10-K

Large accelerated filer

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated
filer

Smaller reporting company

Emerging growth company

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024

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

For the transition period from

Commission file number:

001-40862

MARBLEGATE ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware		85-4249135
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
411 Theodore Fremd Avenue, Suite 206S, Rye, New York		10580
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:

(914) 415-4081

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


Title of Each Class:	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered:
Units, each consisting of one share of Class A Common Stock and one-half of one redeemable Warrant	GATEU	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share	GATE	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A common stock at a price of $11.50 per share	GATEW	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 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 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 the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule

12b-2

of the Exchange Act.

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). ☐

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

12b-2

the Act). Yes ☒ No ☐

The aggregate market value of the outstanding shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock, other than shares h

eld

by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the Class A common stock on June 28, 2024, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, as reported on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC was approximately $6,886,198.

As of April 2, 2025, there were

5,278,879 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 6,303,333 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the registrant issued and outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


		PAGE
PART I			8
Item 1.	Business		8
Item 1A.	Risk Factors		37
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments		40
Item 1C.	Cybersecurity		40
Item 2.	Properties		41
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings		41
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures		41

PART II			42
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		42
Item 6.	[Reserved]		42
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		42
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk		48
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		48
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		48
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures		48
Item 9B.	Other Information		50
Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections		50

PART III			51
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance		51
Item 11.	Executive Compensation		58
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters		59
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence		61
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services		65

PART IV			67
Item 15.	Exhibit and Financial Statement Schedules		67
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary		67

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Report (as defined below), including, without limitation, statements under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act (as defined below) and Section 21E of the Exchange Act (as defined below). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward- looking terminology, including the words “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “potential,” “projects,” “predicts,” “continue,” or “should,” or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our ability to consummate any acquisition or other business combination (as defined below) and any other statements that are not statements of current or historical facts. These statements are based on management’s (as defined below) current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various factors, including, but not limited to:

•

our ability to complete our initial business combination, including the DePalma Business Combination (as defined below);

•

our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors (as defined below) following our initial business combination;

•

our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses, such as DePalma (as defined below);

•

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, as a result of which they would then receive expense reimbursements;

•

the potential incentive to consummate an initial business combination with an acquisition target that subsequently declines in value or is unprofitable for public investors due to the low initial price for the founder shares (as defined below) paid by our initial stockholders (as defined below);

•

our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, including the DePalma Business Combination;

•

the ability of our officers and directors to generate additional potential acquisition opportunities, if needed;

•

our pool of prospective target businesses;

•

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

•

the lack of a market for our securities;

•

the use of proceeds not held in the trust account (as defined below) or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

•

the impact on the amount held in the trust account, our capitalization, principal stockholders and other impacts on our Company (as defined below) or management team should we seek to further extend the Combination Period (as defined below) consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules;

•

our financial performance; or

•

the other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” below.

Additionally, on January 24, 2024, the SEC (as defined below) adopted the 2024 SPAC Rules (as defined below), which became effective on July 1, 2024, that will affect SPAC (as defined below) business combination transactions. The 2024 SPAC Rules require, among other matters, (i) additional disclosures relating to SPAC business combination transactions; (ii) additional disclosures relating to dilution and to conflicts of interest involving sponsors and their affiliates in both SPAC initial public offerings and business combination transactions; (iii) additional disclosures regarding projections included in SEC filings in connection with proposed business combination transactions; and (iv) the requirement that both the SPAC and its target company be co-registrants for Business Combination registration statements. In addition, the SEC’s adopting release provided guidance describing circumstances in which a SPAC could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act (as defined below), including its duration, asset composition, business purpose, and the activities of the SPAC and its management team in furtherance of such goals. The 2024 SPAC Rules may materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.

The forward-looking statements contained in this Report are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. Future developments affecting us may not be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. 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.

