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement between the Registrant, the Sponsor and the Salient Client Accounts (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
10.4Form of Indemnity Agreement (incorporated by Reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).

Exhibit   Incorporated by Reference
Number Description Form Exhibit Filing Date
2.1 Business Combination Agreement, dated as of April 19, 2023, by and among ESGEN, Sunergy, the Sellers, OpCo, the Sponsor and Timothy Bridgewater. 8-K 2.1 April 20, 2023
2.2 Amendment No. 1 to Business Combination Agreement, dated as of January 24, 2024, by and between ESGEN and Sunergy. 8-K 2.1 January 25, 2024
3.1 Certificate of Incorporation of Zeo Energy Corp. 8-K 3.1 March 20, 2024
3.2 Bylaws of Zeo Energy Corp. 8-K 3.2 March 20, 2024
10.1 Amended and Restated Subscription Agreement, dated as of January 24, 2024, by and among ESGEN, OpCo and the Sponsor. 8-K 10.2 January 25, 2024
10.2 Letter Agreement, dated as of October 22, 2021, by and among ESGEN, the Sponsor and the Insiders party thereto. 8-K 10.5 October 25, 2021
10.3 Amendment to Letter Agreement, dated as of April 19, 2023, by and among ESGEN, the Sponsor and the Insiders party thereto. 8-K 10.1 April 20, 2023
10.4 Amendment No. 2 to Letter Agreement, dated as of January 24, 2024, by and among ESGEN, the Sponsor and the Insiders party thereto. 8-K 10.1 January 25, 2024
10.5 Side Letter, dated as of March 13, 2024 by and among ESGEN, Sponsor, Sunergy and the other parties thereto. 8-K 10.5 March 20, 2024
10.6 Non-Redemption Agreement, dated as of March 11, 2024, by and between ESGEN and The K2 Principal Fund L.P. 8-K 10.1 March 12, 2024
10.7 Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of March 13, 2024. 8-K 10.7 March 20, 2024
10.8 OpCo A&R LLC Agreement, dated as of March 13, 2024. 8-K 10.8 March 20, 2024
10.9 Form of Lock-Up Agreement. 8-K 2.1 April 20, 2023
10.10 Tax Receivable Agreement, dated as of March 13, 2024. 8-K 10.10 March 20, 2024
10.11 Form of Indemnification Agreement. 8-K 10.11 March 20, 2024
10.12 Employment Agreement, dated March 13, 2024, by and between Opco and Timothy Bridgewater. 8-K 10.12 March 20, 2024
10.13 Employment Agreement, dated March 13, 2024, by and between Opco and Kalen Larsen. 8-K 10.13 March 20, 2024
10.14 Employment Agreement, dated March 13, 2024, by and between Opco and Gianluca “Luke” Guy. 8-K 10.14 March 20, 2024
10.15 Employment Agreement, dated March 13, 2024, by and between Opco and Brandon Bridgewater. 8-K 10.15 March 20, 2024
10.17 Zeo Energy Corp. 2024 Omnibus Incentive Equity Plan. 8-K 10.17 March 20, 2024
21.1* Subsidiaries of Zeo Energy Corp.      
31** Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.      
32** Certification of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.      
97* Clawback Policy.      
101* Interactive data file set for the financial statements and accompanying notes contained in this Report (formatted as Inline XBRL).      
104* Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).      

 

74


10.5Administrative Services Agreement between the Registrant and the Sponsor (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
10.6Promissory Note, dated as of April 27, 2021, between the Registrant and the Sponsor (incorporated by Reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).
10.7Securities Subscription Agreement, dated April 27, 2021, between the Registrant and the Sponsor (incorporated by Reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).
10.8Form of Securities Subscription Agreement between the Registrant and the Salient Client Accounts (incorporated by Reference to Exhibit 10.8 to the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 28, 2021).
10.9Letter Agreement between the Registrant, the Sponsor and each director of the Registrant (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 25, 2021).
31.1*Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2*Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1**Certifications of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101*Interactive data file set for the financial statements and accompanying notes contained in this Report (formatted as Inline XBRL).
104*Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).

*

Filed herewith

**

Furnished herewith

ITEM 16. FORM 10–K SUMMARY.

None.


 

75


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized this date of March 31, 2023.25, 2024.

 

ESGEN ACQUISITION CORPORATIONZeo Energy Corp.
By:/s/ Timothy Bridgewater
 /s/ Andrea BernatovaName: Timothy Bridgewater
Name:Title:Andrea Bernatova
Title:Chief Executive Officer

Power of Attorney

Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Andrea Bernatova and Nader Daylami, and each one of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in their name, place, and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on March 31, 2023.

Name

Position

/s/ Andrea BernatovaChief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)and Chief Financial Officer

Andrea Bernatova
/s/ Nader DaylamiName Position
/s/ Timothy BridgewaterChief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer (Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Principal
Accounting Officer)
Nader Daylami
/s/ James P. BensonGianluca “Luke” Guy Director
Gianluca “Luke” Guy
/s/ Dr. Abigail M. AllenDirector
Dr. Abigail M. Allen
/s/ James P. Benson
/s/ Michael C. Mayon Director
Michael C. Mayon
/s/ Sanjay BishnoiJames P. Benson Director
Sanjay Bishnoi
/s/ Larry Helm Director
Larry Helm/s/ Neil BushDirector
Neil Bush
/s/ Mark Jacobs Director
Mark Jacobs

 


76



REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Shareholders and Board of Directors

ESGEN Acquisition Corporation

Dallas, Texas

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of ESGEN Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022,2023, and 2021,2022, the related statements of operations, changes in redeemable ordinary shares and shareholders’ deficit, and cash flows for each of the yearyears then ended, December 31, 2022 and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred(referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2023 and 2022 and 2021,of the Company, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the yearyears then ended, December 31, 2022, and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021

,
in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Going Concern Uncertainty

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company does not have sufficient cash and working capital to sustain its operations and the Company’s ability to execute its business plan is dependent upon its completion of the proposed business combination described in Note 1 to the financial statements.operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Emphasis of Matter – Business Combination

As discussed in Note 10 to the financial statements, the Company consummated the business combination discussed in Note 6 on March 13, 2024.

/s/ BDO USA, LLPP.C.

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2021.

March 25, 2024

March 31, 2023

New York, New York
F-2


ESGEN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

BALANCE SHEETS

  December 31,
2023
  December 31,
2022
 
Assets        
Current assets:        
Cash $60,518  $614,767 
Prepaid expenses  19,279   31,110 
Total current assets  79,797   645,877 
Non-current assets:        
Marketable securities and cash held in Trust Account  16,018,732   285,506,568 
Total assets $16,098,529  $286,152,445 
Liabilities,  Redeemable  Ordinary Shares  and Shareholders’ Deficit        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable and accrued expenses $5,669,349  $1,866,992 
Due to related party  339,193   144,193 
Promissory note—related party  1,783,744   171,346 
Total current liabilities  7,792,286   2,182,531 
Non-current liabilities:        
Warrant liabilities  1,113,600   796,224 
Deferred underwriters fee  —    9,660,000 
Total liabilities $8,905,886  $12,638,755 
Commitments and Contingencies        
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, $0.0001 par value; 1,408,555 and 27,600,000 shares at redemption value as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively  16,018,732   285,506,568 
Shareholders’ Deficit:        
Preferred shares, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding  —    —  
Class A shares, $0.0001 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized; 5,619,077 and 0 issued or outstanding (excluding 1,408,555 and 27,600,000 shares subject to possible redemption) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively  562    —  
Class B shares, $0.0001 par value; 25,000,000 shares authorized; 1,280,923 and 6,900,000 shares issued and outstanding, respectively  128   690 
Accumulated deficit  (8,826,779)  (11,993,568)
Total shareholders’ deficit  (8,826,089)  (11,992,878)
Total Liabilities, Redeemable Ordinary Shares and Shareholders’ Deficit $16,098,529  $286,152,445 
   
December 31,
2022
  
December 31,
2021
 
Assets
         
Cash  $614,767  $1,323,903 
Prepaid expense   31,110   550,434 
          
Total current assets
   645,877   1,874,337 
Prepaid expense—noncurrent   —     26,081 
Marketable securities held in Trust Account   285,506,568   281,522,137 
          
Total assets
  
$
286,152,445
 
 
$
283,422,555
 
          
          
Liabilities, Redeemable Ordinary Shares and Shareholders’ Deficit
         
Accrued offering costs and expenses  $1,866,992  $411,416 
Due to related party   144,193   24,193 
Promissory note—related party   171,346   171,346 
          
Total current liabilities
   2,182,531   606,955 
Warrant liabilities   796,224   13,976,160 
Deferred underwriter’s fee payable   9,660,000   9,660,000 
          
Total liabilities
  
$
12,638,755
 
 
$
24,243,115
 
          
Commitment and Contingencies
         
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, $0.0001 par value; 27,600,000 shares at a redemption value
 
of $10.34 and $10.20, respectively
   285,506,568   281,520,000 
Shareholders’ Deficit:
         
Preferred share
s
, $0.0001 par value; 1,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding
  
 
—  
 
 
 
—  
 
Class A share
s
, $0.0001 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized; none issued or outstanding (excluding 27,600,000 shares subject to possible redemption)
  
 
—  
 
 
 
—  
 
Class B share
s
, $0.0001 par value; 25,000,000 shares authorized; 6,900,000 shares issued and outstanding
   690   690 
Accumulated deficit   (11,993,568  (22,341,250
          
