| Warrants |
(18) Warrants
In connection with the formation of the Company and subsequent acquisitions of Software Luxembourg Holdings and Albert DE, warrants to purchase common stock were issued to investors, sellers of Albert DE and an executive of the company. Warrants that are not subject to ASC 718, Stock Compensation and (i) contained features that could cause the warrant to be puttable to the Company for cash or (ii) had terms that prevented the conversion of the warrant from being fixed in all circumstances, are classified as a liability on the Company’s balance sheet and measured at fair value, with changes in fair value being recorded in the income statement, whereas all other warrants meet the equity scope exception and are classified as equity and not remeasured.
A summary of liability classified warrants is as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
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Underlying |
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Fair Value |
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Common |
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Strike |
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Redemption |
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Expiration |
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at January 31, |
Type |
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Shares |
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Price |
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Price |
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Date |
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2022 |
Private Placement Warrants – Sponsor |
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16,300 |
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$ |
11.50 |
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None |
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6/11/26 |
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$ |
28,199 |
Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, Churchill Capital (the “Sponsor”) purchased an aggregate of 15,800,000 Private Placement Warrants. An additional 1,500,000 of warrants were issued at the closing in connection with the repayment of a promissory note due to the Sponsor. 1,000,000 of the Private Placement warrants were transferred to the incoming CEO as described below. These warrants held by the Sponsor include provisions that provide for potential changes to the settlement amounts on redemptions were dependent upon the characteristics of the holder of the warrant. Because the holder of the instrument is not an input into the pricing of a fixed-for-fixed option on equity shares, the warrants are precluded from being indexed to the entity’s stock and are classified as a liability measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings.
A summary of equity classified warrants is as follows (in thousands, except per share amounts):
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Underlying |
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Common |
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Strike |
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Redemption |
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Expiration |
Type |
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Shares |
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Price |
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Price |
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Date |
Public Warrants |
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23,000 |
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$ |
11.50 |
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$ |
18.00 |
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6/11/26 |
Private Placement Warrants (PIPE) |
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16,667 |
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$ |
11.50 |
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$ |
18.00 |
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6/11/26 |
Private Placement Warrants (Global Knowledge) |
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5,000 |
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$ |
11.50 |
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None |
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10/12/25 |
Private Placement Warrants (CEO) |
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1,000 |
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$ |
11.50 |
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None |
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6/11/26 |
Total |
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45,667 |
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A description of each category of warrants issued and outstanding is as follows:
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Public Warrants – Pursuant to the initial public offering, the Company sold units that consisted of one share of Class A common stock and one-third of one redeemable warrant (“Public Warrant”), resulting in the issuance of 23,000,000 warrants. Prior to the Skillsoft Merger, Churchill Capital Corp II had classified these warrants as liabilities due to tender offer provisions which states that in in the event of a tender or exchange offer made to and accepted by holders of more than 50% of the outstanding shares of a single class of common stock, all holders of the warrants would be entitled to receive cash for their warrants. Accordingly, there were potential scenarios outside of the control of the Company (which had more than one class of outstanding common stock prior to the Merger), where all warrant holders would be entitled to cash, while only certain of the holders of the underlying shares of common stock would be entitled to cash, requiring the warrants to be classified as a liability measured
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at fair value, with changes in fair value reported each period in earnings. Upon the completion of the Skillsoft Merger on June 11, 2021, when only one class of voting shares remained outstanding, the warrants could now meet equity classification criteria as net cash settlement can only be triggered in circumstances in which the holders of the shares underlying the contract also would receive cash in the event of a fundamental change in the ownership of the Company, such as a change in control. Accordingly, the fair value of the warrants was transferred to equity and cumulative losses recognized from changes in fair value remain in the Company’s accumulated deficit balance. |
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Private Placement Warrants (PIPE) – In connection with the second step investment made by the anchor PIPE investor, 16,666,667 warrants were issued to a PIPE investor to purchase Churchill Class A common stock. The PIPE Private Placement Warrants are issued in the same form as the Public Warrants.
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Private Placement Warrants (Global Knowledge) – Upon completion of the acquisition of Albert DE, 5,000,000 warrants were issued to the former owners of Global Knowledge. These warrants are similar to the Private Placement Warrants except the warrants are not subject to the redemption provisions described above if transferred.
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Private Placement Warrants (CEO) - Effective at the closing of the Skillsoft Merger and Global Knowledge Merger, the Sponsor committed to transfer 1,000,000 fully vested Private Placement Warrants to the CEO pursuant his employment agreement with the Company. The warrants are subject to ASC 718 Stock Compensation and the Company recognized stock-based compensation expense of $2.8 million for the period from June 12, 2021 to January 31, 2022.
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Public Warrants and PIPE Private Placement Warrants (hereinafter referred to as “Redeemable Warrants”) are currently exercisable and may only be exercised for a whole number of shares. The Company may redeem these warrants:
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in whole and not in part; |
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at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
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upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption;
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if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Company’s common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and
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if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of common stock underlying the warrants. |
If and when the warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may exercise its redemption right even if it is unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws.
If the Company calls the Redeemable Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of Class A common stock at a price below its exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants.
The Sponsor and CEO Private Placement Warrants have the same terms as the Public Warrants, except they will be exercisable on a cashless basis and be non-redeemable so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants Sponsor are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, they will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants. The Global Knowledge Private Placement Warrants are not redeemable, even upon a transfer in ownership.
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