Unless otherwise stated in this Report, or the context otherwise requires, references to:

•

“2022 Promissory Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF (as defined below) on June 30, 2022, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $600,000 for Working Capital Loans (as defined below);

•

“2024 SPAC Rules” are to the new rules and regulations for SPACs adopted by the SEC on January 24, 2024, which became effective on July 1, 2024;

•

“Affiliated Joint Acquisition” are to a business combination opportunity jointly with one or more entities affiliated with Marblegate (as defined below) and/or one or more investors in funds or accounts managed by Marblegate;

•

“Aggregate New MAC Capitalization” are to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the Aggregate Equity Value (as defined in the DePalma Business Combination Agreement (as defined below)), by (ii) $10.00;

•

“amended and restated certificate of incorporation” are to our certificate of incorporation of, as amended and restated on September 30, 2021, and as further amended on December 7, 2022, June 27, 2023, December 19, 2023 and September 10, 2024;

•

“anchor investors” are to the qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors which are not affiliated with us, our sponsor (as defined below), our directors or any member of our management and that purchased units in our initial public offering (as defined below), and purchased from our sponsor an aggregate of 2,473,864 founder shares at their original purchase price of approximately $0.002 per share;

•

“April 2024 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on April 11, 2024, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $240,000 for Working Capital Loans;

•

“ASC” are to the FASB (as defined below) Accounting Standards Codification;

•

“ASU” are to the FASB Accounting Standards Update;

•

“board of directors,” “board” or “directors” are to our board of directors;

•

“business combination” are to a merger, capital stock share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses;

•

“Cantor” are to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., the representative of the underwriters in our initial public offering;

•

“Class A common stock” are to the shares of our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;

•

“Class B common stock” are to the shares of our Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;

•

“Combination Period” are to the period from the closing of the initial public offering to April 5, 2025 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors) that the we have to consummate an initial business combination; provided that the Combination Period may be further extended, if approved by our board of directors and stockholders, pursuant to an amendment to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation and consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules;

•

“common stock” are to the Class A common stock and the Class B common stock, together;

•

“Company”, “our Company,” “we” or “us” are to Marblegate Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation;

•

“Company Equity Value” are to the product obtained by multiplying (i) the aggregate number of shares of common stock outstanding as of immediately prior to the Effective Time (as defined below) and after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of common stock, by (ii) $10.00;

•

“Company Exchange Ratio” are to an amount equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the Company Equity Value, by (ii) the Aggregate Equity Value;

•

“Continental” are to Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, trustee of our trust account and warrant agent of our public warrants (as defined below);

•

“Conversion Shares” are to the unpaid principal of the 2022 Promissory Note, the February 2023 Note (as defined below), the July 2023 Note (as defined below), the December 2023 Note (as defined below), the April 2024 Note, the July 2024 Note (as defined below) and the December 2024 Note (as defined below) for Working Capital Loans (as defined below) that may be converted by Marblegate SOMF into Class A common stock under the terms of the respective promissory notes;

•

“December 2023 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on December 21, 2023, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $450,000 for Working Capital Loans;

•

“DePalma” or “DePalma Companies” are to DePalma Acquisition I LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and DePalma Acquisition II LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

•

“DePalma Business Combination” are to the proposed business combination transactions involving the Company and the DePalma Companies, including all of the transactions contemplated by the DePalma Business Combination Agreement (as defined below);

•

“DePalma Business Combination Agreement” are to the business combination agreement (as it may be amended or restated from time to time) entered into on February 14, 2023 by the Company with Marblegate, New MAC (as defined below), Merger Sub (as defined below), and the DePalma Companies;

•

“DePalma Merger” are to the merger of Merger Sub with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of New MAC;

•

“DePalma Registration Statement” are to the Registration Statement on Form S-4, as initially filed with the SEC on December 9, 2024 by New MAC;

•

“DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law;

•

“DWAC System” are to the Depository Trust Company’s Deposit/Withdrawal At Custodian System;

•

“Exchange Act” are to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended;

•

“Extensions” are to the extensions to the Combination Period approved at each of the First Extension Meeting, the Second Extension Meeting, the Third Extension Meeting and the Fourth Extension Meeting, collectively;