Total shareholders’ deficit
  
 
(11,992,878
 
 
(22,340,560
          
Total Liabilities, Redeemable Ordinary Shares and Shareholders’ Deficit
  
$
 286,152,445
 
 
$
 283,422,555
 
          

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


F-3


ESGEN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

  Year Ended
December 31,
  Year Ended
December 31,
 
  2023  2022 
Legal and professional fees $4,343,626  $1,913,373 
Insurance  92,103   528,861 
Other operating costs  503,396   267,883 
Operating cost—related party  120,000   120,000 
Loss from operations  (5,059,125)  (2,830,117)
Other income (expense):        
Change in fair value of warrants liabilities  (317,376)  13,179,936 
Interest and investment income on marketable securities and cash held in Trust Account  1,950,267   3,984,431 
Recovery of deferred offering costs allocated to warrants  425,040    
Total other income, net  2,057,931   17,164,367 
Net (loss) income $(3,001,194) $14,334,250 
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of redeemable Class A ordinary shares  3,821,284   27,600,000 
Basic and diluted  net (loss) income per share, redeemable Class A $(1.32) $0.44 
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of non-redeemable Class A and Class B ordinary shares  6,900,000   6,900,000 
Basic and diluted  net income per share, non-redeemable Class A and Class B $0.29  $0.30 
   
Year Ended
December 31,
  
For the Period
from April 19,
2021
(Inception)
through
December 31,
 
   
2022
  
2021
 
Legal and professional fees  $1,913,373  $—   
Formation   —     618,884 
Insurance   528,861   107,221 
Other operating costs   267,883   25,735 
Operating cost—related party   120,000   24,193 
          
Loss from operations
  
 
(2,830,117
 
 
(776,033
Other income (expense):         
Change in fair value of warrants liabilities   13,179,936   10,944,240 
Investment income on marketable securities held in Trust Account   3,984,431   2,137 
Warrant issuance costs   —     (710,081
          
Total other income, net   17,164,367   10,236,296 
          
Net income
  
$
14,334,250
 
 
$
9,460,263
 
          
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of Class A ordinary shares   27,600,000   7,546,875 
          
Basic and diluted net income per share, Class A
  
$
0.44
 
 
$
1.96
 
          
Basic and diluted weighted average shares outstanding of Class B ordinary shares   6,900,000   6,684,375 
          
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share, Class B
  
$
0.30
 
 
$
(0.80)
 
          

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


F-4


ESGEN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN REDEEMABLE ORDINARY SHARES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ DEFICIT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023 AND 2022 AND

  Class A Ordinary
share subject to possible
  Class A  Class B  Additional     Total 
  redemption  Ordinary share  Ordinary share  Paid-in  Accumulated  Shareholder’ 
  Shares  Amount  Shares  Amount  Shares  Amount  Capital  Deficit  Deficit 
Balance as of December 31, 2021  27,600,000  $281,520,000     $   6,900,000  $690  $  $(22,341,250) $(22,340,560)
Accretion of ordinary shares subject to possible redemption     3,986,568                  (3,986,568)  (3,986,568)
Net income      —                  14,334,250   14,334,250 
Balance as of December 31, 2022  27,600,000   285,506,568         6,900,000   690      (11,993,568)  (11,992,878)
Redemption of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption  (26,194,445)  (272,554,813)                     
Recovery of deferred offering costs                       9,234,960   9,234,960 
Conversion of Class B ordinary shares to Class A ordinary shares        5,619,077   562   (5,619,077)  (562)         
Accretion of ordinary shares subject to possible redemption     3,066,977                  (3,066,977)  (3,066,977)
Net loss                       (3,001,194)  (3,001,194)
Balance as of December 31, 2023  1,405,555  $16,018,732   5,619,077  $562   1,280,923  $128  $  $(8,826,779) $(8,826,089)

FOR THE PERIOD FROM APRIL 19, 2021 (INCEPTION) THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2021
   
Class A
Ordinary share subject to possible
redemption
   
Class B
Ordinary share
   
Additional
Paid-in
  
Accumulated
  
Total
Shareholders’
 
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Capital
  
Deficit
  
Deficit
 
Balance as of April 19, 2021 (inception)
  
 
—  
 
  
$
—  
 
  
 
—  
 
  
$
 
  
$
—  
 
 
$
—  
 
 
$
—  
 
Issuance of founder shares   —      —      6,900,000    690    24,310   —     25,000 
Sale of founder shares to Salient Client Accounts   —      —      —      —      2,698   —     2,698 
Proceeds of public offering (net of
allocations and costs)
   27,600,000    248,427,879    —      —      —     —     —   
Excess proceeds over fair value of private
warrants
   —      —      —      —      1,263,600   —     1,263,600 
Accretion of ordinary share subject to possible redemption   —      33,092,121    —      —      (1,290,608  (31,801,513  (33,092,121
Net income   —      —      —      —      —     9,460,263   9,460,263 
                                  
Balance as of December 31, 2021
  
 
27,600,000
 
  
$
281,520,000
 
  
 
6,900,000
 
  
$
690
 
  
$
—  
 
 
$
 (22,341,250)
 
 
$
 (22,340,560)
 
Accretion of ordinary shares subject to possible redemption   —      3,986,568    —      —      —     (3,986,568  (3,986,568
Net income   —      —      —      —      —     14,334,250   14,334,250 
                                  
Balance as of December 31, 2022
  
 
27,600,000
 
  
$
285,506,568
 
  
 
6,900,000
 
  
$
690
 
  
$
—  
 
 
$
(11,993,568
 
$
(11,992,878
                                  

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


F-5

ESGEN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS


  For the year ended  For the year ended 
  December 31,
2023
  December 31,
2022
 
Cash flows from operating activities:        
Net (loss) income $(3,001,194) $14,334,250 
Adjustments to reconcile net (loss) income to net cash provided by in operating activities:        
Recovery of deferred offering costs allocated to warrants  (425,040)   
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities  317,376   (13,179,936)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:        
Due to related party  195,000   545,405 
Prepaid assets  11,831   1,455,576 
Accounts payable and accrued expenses  3,802,357   120,000 
Net cash provided by operating activities  900,330   3,275,295 
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:        
Extension funding used to purchase marketable securities and cash held in Trust Account  (1,116,710)   
Cash withdrawn from Trust Account in connection with redemptions  272,554,813    
Proceeds from sale of marketable securities deposited into cash held in Trust Account  15,862,501    
Reinvestment of marketable securities and cash held in Trust Account  (1,794,036)  (3,984,431)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities  285,506,568   (3,984,431)
Cash flows from financing  activities:        
Proceeds from note payable-related party  1,612,398    
Redemptions of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption  (272,554,813)   
Net cash used in financing  activities  (270,942,415)   
Net change in cash $15,464,483  $(709,136)
Cash, beginning of the period $614,767  $1,323,903 
Cash, end of the period $60,518  $614,767 
Cash held in Trust Account  16,018,732    
Total cash and cash in Trust Account $16,079,250  $614,767 
Supplemental disclosure  of cash flow information:        
Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption $3,066,977  $3,986,568 
Impact of the waiver of deferred commission by the underwriters $9,234,960  $ 
Conversion of Class B ordinary shares to Class A ordinary shares $562  $ 

   
For the year ended
December 31,

2022
  
For the Period
From April 19,
2021 (Inception)
Through
December 31,
2021
 
Cash flows from operating activities:
         
Net income  $14,334,250  $9,460,263 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by (used) in operating activities:         
Formation and operating costs paid by the Sponsor   —     18,356 
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities   (13,179,936  (10,944,240
Warrant issuance costs   —     710,081 
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:         
Prepaid expenses

   545,405   (576,515
Accrued offering costs and expenses   1,455,576   371,704 
Due to related party   120,000   24,193 
          
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
  
 
3,275,295
 
 
 
(936,158
)
 
          
          
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
         
Investment of cash in Trust Account   —     (281,520,000
Reinvestment of marketable securities held in Trust Account

   (3,984,431  (2,137
Net cash used in investing activities
  
 
(3,984,431
) 
 
(281,522,137
)
 
Cash flows from financing activities:
         
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriters fees payable   —     270,480,000 
Proceeds from sale of founder shares to Salient Client Accounts   —     2,698 
Proceeds from private placement warrants   —     14,040,000 
Repayment of a loan from related party   —     (90,922
Payment of other offering costs   —     (649,578
          
Net cash provided by financing activities
  
 
—  
 
 
 
283,782,198
 
          
          
Net change in cash   (709,136  1,323,903 
Cash, beginning of the period   1,323,903   —   
          
Cash, end of the period
  
$
614,767
 
 
$
1,323,903
 
          
          
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
         
Change in value of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption  $3,986,568  $—   
Deferred underwriting fee  $—    $9,660,000 
Deferred offering cost included in accrued offering costs and expenses  $—    $39,712 
Deferred offering costs paid through issuance of promissory note  $—    $152,990 
Formation and operating costs paid by Sponsor through issuance of promissory note  $—    $18,356 
Deferred offering cost paid by Sponsor in exchange for issuance of founder shares  $—    $25,000 
       
 
 
 

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


F-6


ESGEN ACQUISITION CORPORATION

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Note 1 — Organization and Business Operation

ESGEN Acquisition Corporation (the “Company” or “ESGEN”) was incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on April 19, 2021. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities (the “Business Combination”). The Company has not selected any Business Combination target. The Company will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region in its identification and acquisition of a target company.

The Company consummated the Business Combination on March 13, 2024 (see Note 10 – Subsequent Events).