•

“FASB” are to the Financial Accounting Standards Board;

•

“February 2023 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on February 13, 2023, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $1,100,000 for Working Capital Loans;

•

“FINRA” are to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority;

•

“First Extension Meeting” are to the 2022 special meeting in lieu of the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders held on December 2, 2022, at which our stockholders approved an amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from January 5, 2023 to July 5, 2023 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors).;

•

“Founder Conversion” are to the 4,000,000 shares of Class A common stock issued on June 28, 2023, in connection with the Second Extension Meeting, to the sponsor, upon the conversion of an equal number of shares of Class B common stock held by the sponsor, as founder shares;

•

“founder shares” are to the shares of Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor prior to the initial public offering, including the shares of Class A common stock (i) issued in connection with the Founder Conversion, and (ii) that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the shares of Class B common stock at the time of our business combination as described herein (for the avoidance of doubt, such shares of Class A common stock will not be “public shares” (as defined below));

•

“Fourth Extension Meeting” are to the special meeting in lieu of an annual meeting of stockholders held on September 10, 2024, at which our stockholders approved the fourth amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from October 5, 2024 to April 5, 2025 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors);

•

“GAAP” are to the accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America;

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“IFRS” are to the International Financial Reporting Standards, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board;

•

“initial public offering” or “IPO” are to the initial public offering that we consummated on October 5, 2021;

•

“initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering (or their permitted transferees);

•

“Investment Company Act” are to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;

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“IPO Promissory Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to our sponsor on January 15, 2021, in connection with our IPO, pursuant to which we were able to borrow up to an aggregate principal amount of $300,000);

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“IPO Registration Statement” are to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 initially filed with the SEC on September 9, 2021, as amended, and declared effective on September 30, 2021 (File No. 333-259422);

•

“January 2025 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on January 17, 2025, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $485,000 for Working Capital Loans;

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“JOBS Act” are to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012;

•

“July 2023 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on July 20, 2023, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $500,000 for Working Capital Loans;

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“July 2024 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on July 18, 2024, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $255,000 for Working Capital Loans;

•

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

•

“MAC Registration Rights Agreement” are to that certain registration rights agreement, dated as of September 30, 2021, by and among the Company, the sponsor, and the other parties thereto;

•

“Marblegate” are to Marblegate Asset Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and its affiliates;

•

“Marblegate SOMF” are to Marblegate Special Opportunities Master Fund, L.P, a Delaware limited partnership and a member of the sponsor;

•

“Marcum” are to Marcum LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm;

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“Merger Sub” are to MAC Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of New MAC;

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“Nasdaq” are to The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC;

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“New MAC” are to Marblegate Capital Corporation, a Delaware corporation;

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“New MAC Common Stock” are to the common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of New MAC;

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“October 2024 Note” are to the unsecured promissory note we issued to Marblegate SOMF on October 22, 2024, pursuant to which we may borrow up to an aggregate maximum amount of $250,000 for Working Capital Loans;

•

“PCAOB” are to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States);

•

“private placement” are to the private placement of 910,000 private placement units (as defined below) purchased by our sponsor and Cantor, which occurred simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering, at a purchase price of $10.00 per unit for an aggregate purchase price of $9,100,000;

•

“private placement shares” are to the shares of our Class A common stock included in the private placement units;

•

“private placement units” are to the units issued in the private placement, which private placement units are identical to the units (as defined below) sold in our initial public offering, subject to certain limited exceptions as described in this Report;

•

“private placement warrants” are to the warrants included in the private placement units;

•

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

•

“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchased public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

•

“public warrants” are to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether they were subscribed for in our initial public offering or purchased in the open market) and to any private placement warrants if held by third parties other than our sponsor, officers or directors (or permitted transferees), in each case, following the consummation of our initial business combination;

•

“Report” are to this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024;

•

“Sarbanes-Oxley Act” are to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002;

•

“SEC” are to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;

•

“Second Extension Meeting” are to the special meeting of stockholders held on June 27, 2023, at which our stockholders approved the second amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from July 5, 2023 to January 5, 2024 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors);