As of December 31, 2022,2023, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2022,2023, relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering (“Public Offering” or “IPO”) described below and since the closing of the IPO, the search for a prospective initial business combination.Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate

non-operating
income in the form of interest or dividend income on cash and cash equivalents from the proceeds derived from the Public Offering (as defined below).

The Company’s sponsor is ESGEN LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”).

The registration statement for the Company’s IPO was declared effective on October 19, 2021. On October 22, 2021, the Company consummated its IPO of 27,600,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”“public shares”) at $10.00 per Unit (which included the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option), which is discussed in Note 3 and the sale of 14,040,000 warrants (the “Private Placement Warrants”) each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, at a price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant in a private placement to the Sponsor that closed simultaneously with the Public Offering.

Transaction costs amounted to $16,138,202 consisting of $5,520,000 of underwriting commissions, $9,660,000 of deferred underwriting commissions and $958,202 of other cash offering costs. Of this amount, $15,428,121 was charged to shareholder’s deficit and $710,081 was allocated to the warrants and expensed.

The Company must complete one or more initial Business Combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the net assets held in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the deferred underwriting commissionsunderwriters fee and taxes payable on the interest or dividends earned on the Trust Account) at the time of signing a definitive agreement in connection with the initial Business Combination. However, the Company will complete the initial Business Combination only if the post-Business Combination company in which its public shareholders own shares will own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or is otherwise not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to complete a Business Combination successfully.

Following the closing of the IPO on October 22, 2021, $281,520,000 ($10.20 per Unit) from the net proceeds sold in the IPO, including proceeds of the sale of the Private Placement Warrants, was deposited in a trust account (“Trust Account”) and, willuntil October 16, 2023, was only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule

2a-7
promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. To mitigate the risk of being deemed to have been operating as an unregistered investment company under the Investment Company Act, on October 16, 2023, the Company instructed the Trustee with respect to the Trust Account, to liquidate the U.S. government securities or money market funds held in the Trust Account and thereafter to hold all funds in the Trust Account in demand deposits (i.e., in one or more bank accounts) until the earliest of ESGEN’s completion of an initial business combination or July 22, 2024 (assuming the Sponsor deposits the required amount into the Trust Account for each New Additional Extension Date and unless the Company’s shareholders approve one or more further Additional Extensions).


Except with respect to interest or other income earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to the Company to pay its income taxes, if any, the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as discussed below and subject to the requirements of law and regulation, will provide that the proceeds from the Public Offering and the sale of the Private Placement Warrants held in the Trust Account will not be released from the Trust Account (1) to the Company, until the completion of the initial Business Combination, or (2) to the public shareholders, until the earliest of (a) the completion of the initial Business Combination, and then only in connection with those Class A ordinary shares that such shareholders properly elected to redeem, subject to the limitations described herein, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of the Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if the Company doesdid not complete its initial Business Combination within 15 months (unless otherwise(which was extended as described inpursuant to shareholder approval of the prospectus relating to the IPO)Charter Amendment (as defined below)) from the closing of this offering (the “Combination Period”) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Class A ordinary shares, and (c) the redemption of the public shares if the Company has not consummated the Business Combination within Combination Period, subject to applicable law. Public shareholders who redeem their Class A ordinary shares in connection with a shareholder vote described in clause (b) in the preceding sentence shall not be entitled to funds from the Trust Account upon the subsequent completion of an initial Business Combination or liquidation if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within Combination Period, with respect to such Class A ordinary shares so redeemed.

F-7

The Company will provide its public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a shareholder meeting called to approve the Business Combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a proposed Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require the Company to seek shareholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirement.

The Company will provide its public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A ordinary shares upon the completion of its initial Business Combination at aper-sharea per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest or dividends earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its income taxes, if any, divided by the number of then-outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. The amount in the Trust Account is initially $10.20 per public share. The per share amount the Company will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissionsunderwriters fee the Company will pay to the underwriters.

The ordinary shares subject to redemption were recorded at redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Public Offering, in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” In such case, the Company will proceed with a Business Combination if the Company has net tangible assets of at least $5,000,001 upon such consummation of a Business Combination and, if the Company seeks shareholder approval, a majority of the issued and outstanding shares voted are voted in favor of the Business Combination.

The Company has until AprilJuly 22, 2023, with2024 (assuming the extension as described below,Sponsor deposits the required amount into the Trust Account for each New Additional Extension Date and unless the Company’s shareholders approve one or more further Additional Extensions), to consummate the initial Business Combination. If the Company has not consummated the initial Business Combination within the Combination Period, the Company will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at aper-sharea per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest or dividends earned on the funds held in the Trust Account and not previously released to the Company to pay its income taxes, if any (less

up
t
o to $100,000
of interest or dividends to pay winding up and dissolution expenses) divided by the number of the then-outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidation distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of the Company’s remaining shareholders and its board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii), to the Company’s obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law.


On January 18, 2023, the Company’sCompany held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders votedto consider and vote upon, among other things, a proposal to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Extension Proposal”“First Extension Charter Amendment”) to (i) extend the date by which the Company must consummate its initial Business Combination (the “Termination Date”) from January 22, 2023 to April 22, 2023 (the “Extended Date”)and (ii) in the date (the “Termination Date”) by whichevent that the Company must mandatorily liquidatehas not consummated an initial business combination by April 22, 2023, to allow the Company.Company, by resolution of the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) and, without any approval of the Company’s shareholders, upon five days’ advance notice prior to each Additional Extension, to extend the Termination Date up to six times (with each such extension being upon five days’ advance notice), each by one additional month (for a total of up to six additional months to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension” and such date, the “Additional Extension Date”), provided that the Sponsor or the Sponsor’s affiliates or permitted designees will deposit into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date the lesser of (a) $140,000 or (b) $0.04 for each public share that is then-outstanding, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by the Company to the Sponsor or the Sponsor’s affiliates or permitted designees (the “Lenders” and each a “Lender”). In connection with the vote to approve the First Extension Proposal,Charter Amendment, the holders of 24,703,445 Class A ordinary shares of ESGEN properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.35 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $255,875,757.

Additionally, in the event that the Company has not consummated an initial business combination by the Extended Date, the Board may extend the Termination Date up to six times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to six additional months to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension Date”), provided that the Company deposits into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date the lesser of (a) $140,000 or (b) $0.04 for each Public Share that is then-outstanding.
$255,875,758.

The Sponsor and each member of the management team have entered into an agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of the Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the public shares if the Company doesdid not complete its initial Business Combination within 15 months from the closing of the Public Offering (or up(which was extended pursuant to 21 months, if we extendshareholder approval of the time to complete a business combination)Charter Amendment) or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares they hold if the Company fails to consummate an initial business combinationBusiness Combination within Combination Period.

The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company (other than the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm), or a prospective target business with which the Company has discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amounts in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per public share and (ii) the actual amount per public share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account if less than $10.00 per public share due to reductions in the value of the Trust Account, in each case net of the interest or dividends that may be withdrawn to pay the Company’s income tax obligations, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims

F-8

by a third party or prospective target business that executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the Trust Account nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, the Sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. However, the Company has not asked the Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor has the Company independently verified whether the Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and the Company believe that the Sponsor’s only assets are securities of the Company. Therefore, the Company cannot assure you that the Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. None of the Company’s officers or directors will indemnify the Company for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.
Risks and Uncertainties
In March 2020,

On October 20, 2023, at the World Health Organization characterizedCompany’s extraordinary general meeting, the outbreakshareholders approved, among other proposals, (i) (a) the extension (such proposal, the “Extension Proposal”) of the novel strain of coronavirus, specifically identified as

COVID-19,
as a global pandemic. This has resulted in governments enacting emergency measures to combat the spread of the virus. These measures, which include the implementation of travel bans, self-imposed quarantine periods and social distancing, have caused material disruption to business, resulting in a global economic slowdown. Equity markets have experienced significant volatility and weakness and the governments and central banks have reacted with significant monetary and fiscal interventions designed to stabilize economic conditions.
The current challenging economic climate may lead to adverse changes in cash flows, working capital levels and/or debt balances, which may also have a direct impact on the Company’s operating results and financial position in the future. The ultimate duration and magnitude of the impact and the efficacy of government interventions on the economy and the financial effect on the Company is not known at this time. The extent of such impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and not in the Company’s control, including new information which may emerge concerning the spread and severity of
COVID-19
and actions taken to address its impact, among others. The repercussions of this health crisis could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, liquidity and operating results.
In response to
COVID-19,
time period the Company has implemented working practices to address potential impactscomplete an initial Business Combination from October 22, 2023 to its operations, employeesJanuary 22, 2024 (the “Charter Amendment”) and customers, and will take further measures(b) in the future if and as required. At present, we do not believe there has been any appreciable impact onevent that the Company specifically associated with
COVID-19.
Management is currently evaluatinghas not consummated an initial Business Combination by January 22, 2024, to allow the impactCompany, by resolution of the COVID-19 pandemicBoard and, has concluded that while it is reasonably possiblewithout any approval of the Company’s shareholders, upon five days’ advance notice prior to each Additional Extension, to complete six Additional Extensions, provided that the pandemic could haveSponsor or the Sponsor’s affiliates or permitted designees will deposit into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date the lesser of (x) $35,000 or (y) $0.0175 for each public share that is then-outstanding, in exchange for one or more non-interest bearing, unsecured promissory notes issued by a negative effect onLender, and (ii) the amendment of the Company’s financial position, resultsamended and restated memorandum and articles of its operations and/or search for a target company,association to change certain provisions which restrict the specific impact is not readily determinable asClass B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001, of the Company (the “Class B ordinary shares”) from converting to Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the “Class A ordinary shares”) prior to the consummation of an initial Business Combination (such proposal, the “Conversion Proposal”). As of the date of these financial statements.filing this report, the Company has deposited the requisite amounts into the Trust Account for each Additional Extension Date until March 22, 2024.


Additionally, the shareholders approved a proposal to amend, by special resolution, the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to change certain provisions which restrict the Class B ordinary shares from converting to Class A ordinary shares prior to the consummation of an initial Business Combination.

In connection with the vote to approve the above proposals, the holders of 1,488,000 Class A ordinary shares of ESGEN exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.21 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of $16,679,055.

In connection with the approval of the Extension Proposal at the Meeting and the adoption of the Charter Amendment, the Sponsor contributed into the Trust Account $0.0525 per share for each Class A ordinary share that was not redeemed at the Meeting, for an aggregate contribution of $73,949.

In connection with the approval of the Conversion Proposal at the Meeting and the adoption of the Charter Amendment, the Sponsor converted all of its 5,619,077 Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares. As a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and redemptions made in connection with the Extension Proposal and Conversion Proposal, 7,027,632 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding. Notwithstanding the Sponsor Share Conversion, the Sponsor will be not entitled to receive any funds held in the Trust Account with respect to any Class A ordinary shares issued to the Sponsor as a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and no additional amounts will be deposited into the Trust Account in respect of shares of Class A ordinary shares held by the Sponsor in connection with the extension of the Termination Date to the Extended Date or any Additional Extension Dates.

On October 16, 2023 (the “Compliance Date”), the Company was notified by The financial statements doNasdaq Stock Market LLC (the “Nasdaq”) that the Company was not includein compliance with the minimum number of round lot holders required for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Market (the “Round Lot Requirement”). The Company has until April 15, 2024 to comply with the Round Lot Requirement. If ESGEN does not regain compliance with the Round Lot Requirement by the Compliance Date, ESGEN will receive written notification that its securities are subject to delisting, at which time ESGEN may appeal the Nasdaq’s delisting determination to a Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel (the “Panel”). There can be no assurance that ESGEN will be able to regain compliance with the Round Lot Requirement or that any adjustmentsappeal of the Nasdaq’s delisting determination to the Panel would be successful.

Founder Shares

Founder Shares refers to the Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”) acquired by the initial shareholders prior to the Company’s IPO.

The initial shareholders and each member of the management team have entered into an agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with the completion of the Business Combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and public shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that might resultwould modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of the Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Company’s public shares if it does not complete the Business Combination by the Termination Date or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Class A ordinary shares and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the outcomeTrust Account with respect to any Founder Shares they hold if the Company fails to consummate an Business Combination by the Termination Date (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any public shares they hold if the Company fails to complete the Business Combination within the prescribed time frame). If the Company seeks shareholder approval, it will complete the Business Combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution or such higher approval threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands law and pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of this uncertainty.

association. In such case, the initial shareholders and each member of the management team have agreed to vote their Founder Shares and public shares in favor of the Business Combination.

In connection with the approval of the Conversion Proposal at the Meeting and the adoption of the Charter Amendment, the Sponsor converted all of its 5,619,077 Class B ordinary shares into Class A ordinary shares (the “Sponsor Share Conversion”). As a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and redemptions made in connection with the Extension Proposal and Conversion Proposal, 7,027,632 Class A ordinary shares remain outstanding. Notwithstanding the Sponsor Share Conversion, the Sponsor will be not entitled to receive any funds held in the Trust Account with respect to any Class A ordinary shares issued to the Sponsor as a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and no additional amounts will be deposited into the Trust Account in respect of shares of Class A ordinary shares held by the Sponsor in connection with the extension of the Termination Date to the Extended Date or any Additional Extension Dates.


Risks and Uncertainties

The credit and financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruptions due to the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The conflict is expected to have further global economic consequences, including but not limited to the possibility of severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in inflation rates and uncertainty about economic and political stability. In addition, the United States and other countries have imposed sanctions on Russia which increases the risk that Russia, as a retaliatory action, may launch cyberattacks against the United States, its government, infrastructure and businesses. Any of the foregoing consequences, including those we cannot yet predict, may cause our business, financial condition, results of operations and the price of our ordinary shares to be adversely affected.

Additionally, recent military conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas war, and increased military tensions, may have a material adverse effect on financial and business conditions. These circumstances could reduce the number of attractive targets for an initial Business Combination, increase the cost of consummating an initial Business Combination and delay or prevent the Company from completing an initial Business Combination.

Going Concern

As of December 31, 2022,2023, the Company had $614,767$60,518 in cash held outside of the Trust Account and owes $1,866,992

$5,669,349 in accounts payable and accrued offering costs and expenses and an additional
$315,539$2,122,937 to related parties. The Company anticipates that theits cash held outside of the Trust Account as of December 31, 2022 will not be sufficient to allow the Company to operate for at least the next 12 months from the issuance of the financial statements, assuming that a Business Combination is not consummated during that time.statements. The Company has incurred and expects to continue to incur significant costs in pursuit of its acquisition plans.
In connection withplans and the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with ASC Subtopic
205-40,
“Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern”, the Company has until April 22, 2023 (as extended) to consummate a Business Combination. If a Business Combination is not consummated by this date and an extension not obtained, there will be a mandatory liquidation and subsequent dissolutionclosing of the Company. Although the Company intends to consummate a Business Combination on or before April 22, 2023 (as extended), it is uncertain whether the Company will be able to consummate a Business Combination by this time. Management has determined that the mandatory liquidation, should a Business Combination not occur, and an extension is not obtained, as well as the potential for us to have insufficient funds available to operate our business prior to a Business Combination, raisescombination described in Note 10. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
F-9

The Company will seek additional capital through other financing alternatives. There can be no assurance that new financings or other transactions will be available to the Company on commercially acceptable terms, or at all. Should the Company fail to raise additional cash from outside sources, this would have a material adverse impact on its operations.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue to operate as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and settlement of liabilities in the normal course of business, and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classifications of liabilities that may result from uncertainty related to its ability to continue as a going concern.


Note 2 — Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying audited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The summary of significant accounting policies presented below is designed to assist in understanding the Company’s financial statements. Such financial statements and accompanying notes are the representations of the Company’s management, who is responsible for their integrity and objectivity.


Emerging Growth Company Status

The Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to

non-
emerging non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s financial statements with another public
company
which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company’s management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash and cash equivalents. The Company had no cash equivalents as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, and 2021, respectively.

Marketable Securities and Cash Held in Trust Account

Substantially

As of December 31, 2023, investments held in the Trust Account consisted of interest bearing demand deposits. As of December 31, 2022, substantially all of the assets held in the Trust Account were held in U.S. Money Market Funds. The Company’sSuch investments held in the Trust Account are classified as trading securities. Trading securities are presented on the condensed balance sheetsheets at fair value at the end of eachthe reporting period. GainsInterest, dividends, gains and losses resulting from the change in fair value of these investments held in Trust Account are included in investment income on marketable securitiesfrom investments held in Trust Account in the accompanying statementcondensed statements of operations. The estimated fair values of investments held in the Trust Account are determined using available market information.

F-10

Offering Costs Associated with Initial Public
Offering
The Company complies with the requirements of ASC Topic
340-10-S99-1
“Other Assets and Deferred Costs,” and SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin Topic 5A, “Expenses of Offering”. Offering costs consist of legal, accounting, underwriting and other costs incurred through the balance sheet date that are related to the Public Offering. Offering costs are charged against the carrying value of the ordinary shares or the statements of operations based on the relative value of the ordinary shares and the Public Warrants to the proceeds received from the Units sold upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering. Offering costs amounted to
$16,138,202 and of this, $15,428,121 was charged to temporary equity and $710,081
was deemed allocable to the warrants and charged to expense upon the completion of the IPO.

Fair Value Measurement

The fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurement,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the balance sheet, primarily due to its short-term nature.

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset o

ror paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the
inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The Company’s financial instruments are classified as either Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3. These tiers include:

Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets;

Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical instruments in active markets;

Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives in accordance with ASC Topic 815, “Derivatives and Hedging”. The Company’s derivative instruments are recorded at fair value on the balance sheet with changes in the fair value reported in the statement

s
statements of operations. Derivative assets and liabilities are classified on the balance sheets as current or
non-current
based on whether or not
net-cash
settlement or conversion of the instrument could be required within 12 monthsis reasonably expected to require the use of existing resources properly classifiable as current assets, or the balance sheet date.
creation of other current liabilities.

Warrant Liability

Liabilities

The Company accounts for the Public and Private Placement warrants issued in connection with the Public Offering in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC Topic

815-40
and ASC Topic 480. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classify each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability isThese liabilities are subject to
re-measurement
at each balance sheet date. With each such
re-measurement,
the warrant liabilityliabilities will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statements of operations.
F-11

Net (Loss) Income (loss) Per Ordinary Share

The Company has two classes of shares, which are referred to as redeemable Class A ordinary shares and non-redeemable Class A and Class B ordinary shares. Income and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. Net (loss) income (loss) per ordinary share is calculated by dividing the net (loss) income (loss) by the weighted average ordinary shares outstanding for the respective period. Net loss for the period from inception to IPO was allocated fully to Class B ordinary shares. With respect to the accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, the Company treated accretion in the same manner as a dividend, paid to the shareholder in the calculation of the net (loss) income (loss) per ordinary share.