•

“Securities Act” are to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended;

•

“SPACs” are to special purpose acquisition companies;

•

“sponsor” are to Marblegate Acquisition LLC, a Delaware limited liability company controlled by certain of our officers and directors;

•

“Third Extension Meeting” are to the special meeting in lieu of an annual meeting of stockholders held on December 19, 2023, at which our stockholders approved the third amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from January 5, 2024 to October 5, 2024 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors);

•

“trust account” are to the U.S.-based trust account in which an amount of $301,500,000 from the net proceeds of the sale of the units in the initial public offering and private placement units was placed immediately following the closing of the initial public offering;

•

“units” are to the units sold in our initial public offering, which consist of one public share and one-half of one public warrant; and

•

“Working Capital Loans” are to funds that, in order to provide working capital or finance transaction costs in connection with a business combination, the initial stockholders or an affiliate of the initial stockholders or certain of our directors and officers may, but are not obligated to, loan us.

PART I

Item 1.

Business.

Overview

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a business combination with one or more businesses.

While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any stage of its corporate evolution or in any industry or sector, we have concentrated our efforts on identifying high quality businesses that have recently undergone a restructuring. Our management team and Marblegate, an affiliate of our sponsor, have extensive experience investing in post-restructured companies. We believe that this experience makes us very well situated to identify, source, negotiate and execute a business combination at a favorable valuation with an attractive post-restructuring company.

The 2024 SPAC Rules may materially affect our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.

Initial Public Offering and Extensions of Our Combination Period

On October 5, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 30,000,000 units. Each unit consists of one share of Class A common stock, and one-half of one redeemable warrant of the Company, with each warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock for $11.50 per whole share. The units were sold at a price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $300,000,000.

Simultaneously with the closing of the initial public offering, we completed the private sale of an aggregate of 910,000 units to our sponsor and Cantor at a purchase price of $10.00 per private placement unit, generating gross proceeds of $9,100,000.

A total of $301,500,000, comprised of $292,400,000 of the proceeds from the initial public offering and $9,100,000 of the proceeds of the sale of the private placement units was placed in the trust account maintained by Continental, acting as trustee.

It is the job of our sponsor and management team to complete our initial business combination. Our management team is led by Andrew Milgram, our Chief Executive Officer, and Paul Arrouet, our President, who have many years of experience in investing in post-restructured companies. We must complete our initial business combination within the Combination Period, or by April 5, 2025. If our initial business combination is not consummated within the Combination Period, then, unless our board of directors and stockholders approve a further extension of the Combination Period, our existence will terminate, and we will distribute all amounts in the trust account.

Extensions of Our Combination Period

We originally had up to 15 months from the closing of our initial public offering, or until January 5, 2023, to consummate an initial business combination. However, at the First Extension Meeting held on December 2, 2022, our stockholders approved the amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from January 5, 2023 to July 5, 2023 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors). In connection with the First Extension Meeting, stockholders holding 28,989,609 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result, approximately $293.5 million (approximately $10.12 per public share) was removed from the trust account and paid to such holders.

At the Second Extension Meeting held on June 27, 2023, our stockholders approved the second amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from July 5, 2023 to January 5, 2024 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors). In connection with the Second Extension Meeting, stockholders holding 244,327 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result, approximately $2.5 million (approximately $10.29 per share) was removed from the trust account and paid to such holders.

At the Third Extension Meeting held on December 19, 2023, our stockholders approved the third amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from January 5, 2024 to October 5, 2024 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors). In connection with the Third Extension Meeting, stockholders holding 128,459 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result, approximately $1.4 million (approximately $10.62 per share) was removed from the trust account and paid to such holders.

At the Fourth Extension Meeting held on September 10, 2024, our stockholders approved the fourth amendment to the certificate of incorporation to extend the end of the Combination Period from October 5, 2024 to April 5, 2025 (or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors). In connection with the Fourth Extension Meeting, stockholders holding 268,726 public shares exercised their right to redeem their shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account. As a result, approximately $2.9 million (approximately $10.90 per share) was removed from the trust account and paid to such holders. Following the redemptions, we had 368,879 public shares outstanding.