The earnings per share presented in the statementsstatement of operations is based on the following:

  Year Ended
December 31,
2023
  Year Ended
December 31,
2022
 
Net (loss) income $(3,001,194) $14,334,250 
Accretion of temporary equity to redemption value  6,167,983   (3,984,431)
Net income including accretion of temporary equity to redemption value $3,166,789  $10,349,819 

  Year Ended December 31, 2023  Year Ended December 31, 2022 
     Non-redeemable     Non-redeemable 
  Redeemable
Class A
  Class A and
Class B
  Redeemable
Class A
  Class A and
Class B
 
Basic and diluted net (loss) income per share            
Numerator:            
             
Allocation of net (loss) income including accretion of temporary equity $1,140,044  $2,026,745  $8,279,855  $2,069,964 
Allocation of accretion of temporary equity to redemption value  (6,167,983)     3,984,431    
Allocation of net (loss) income $(5,027,939) $2,026,745  $12,264,286  $2,069,964 
Denominator:                
Weighted-average shares outstanding  3,821,284   6,900,000   27,600,000   6,900,000 
Basic and diluted net (loss) income per share $(1.32) $0.29  $0.44  $0.30 

   
Year Ended
December 31,
202
2
   
For the
Period from
April 19, 2021
(Inception)
through
December 31,
2021
 
Net income  $14,334,250   $9,460,263 
Accretion of temporary equity to redemption value   (3,984,431   (33,092,121
           
Net income (loss) including accretion of temporary equity to redemption value  $10,349,819   $(23,631,858
           

   
Year Ended December 31, 2022
   
For the Period from April 19,

2021 (Inception)

Through December 31, 2021
 
   
Class A
   
Class B
   
Class A
   
Class B
 
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share                    
Numerator:                    
Allocation of net income (loss) including accretion of temporary equity  $8,279,855   $2,069,964   $(18,310,230  $(5,321,628
Allocation of accretion of temporary equity to redemption value   3,984,431    —      33,092,121    —   
                     
Allocation of net income (loss)  $12,264,286   $2,069,964   $14,781,891   $(5,321,628
                     
Denominator:                    
Weighted-average shares outstanding   27,600,000    6,900,000    7,546,875    6,685,214 
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share  $0.44   $0.30   $1.96   $(0.80

Net (loss) income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net loss(loss) income by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the period, excluding ordinary shares forfeited.period. The Company has not considered the effect of the 27,840,000 ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the Public Warrants and Private Placement Warrants in the calculation of diluted loss(loss) income per share, since the exercise of such warrants are contingent upon the occurrence of future events and the inclusion of such warrants would be anti-dilutive.

Class A Ordinary Shares Subject to Possible Redemption

The Company accounts for its Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480. Class A ordinary shares subject to mandatory redemption (if any) are classified as a liability instrument and are measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable ordinary shares (including shares that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within the Company’s control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, ordinary shares are classified as shareholder’sshareholders’ equity. The Company’s Class A ordinary shares sold in the IPO feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of the Company’s control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events.

F-12

The Company has made a policy election in accordance with ASC

480-10-S99-3A
and will recognizerecognizes changes in redemption value in additional
paid-in
capital (or accumulated deficit in the absence of additional
paid-in
capital) immediately as they occur. The Company recorded accretion of $3,066,977 and $3,986,568, respectively, in accumulated deficit for year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. For the period ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded redemption of $272,554,813 and $1,116,710 was deposited in the Trust Account for extension funding. For the year ended December 31, 2022 andthere were no redemptions or deposits in the Trust Account for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021, the Company recorded accretion of $1,290,608 in additional
paid-in
capital and $31,801,513 was recorded in accumulated deficit.
extension funding.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under

ASC Topic 740, “Income Taxes”.

ASC Topic 740, requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statementsstatement and tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards. ASC Topic 740 additionally requires a valuation allowance to be established when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.

ASC Topic 740 prescribes a recognition threshold and a measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 20222023 and 2021.

2022.

The Company’s management determined that the Cayman Islands is the Company’s only major tax jurisdiction. There is currently no taxation imposed on income by the Government of the Cayman Islands. In accordance with Cayman income tax regulations, income taxes are not levied on the Company. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements.


The Company recognizes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits as income tax expense. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, there were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts were accrued for the payment of interest and penalties. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position.

U.S. taxation could be imposed if the Company is engaged in a U.S. trade or business. The Company is not expected to be treated as engaged in a U.S. trade or business at this time. Additionally, given the nature of the investment income generated from the funds held in the Trust Account, it is not subject to tax withholdings in the U.S. Moreover, the Company determined that no income tax liability would arise from any other jurisdictions outside of the Cayman Islands. Consequently, income taxes are not reflected in the Company’s financial statements.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In August 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”)
2020-06,
“Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic
470-20)
and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic
815-40)”,
(“ASU2020-06”)
to simplify accounting for certain financial instruments.
ASU2020-06
eliminates the current models that require separation of beneficial conversion and cash conversion features from convertible instruments and simplifies the derivative scope exception guidance pertaining to equity classification of contracts in an entity’s own equity. The new standard also introduces additional disclosures for convertible debt and freestanding instruments that are indexed to and settled in an entity’s own equity.
ASU2020-06
amends the diluted earnings per share guidance, including the requirement to use the
if-converted
method for all convertible instruments. As a smaller reporting company,
ASU2020-06
is effective January 1, 2024 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and should be applied on a full or modified retrospective basis, with early adoption permitted beginning on January 1, 2021. The Company is currently assessing the impact, if any, that
ASU2020-06
would have on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company has not adopted this guidance as of December 31, 2022.

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting pronouncements, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

Note 3 — Public Offering

On October 22, 2021, the Company consummated its IPO of 27,600,000 Units, which included the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, at a price of $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $276,000,000. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and
one-half
of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share.
All of the 27,600,000
Class A ordinary shares sold as part of the Units in the IPO contain a redemption feature which allows for the redemption of such public shares in connection with the Company’s liquidation, if there is a shareholder vote or tender offer in connection with the Business Combination and in connection with certain amendments to the Company’s certificate of incorporation. In accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 and with the SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC Topic
480-10-S99,
redemption provisions not solely within the control of the Company require ordinary shares subject to redemption to be classified outside of permanent equity.
F-13

The Class A ordinary shares is subject to SEC and its staff’s guidance on redeemable equity instruments, which has been codified in ASC
480-10-S99.
If it is probable that the equity instrument will become redeemable, the Company has the option to either accrete changes in the redemption value over the period from the date of issuance (or from the date that it becomes probable that the instrument will become redeemable, if later) to the earliest redemption date of the instrument or to recognize changes in the redemption value immediately as they occur and adjust the carrying amount of the instrument to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. The Company recognizes changes in redemption value immediately as they occur. Immediately upon the closing of the IPO, the Company recognized the accretion from initial book value to redemption amount value. The change in the carrying value of redeemable ordinary shares resulted in charges against additional
paid-in
capital and accumulated deficit.
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the ordinary shares reflected on the balance sheets are reconciled in the following table:
Gross proceeds  $276,000,000 
Less:     
Proceeds allocated to Public Warrants   (12,144,000
Class A ordinary share issuance costs   (15,428,121
Plus:     
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value   33,092,121 
      
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2021
  $281,520,000 
Accretion of carrying value to redemption value   3,986,568 
      
Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption as of December 31, 2022
  
$
285,506,568
 
      
Note 4 — Private Placement
The Sponsor purchased 11,240,000 warrants, which included the underwriters’ exercise of the full over-allotment option (the “Private Placement Warrants”), each exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment, at a price of $1.00 per warrant and $11,240,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement that occurred concurrently with the closing of the Public Offering. Additionally, Salient Capital Advisors, LLC, acting in its capacity as investment advisor on behalf of one or more client accounts (“Salient Client Accounts”) purchased 2,800,000 warrants on the same terms as the Sponsor in a private placement that occurred concurrently with the closing of the Public Offering. The private placement resulted in an aggregate of 14,040,000 warrants and $14,040,000 in proceeds, a portion of which was placed in the Trust account.
Note 5 — Related Party Transactions
Founder Shares
On April 27, 2021, the Sponsor paid $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share, to cover certain offering costs in consideration for 5,750,000 Class B ordinary shares, par value $0.0001. In September 2021, certain shareholders surrendered, for no consideration, an aggregate of 1,437,500 Class B ordinary shares, leaving 5,750,000 Founder Shares outstanding. In October 2021, a share dividend was issued which resulted in 6,900,000 Founder Shares outstanding; of which 900,000 were subject to surrender if the underwriter had not exercised their full over-allotment option. All share values and related amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect the dividend.
On September 10, 2021, the Sponsor transferred 115,000 Class B ordinary shares to each of its three independent directors. Additionally, on September 27, 2021, the Company sold 831,393 Class B ordinary shares to the Salient Client Accounts at a price of approximately $0.004 per share. As of December 31, 2022, the Sponsor held 4,573,607 Class B ordinary shares.
The initial shareholders and each member of the management team have entered into an agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they have agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of the Business Combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares and Public Shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to provide holders of the Class A ordinary shares the right to have their shares redeemed in connection with the Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Company’s public shares if it does not complete the Business Combination within 15 months from the closing of the Public Offering (or up to 21 months, if extended) to complete a Business Combination or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of the Class A ordinary shares and (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Founder Shares they hold if the Company fails to consummate an Business Combination within 15 months from the closing of this offering (or up to 21 months, if
F-14

extended) to complete a Business Combination as described in the prospectus (although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Public Shares they hold if the Company fails to complete the Business Combination within the prescribed time frame). If the Company seeks shareholder approval, it will complete the Business Combination only if it is approved by an ordinary resolution or such higher approval threshold as may be required by Cayman Islands law and pursuant to the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association. In such case, the initial shareholders and each member of the management team have agreed to vote their Founder Shares and Public Shares in favor of the Business Combination.