We may seek to further extend the Combination Period consistent with applicable laws, regulations and stock exchange rules. Such an extension would require the approval of our public stockholders, who will be provided the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares. Such redemptions will likely have a material adverse effect on the amount held in our trust account, our capitalization, principal stockholders and other impacts on our Company or management team, such as our ability to maintain our listing on Nasdaq.

Founder Conversion

On June 28, 2023, we issued 4,000,000 shares of Class A common stock to the sponsor, upon the conversion of an equal number of shares of Class B common stock held by the sponsor in the Founder Conversion. The 4,000,000 shares of Class A common stock issued in connection with the Founder Conversion are subject to the same restrictions as applied to the shares of Class B common stock before the Founder Conversion, including, among others, certain transfer restrictions, waiver of redemption rights and the obligation to vote in favor of an initial business combination as described in the IPO Registration Statement; consequently, the shares of Class A common stock issued in connection with the Founder Conversion are not registered under the Securities Act and remain unregistered until registration is demanded by the sponsor pursuant to a letter agreement we entered into with our sponsor, officers and directors. Following the Founder Conversion and the redemptions in connection with the Extensions, (i) there were 5,278,879 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding and 6,303,333 shares of Class B common stock issued and outstanding, and (ii) the sponsor held 72.87% of the outstanding shares of common stock.

DePalma Business Combination Agreement

The below subsection describes the material provisions of the DePalma Business Combination Agreement, but does not purport to describe all the terms thereof. This summary of the DePalma Business Combination Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of the DePalma Business Combination Agreement, a copy of which is filed hereto as Exhibit 2.1 and incorporated by reference herein. Unless otherwise defined herein, the capitalized terms used below have the same meanings given to them in the DePalma Business Combination Agreement. Unless otherwise indicated, this Report does not assume the closing of the DePalma Business Combination.

On February 14, 2023, we entered into the DePalma Business Combination Agreement with Marblegate, New MAC, Merger Sub and the DePalma Companies, pursuant to which, among other things, the parties agreed to the DePalma Business Combination under which we agreed to combine with DePalma in a series of transactions that will result in New MAC becoming a publicly-traded company whose shares are expected to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market.

(i) immediately prior to the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the DePalma Business Combination Agreement, New MAC and the DePalma Companies will effect a series of reorganization transactions, resulting in the DePalma Companies becoming wholly- owned subsidiaries of New MAC;

(ii) Merger Sub will merge with and into the Company, with the Company surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of New MAC, in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of the DePalma Business Combination Agreement; and

(iii) upon the effectiveness of the DePalma Merger (the “Effective Time”), (x) each share of Class A common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be cancelled and converted into the right to receive the Company Per Share Consideration (as defined below); (y) each share of Class B common stock issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be cancelled and converted into the right to receive the Company Per Share Consideration, and (z) each warrant of the Company outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be cancelled and converted into the right to receive one warrant of New MAC, with New MAC assuming our obligations under the existing warrant agreement.

The aggregate consideration payable to DePalma at the closing of the DePalma Business Combination (the “Closing”) will be based on a valuation of DePalma of approximately $750,000,000 plus the Minimum Cash Amount. The per share consideration allocable to each share of our common stock (the “Company Per Share Consideration”) is the number of shares of New MAC Common Stock, rounded up to the nearest whole share, equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the product obtained by multiplying (A) the Company Exchange Ratio by (B) the Aggregate New MAC Capitalization, by (ii) the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time and after giving effect to any redemptions of shares of our common stock.

Prior to the Closing, the Parties shall take all actions necessary or appropriate to designate and nominate five directors to the New MAC board of directors, which shall include two directors designated by the sponsor, and three directors designated by the Parties to serve as non-executive directors, each of whom shall by independent according to the SEC rules and listing standards of Nasdaq.