Promissory NoteNotes — Related Party

On April 27, 2021, the Sponsor agreed to loan the Company up to $300,000 to be used for a portion of the expenses of the Public Offering. The Company borrowed a total of $262,268. This loan was

non-interest
bearing, unsecured and due at the earlier of December 31, 2021 or the closing of the Public Offering. The loan was to be repaid upon the closing of the Public Offering out of the offering proceeds not held in the Trust Account. In connection with the closing of the Public Offering, the Company paid down $90,922 of the outstanding balance. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, the Company had $171,346 outstanding under the promissory note.note and as is included on the balance sheet as promissory note—related party. The Sponsor has agreed to defer repayment of the loan until the close of the Business Combination.

On April 5, 2023, the Company issued an unsecured promissory note (the “Note”) in the principal amount of up to $1,500,000 to the Sponsor, which may be drawn down by the Company from time to time prior to the consummation of the Company’s Business Combination. The Note does not bear interest, matures on the date of consummation of the Business Combination and is subject to customary events of default.

On October 17, 2023, ESGEN issued an amended and restated promissory note (the “October 2023 Promissory Note”) in the principal amount of up to $2,500,000 to the Sponsor. The October 2023 Promissory Note amends, restates, replaces and supersedes the Note dated April 5, 2023. The October 2023 Promissory Note may be drawn down by ESGEN from time to time prior to the consummation of ESGEN’s initial Business Combination. The October 2023 Promissory Note does not bear interest, matures on the date of consummation of the Business Combination and is subject to customary events of default. The October 2023 Promissory Note, as well as the promissory note issued on April 17, 2021 to the Sponsor (“April 2021 Promissory Note”), will not be repaid and will be cancelled at the closing of the Business Combination. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had $1,612,398 outstanding under the October 2023 Promissory Note and is included on the balance sheet as promissory note—related party.

On January 24, 2024, ESGEN issued a new promissory note (“January 2024 Promissory Note”) in the principal amount of up to $750,000 to the Sponsor. The January 2024 Promissory Note may be drawn down by ESGEN from time to time prior to the consummation of ESGEN’s initial Business Combination for specific uses as designated therein. The January 2024 Promissory Note does not bear interest, matures on the date of consummation of the Business Combination and is subject to customary events of default. The principal amount under the January 2024 Promissory Note will be paid at the closing of the Business Combination from the funds that ESGEN has available to it outside of its Trust Account (See Note 10).


Due to Related Party

In the ordinary course of business, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may pay for certain expenses on behalf of the Company. These amounts paid for on behalf of the Company are due upon demand and are non-interest bearing. At December 31, 2023 and 2022, $75,000 and $0, respectively, is included in due to related party on the balance sheet for expenses the Sponsor paid for on behalf of the company. Including the amounts paid for by the Sponsor and the office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services (discussed below), the aggregate amount for due to related party on the balance sheet was $339,193 and $144,193 at December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Working Capital Loans

In order to finance transaction costs in connection with an intended Business Combination, the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor, or certain of the Company’s officers and directors may, but are not obligated to, loan the Company funds as may be required (“Working Capital Loans”). If the Company completes the initial Business Combination, the Company may repay the Working Capital Loans out of the proceeds of the Trust Account released to the Company. Otherwise, the Working Capital Loans may be repaid only out of funds held outside the Trust Account. In the event that the initial Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds from the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. Up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into warrants of the post-Business Combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. The warrants would be identical to the Private Placement Warrants. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, the Company had no borrowings under the Working Capital Loans.

Office Space, Secretarial and Administrative Services

Through the earlier of consummation of the initial Business Combination and the liquidation, the Company incurs

$10,000
$10,000 per month for office space, utilities, secretarial support and administrative services provided by the Sponsor. For each of the yearyears ended December 31, 20222023 and for the period from April 19, 2021 (inception) through December 31, 2021,2022, the Company has incurred
$120,000 and $24,193,
respectively. $120,000. No amounts have been paid for these services. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, the Company has accrued and reported on the balance sheets $120,000$264,193 and $24,193,$144,193, respectively, pursuant to this agreement, and included in “Due to related party”.

Note 64 — Prepaid Expenses

The Company’s prepaid expenses as of December 31, 20222023 and 20212022 primarily consisted of insurance.the following:

  December 31,
2023
  December 31,
2022
 
Prepaid insurance $17,421  $26,081 
Other prepaid expenses  1,858   5,029 
  $19,279  $31,110 


   
December 31, 2022
   
December 31, 2021
 
   
Current
   
Current
   
Non-current
 
Prepaid insurance  $26,081   $528,861   $26,081 
Other prepaid expenses   5,029    21,573    —   
                
   
$
31,110
 
  
$
550,434
 
  
$
26,081
 
                

Note 75 — Accounts Payable and Accrued Expense

The Company’s accounts payable and accrued expenses as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 primarily consisted of legal accruals.

  December 31,
2023
  December 31,
2022
 
Legal accrual $5,534,483  $1,705,049 
Other payables and expenses  134,866   161,943 
  $5,669,349  $1,866,992 

Note 6 — Commitments & Contingencies

Registration and Shareholder Rights

The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Private Placement Warrants and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and expected shareholder rights agreement signed at the closing of our Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the Company’s completion of its initial Business Combination. However, the registration and expected shareholder rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable

lock-up
period, which occurs (i) in the case of the Founder Shares, and (ii) in the case of the private placement warrants and the respective Class A
F-15

ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements. The holders of the Founder Shares, Private Placement Warrants and any warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and any Class A ordinary shares issuable upon the exercise of the Working Capital Loans and warrants that may be issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans) will be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and expected shareholder rights agreement signed at the closing of our Public Offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company’s register such securities.

In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of its initial Business Combination. However, the registration and expected shareholder rights agreement provides that the Company will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lockup period, which occurs (i) in the case of the Founder Shares, as described in the following paragraph, and (ii) in the case of the Private Placement Warrants and the respective Class A ordinary shares underlying such warrants, 30 days after the completion of the initial Business Combination. The Company will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Except as described herein, the Sponsor and its directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their Founder Shares until the earliest of (A) one year after the completion of the initial Business Combination or (B) subsequent to the initial Business Combination, (x) if the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for share subdivisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any

30-trading
day period commencing at least 150 days after the initial Business Combination, or (y) the date on which the Company complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of the public shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees would be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the Sponsor and its directors and executive officers with respect to any founder shares. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of the Sponsor with respect to any Founder Shares. The Company refers to such transfer restrictions throughout the Public Offering as the lock- up.


In addition, pursuant to the registration and expected shareholder rights agreement, the Sponsor, upon and following consummation of an initial Business Combination, will be entitled to nominate three individuals for election to the board of directors, as long as the Sponsor holds any securities covered by the registration and expected shareholder rights agreement.

Underwriting Agreement

The Company granted the underwriters a
45-day
option to purchase up to 3,600,000
additional Units to cover over-allotments, if any, at the Public Offering price less the underwriting commission.

The underwriters exercised the full over-allotment at the consummation of the Public Offering on October 22, 2021.

The underwriters earned an underwriting commission of two percent
(2%) of the gross proceeds of the Public Offering, or $5,520,000,
which was paid in cash at closing of the offering.
Additionally, the underwriters arewere entitled to a deferred underwriting
commission
underwriters fee of 3.5% of the gross proceeds of the Public Offering upon the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination.
In April 2023, the underwriters waived any right to receive the deferred underwriters fee and will therefore receive no additional underwriters fee in connection with the Closing. As a result, the Company recognized $425,040 of other income on the statement of operations and $9,234,960 was recorded to accumulated deficit on the statements of changes in redeemable ordinary shares and shareholders’ deficit in relation to the reduction of the deferred underwriters fee. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the deferred underwriters fee is $0 and $9,660,000, respectively.

To account for the waiver of the deferred underwriters fee, the Company analogized to the SEC staff’s guidance on accounting for reducing a liability for “trailing fees”. Upon the waiver of the deferred underwriters fee, the Company reduced the deferred underwriters fee to $0 and reversed the previously recorded cost of issuing the instruments in the IPO, which included recognizing a contra-expense of $425,040, which is the amount previously allocated to liability classified warrants and expensed upon the IPO, and reduced the accumulated deficit and increased income available to Class B ordinary shares by $9,234,960, which was previously allocated to the Class A ordinary shares subject to redemption and accretion recognized at the IPO date. Additionally, as the amount is a component of accretion of Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption, the Company treated it in the same manner as a dividend paid to the shareholder in the calculation of the net (loss) income per ordinary share.

Business Combination

On April 19, 2023, the Company entered into a Business Combination Agreement, by and among the Company, ESGEN OpCo, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of ESGEN (“OpCo”), Sunergy Renewables, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (“Sunergy”), the Sunergy equity holders set forth on the signature pages thereto (collectively, “Sellers” and each, a “Seller”, and collectively with Sunergy, the “Sunergy Parties”), for limited purposes, the Sponsor, and for limited purposes, Timothy Bridgewater, an individual, in his capacity as the Sellers Representative (the “Business Combination Agreement”). The Company consummated the Business Combination on March 13, 2024 (see Note 810 – Subsequent Events)

Note 7 — Warrant Liabilities

The Company accounts for the 27,840,000 warrants issued in connection with the Public OfferingIPO (13,800,000 Public Warrants and 14,040,000 Private Placement Warrants) in accordance with the guidance contained in

ASC Topic 815
-40.
815-40. Such guidance provides that because the warrants do not meet the criteria for equity treatment thereunder, each warrant must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company will classifyclassifies each warrant as a liability at its fair value. This liability is subject to remeasurement at each balance sheet date.

With each such remeasurement, the warrant liabilities will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statements of operations.


Public Warrants

Each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as discussed herein. In addition, if (x) the Company issues additional Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities for capital raising purposes in connection with the closing of the initial Business Combination at an issue price or effective issue price of less than $9.20 per ordinary share (with such issue price or effective issue price to be determined in good faith by the Company’s board of directors and, in

F-16

the case of any such issuance to the Sponsor or its affiliates, without taking into account any Founder Shares held by the Sponsor or such affiliates, as applicable, prior to such issuance) (the “Newly Issued Price”), (y) the aggregate gross proceeds from such issuances represent more than 60% of the total equity proceeds, and interest thereon, available for the funding of the initial Business Combination on the date of the consummation of the initial Business Combination (net of redemptions), and (z) the volume weighted average trading price of the Class A ordinary shares during the 20 trading day period starting on the trading day prior to the day on which the Company consummates its initial Business Combination (such price, the “Market Value”) is below $9.20 per share, the exercise price of the warrants will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 115% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, the $18.00 per share redemption trigger price described adjacent to “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to 180% of the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price, and the $10.00 per share redemption trigger price described adjacent to the caption “Redemption of warrants when the price per Class A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00” will be adjusted (to the nearest cent) to be equal to the higher of the Market Value and the Newly Issued Price.

The warrants will become exercisable 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination and will expire five years after the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

The Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 20 business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, it will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or a new registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants, and the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the same to become effective within 60 business days after the closing of the initial Business Combination, and to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement and a current prospectus relating to those Class A ordinary shares until the warrants expire or are redeemed, as specified in the warrant agreement; provided that if the Class A ordinary shares are at the time of any exercise of a warrant not listed on a national securities exchange such that they satisfy the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Public Warrants who exercise their warrants to do so on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event the Company so elect, it will not be required to file or maintain in effect a registration statement, but the Company will use its commercially reasonably efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent. If a registration statement covering the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants is not effective by the 60th day after the closing of the initial Business Combination, warrant holders may, until such time as there is an effective registration statement and during any period when the Company will have failed to maintain an effective registration statement, exercise warrants on a “cashless basis” in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act or another exemption, but it will use its commercially reasonably efforts to register or qualify the shares under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available. In such event, each holder would pay the exercise price by surrendering the warrants for that number of Class A ordinary shares equal to the lesser of (A) the quotient obtained by dividing (x) the product of the number of Class A ordinary shares underlying the warrants, multiplied by the excess of the “fair market value” (defined below) less the exercise price of the warrants by (y) the fair market value and (B) 0.361. The “fair market value” as used in this paragraph shall mean the volume weighted average price of the Class A ordinary shares for the 10 trading days ending on the trading day prior to the date on which the notice of exercise is received by the warrant agent.

Redemption of warrants when the price per Class

A ordinary share equals or exceeds $18.00
.$18.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem not less than all of the outstanding warrants (except as described herein with respect to the Private Placement Warrants):

in whole and not in part;

at a price of $0.01 per warrant;

upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and

in whole and not in part;
at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption to each warrant holder; and
if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a
30-trading
day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
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if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities— Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.

Redemption of warrants when the price per Class

A ordinary share equals or exceeds $10.00
.$10.00. Once the warrants become exercisable, the Company may redeem not less than all of the outstanding warrants:
in whole and not in part;
at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and
if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities—Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within the
30-trading
day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders;

in whole and not in part;

at $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption; and

if, and only if, the closing price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $10.00 per public share (as adjusted for adjustments to the number of shares issuable upon exercise or the exercise price of a warrant as described under the heading “Description of Securities— Warrants—Public Shareholders’ Warrants—Anti-dilution Adjustments”) for any 20 trading days within the 30-trading day period ending three trading days before the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders;

Private Warrants

If the Private Placement Warrants are held by holders other than the Sponsor or its permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company in all redemption scenarios and exercisable by the holders on the same basis as the warrants included in the units sold in the Public Offering. Any amendment to the terms of the Private Placement Warrants or any provision of the warrant agreement with respect to the Private Placement Warrants will require a vote of holders of at least 50% of the number of the then outstanding Private Placement Warrants.

The accounting treatment of derivative financial instruments requires that the Company record a derivative liability upon the closing of the IPO. Accordingly, the Company has classified each warrant as a liability at its fair value and the warrants were allocated a portion of the proceeds from the issuance of the Units equal to its fair value determined by a Black Scholes model. This liability isvalue. These liabilities are subject to re-measurementtore-measurement at each balance sheet date. With each such

re-measurement,
the warrant liabilities will be adjusted to fair value, with the change in fair value recognized in the Company’s statement of operations. The Company will reassess the classification at each balance sheet date. If the classification changes as a result of events during the period, the warrants will be reclassified as of the date of the event that causes the reclassification.

Note 98 — Recurring Fair Value Measurements

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, marketable securities and 2021, investmentscash held in the Trust Account are determined by Level 1 inputs utilizing quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets.

The Company’s Public Warrants are traded on the Nasdaq. As such, the Public Warrant valuation is based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. The fair value of the Public Warrant liabilities is classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.

At December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company considers the Private Warrants to be economically equivalent to the Public Warrants. As such, the valuation of the Public Warrants was used to value the Private Warrants. The fair value of the Private Warrant liabilities is classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

At December 31, 2021, the Company’s Private Warrant liabilities is based on a valuation model utilizing management judgment and pricing inputs from observable and unobservable markets with less volume and transaction frequency than active markets. Significant deviations from these estimates and inputs could result in a material change in fair value. The fair value of the Private Warrant liabilities is classified within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.
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The following tables presents fair value information as of December 31, 20222023 and 20212022 of the Company’s financial assets and liabilities that were accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis and indicates the fair value hierarchy of the valuation techniques the Company utilized to determine such fair value.

  December 31, 2023 
  Level 1  Level 2  Level 3  Total 
Assets:            
Cash held in Trust Account $16,018,732  $  $  $16,018,732 
Liabilities:                
Public Warrants  552,000         552,000 
Private Warrants     561,600      561,600 
Total liabilities $552,000  $561,600  $  $1,113,600 

December 31, 2022
  
Level 1
   
Level 2
   
Level 3
   
Total
 
Assets:                    
Marketable securities held in Trust Account  $285,506,568   $—     $—     $285,506,568 
Liabilities:                    
Public Warrants  $394,680   $—     $—     $394,680 
Private Warrants   —      401,544    —      401,544 
                     
Total liabilities
  
$
394,680
 
  
$
401,544
 
  
$
—  
   
$
796,224
 
                     
     
December 31, 2021
  
Level 1
   
Level 2
   
Level 3
   
Total
 
Assets:                    
Marketable securities held in Trust Account  $281,522,137   $—     $—     $281,522,137 
Liabilities:                    
Public Warrants  $6,900,000   $—     $—     $6,900,000 
Private Warrants   —      —      7,076,160    7,076,160 
                  ��  
Total liabilities
  $6,900,000   $—     $7,076,160   $13,976,160 
                     

The following table provides a summary of the changes in the fair value of the Company’s Level 3 financial instruments that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis:

   
Private
Placement
Warrants
   
Public
Warrants
   
Warrant
Liabilities
 
Warrant liabilities – initial measurement

  $12,776,400   $12,144,000   $24,920,400 
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities
   (5,700,240   (5,244,000   (10,944,240
Transfer to Level 1   —      (6,900,000   (6,900,000
                
Warrant liabilities at December 31, 2021  $7,076,160   $—     $7,076,160 
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities   (5,812,560   —      (5,812,560
Transfer to Level 2   (1,263,600    —      (1,263,600
                
Warrant liabilities at December 31, 2022  $—     $—     $—   
                

Transfers to/

  December 31, 2022 
  Level 1  Level 2  Level 3  Total 
Assets:            
Marketable securities held in Trust Account $285,506,568  $  $  $285,506,568 
Liabilities:                
Public Warrants $394,680  $  $  $394,680 
Private Warrants     401,544      401,544 
Total liabilities $394,680  $401,544  $  $796,224 

There were no transfers to or from Levels 1, 2 andor 3 are recognized at the end of the reporting period. The estimated fair value of the Public Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 1 fair value measurement during the period April 19, 2021 (Inception) through December 31, 2021 after the Public Warrants were separately listed and traded. The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants transferred from a Level 3 measurement to a Level 2 fair value measurement duringfor the year ended December 31, 2022 due to the use of an observable market quote for a similar asset in an active market.

The estimated fair value of the Private Placement Warrants at December 31,
2021
was determined using a Black Scholes model with assumptions related to expected stock-price volatility, expected life, risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. The Company estimates the volatility of its ordinary shares based on projected volatility of comparable public companies that matches the expected remaining life of the warrants. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury
zero-coupon
yield curve on the grant date for a maturity similar to the expected remaining life of the warrants. The expected life of the warrants is based on management assumptions regarding the timing and likelihood of completing a business combination. The dividend rate is based on the historical rate, which the Company anticipates remaining at zero.
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2023 or 2022.


The following table presents quantitative information about the Company’s Level 3 liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2021.
   
December 31, 2021
 
Exercise price  $11.50 
Share price  $9.92 
Risk-free rate   1.32
Expected volatility   8.3
Term (years)   5.81 

Note 109 — Shareholders’ Deficit

Preference shares

shares— The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 preference shares with a par value of $0.0001 and with such designations, voting and other rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s board of directors. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, there were
no
preference shares issued or outstanding.

Class

A ordinary shares
shares— The Company is authorized to issue 250,000,000 Class A ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, there were no5,619,077 and 0 Class A ordinary shares issued or outstanding other than the 1,408,555 and 27,600,000 Class A ordinary shares subject to possible redemption that are accounted for outside of the shareholder’sshareholders’ deficit section of ourthe balance sheets.
sheets, respectively.

In connection with the approval of the Conversion Proposal at the October 20, 2023 shareholder meeting and the adoption of the Charter Amendment, the Sponsor converted all of its 5,619,077 Class

B ordinary shares
into Class A ordinary shares. As a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and redemptions made in connection with the Extension Proposal and Conversion Proposal, 1,408,555 and 5,619,077 redeemable Class A ordinary shares and non-redeemable Class A ordinary shares, respectively, remain outstanding. Notwithstanding the Sponsor Share Conversion, the Sponsor will be not entitled to receive any funds held in the Trust Account with respect to any Class A ordinary shares issued to the Sponsor as a result of the Sponsor Share Conversion and no additional amounts will be deposited into the Trust Account in respect of shares of Class A ordinary shares held by the Sponsor in connection with the extension of the Termination Date to the Extended Date or any Additional Extension Dates.

Class B ordinary shares— The Company is authorized to issue 25,000,000 Class B ordinary shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. Holders are entitled to one vote for each share of Class B ordinary shares. As of December 31, 20222023 and 2021,2022, there were 1,280,923 and 6,900,000 Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding. Of the 6,900,000 Class B ordinary shares, up to 900,000

shares were subject to forfeiture to the Company for no consideration to the extent that the underwriter’s over-allotment option was not exercised in full or in part, so that the initial shareholders will collectively own
20
% of the Company’s issued and outstanding, ordinary shares after the Public Offering. The underwriters exercised their full over-allotment on October 22, 2021.
respectively.

Holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s shareholders except as required by law. Unless specified in the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, or as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules, the affirmative vote of a majority of the Company’s ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by its shareholders.

The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares (which such Class A ordinary shares delivered upon conversion will not have any redemption rights or be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account if the Company fails to consummate an initial Business Combination) at the time of the initial Business Combination or earlier at the option of the holders thereof at a ratio such that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Founder Shares will equal, in the aggregate, on an

as-converted
basis, 20% of the sum of (i) the total number of ordinary shares issued and outstanding upon completion of the Public Offering, plus (ii) the total number of Class A ordinary shares issued or deemed issued or issuable upon conversion or exercise of any equity-linked securities or rights issued or deemed issued, by the Company in connection with or in relation to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities exercisable for or convertible into Class A ordinary shares issued, deemed issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the initial Business Combination and any Private Placement Warrants issued to the Sponsor, any of its affiliates or any members of the Company’s management team upon conversion of Working Capital Loans. In no event will the Class B ordinary shares convert into Class A ordinary shares at a rate of less than
one-to-one.

This is different than some other similarly structured blank check companies in which the initial shareholders will only be issued an aggregate of 20% of the total number of shares to be outstanding prior to the initial Business Combination.


Note 1110 — Subsequent Events

On each of January 18, 2023, the Company’s shareholders voted to amend the Company’s amended2024 and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Extension Proposal”) to extend from January 22, 2023 to April 22, 2023 (the “Extended Date”) the date (the “Termination Date”) by whichFebruary 16, 2024, the Company must mandatorily liquidate the

C
ompany.
Additionally, in the event that the Company has not consummated an initial business combination by the Extended Date, the Board may extend the Termination Date up to six times, each by one additional month (for a total of up to six additional months to complete a business combination) (each, an “Additional Extension Date”), provided that the Company depositsdeposited $24,650 into the Trust Account in connection with Additional Extensions.

First Amendment to the Business Combination Agreement

On January 24, 2024, ESGEN and Sunergy entered into the First Amendment to the Initial Business Combination Agreement (the “First Amendment” and, the Initial Business Combination Agreement as amended by the First Amendment, the “Business Combination Agreement”). The First Amendment provides for, each Additional Extension Dateamong other things, the:

(i) reduction of the lesseraggregate consideration to the pre-transaction Sunergy equity holders from $410 million to $337.3 million;

(ii) removal of the (a) $140,000$20 million minimum cash condition and (b) provision requiring forfeiture of founder shares in connection with excess transaction expenses;

(iii) modification of the terms and structure of the Sponsor PIPE Investment (as defined below) from $10.0 million in shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“New PubCo Class A Common Stock”), of the continuing entity following the continuation of ESGEN by way of domestication of ESGEN into a Delaware corporation, which continuing entity will be renamed Zeo Energy Corp. (“New PubCo”), to up to $15.0 million in convertible preferred units of OpCo (the “Convertible OpCo Preferred Units”) to be issued to the Sponsor pursuant to the Amended and Restated Subscription Agreement (as defined below);

(iv) forfeiture of an aggregate of 2.9 million founder shares and an additional 500,000 founder shares if, within two years of closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”), the Convertible OpCo Preferred Units are redeemed or (b) $0.04converted (with such shares subject to a lock-up for each Public Sharetwo years after the Closing);

(v) forfeiture of all private warrants to purchase one ESGEN Class A ordinary share, par value $0.0001 per share, of ESGEN (“ESGEN Private Placement Warrants”);

(vi) Sponsor will contribute those certain promissory notes, dated as of April 27, 2021 and October 17, 2023 (which promissory note amended and restated that is then-outstanding.

certain promissory note dated as of April 5, 2023), by and between Sponsor and ESGEN, to ESGEN as a contribution to the capital of ESGEN and all amounts due thereunder will be cancelled; and

(vii) the outside date for the Business Combination to be extended to April 22, 2024.

Non-redemption Agreement

On March 11, 2024, ESGEN, entered into a non-redemption agreement (the “Non-Redemption Agreement”) with The K2 Principal Fund L.P. (“K2”), pursuant to which K2 agreed (i) to purchase at least 174,826 of ESGEN’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A ordinary shares”), in the open market from investors who had elected to redeem such shares in connection with the Company’s extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held to approve the proposed Business Combination Agreement.

In exchange for the foregoing commitments to purchase and not redeem such Class A ordinary shares, ESGEN agreed to issue, for no consideration an aggregate of 225,174 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of Zeo Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation and the successor to ESGEN following the close of the Business Combination Agreement.

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Business Combination

On March 13, 2024 (the “Closing Date”), the registrant consummated its previously announced business combination (the “Closing”), pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of Contents

April 19, 2023 (as amended on January 24, 2024, the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among Zeo Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation (f/k/a ESGEN Acquisition Corporation, a Cayman Islands exempted company), ESGEN OpCo, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company(“OpCo”), Sunergy Renewables, LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (“Sunergy”), the Sunergy equityholders set forth on the signature pages thereto or joined thereto (collectively, “Sellers” and each, a “Seller”, and collectively with Sunergy, the “Sunergy Parties”), for limited purposes, ESGEN LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”), and for limited purposes, Timothy Bridgewater, an individual, in his capacity as the Sellers Representative (collectively, the “Business Combination”). Prior to the Closing, (i) except as otherwise specified in the Business Combination Agreement, each issued and outstanding Class B ordinary share of ESGEN was converted into one Class A ordinary share of ESGEN (the “ESGEN Class A Ordinary Shares” and such conversion, the “ESGEN Share Conversion”); and (ii) ESGEN was domesticated into the State of Delaware so as to become a Delaware corporation (the “Domestication”). In connection with the voteClosing, the registrant changed its name from “ESGEN Acquisition Corporation” to approve“Zeo Energy Corp.”

In connection with entering into the Extension Proposal,Business Combination Agreement, ESGEN and the holdersSponsor entered into a subscription agreement, dated April 19, 2023, which ESGEN, the Sponsor and OpCo subsequently amended and restated on January 24, 2024 (the “Sponsor Subscription Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, the Sponsor agreed to purchase an aggregate of 24,703,445 Class A ordinary1,000,000 preferred units of OpCo (“Convertible OpCo Preferred Units”) convertible into Exchangeable OpCo Unites (as defined below) (and be issued an equal number of shares of ESGEN properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cashZeo Class V Common Stock) concurrently with the Closing at a redemptioncash purchase price of approximately $10.35$10.00 per share,unit and up to an additional 500,000 Convertible OpCo Preferred Units (together with the concurrent issuance of an equal number of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock) during the six months after Closing if called for by Zeo. Prior to the Closing, ESGEN informed the Sponsor that it wished to call for the additional 500,000 Convertible OpCo Preferred Units at the Closing and, as a

n aggregate
redemption amount result, a total of $255,875,7571,500,00 Convertible OpCo Preferred Units and an equal number of shares of Zeo Class V Common Stock were issued to Sponsor pursuant to the Sponsor Subscription Agreement for aggregate consideration of $15,000,000.


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