On March 25, 2025, the Company held a special meeting of stockholders (the “Business Combination Meeting”) at which the Company’s stockholders approved and adopted (i) the DePalma Business Combination Agreement and (ii) an amendment and restatement of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and the material differences between the proposed amended and restated certificate of incorporation of New MAC and the Company’s existing amended and restated certificate of incorporation. In connection with the Business Combination Meeting, holders of 322,274 public shares exercised their right to redeem such shares for a pro rata portion of the funds in the Company’s trust account. As a result, approximately $3.5 million will be removed from the Company’s trust account to pay such holders. The DePalma Business Combination is expected to close in early April 2025, subject to the fulfilment or waiver of certain other customary closing conditions.

Ancillary Agreements

Concurrently with the execution of the DePalma Business Combination Agreement, the sponsor and the Supporting Shareholders have entered into support agreements with us, New MAC and the DePalma Companies (such agreements, collectively, the “Sponsor Support Agreement”), pursuant to which the sponsor and the Supporting Shareholders have agreed, among other things, to vote all shares of our common stock held by them in favor of the DePalma Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby (including the DePalma Merger) and to not redeem any of their shares of our common stock.

The foregoing description of the Sponsor Support Agreement is not complete and is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to such agreement, and the terms of which are incorporated by reference herein. A copy of the Sponsor Support Agreement is filed with this Report as Exhibit 10.15.

Upon consummation of the DePalma Business Combination, the Sponsor and New MAC will enter into a Management Services Agreement (“MSA”), pursuant to which the sponsor will provide certain management services to New MAC including (i) evaluating, managing, performing due diligence on, negotiating and overseeing the acquisition and disposition of New MAC’s and its subsidiaries’ assets, (ii) evaluating, managing, negotiating and overseeing the origination, structuring, restructuring and workout of taxi-medallion loans and other loans held by New MAC (other than typical daily loan servicing activities), (iii) managing New MAC’s and its subsidiaries’ day-to-day business and operations in complying with any regulatory requirements applicable to them in respect of their business activities, (iv) evaluating the financial and operational performance of any of New MAC’s subsidiaries, (v) providing a management team to serve as executive officers of New MAC and/or its subsidiaries, including providing day- to-day financial, operational and other executive management services (vi) identifying, evaluating, managing, performing due diligence on, negotiating and overseeing the provision of debt or equity financing as well as the acquisition of all or a portion of target businesses or assets, in each case, by New MAC, and (vii) performing any other services for and on behalf of New MAC and its subsidiaries to the extent that such services are consistent with those that are customarily performed by the executive officers and employees of a publicly listed company.

The MSA shall be effective upon consummation of the DePalma Business Combination and continue in operation, unless terminated in accordance with its terms, until the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Closing, subject to certain automatic renewals.

Business Strategy

Our acquisition and value creation strategy is to identify, acquire and build a company that has recently gone through a restructuring. After the initial business combination, we envision our strategy may include additional mergers and acquisitions with a focus on generating attractive risk- adjusted returns for our stockholders. Many post-restructured companies offer a valuation discount resulting from complexity, its ownership base and illiquidity. These post-restructuring companies are in a position for growth with recently deleveraged balance sheets. These companies tend to be sitting in the hands of distressed investors with limited ability to acquire additional capital to fund growth and acquisitions.

We have utilized and will continue to utilize the unique network and industry experience of our management team in seeking an initial business combination and executing our acquisition strategy. Over the course of their careers, the members of our management team have developed a broad network of relationships across industries and subsectors that we believe further complement our sourcing pipeline of acquisition opportunities. The companies we target are often in fragmented or fractured industries with attractive growth and acquisition opportunities. These sectors include but are not limited to education, business services, consumer products and healthcare.

We have and will continue to leverage our management team’s expertise to source and evaluate these often-opaque, under-covered enterprises and the impact of restructurings on these businesses, as turnaround initiatives implemented during restructurings may have yet to be reflected in the companies’ financial earnings results. In addition, corporate balance sheets are often restructured by swapping old debt for new equity or new debt and equity. Original lenders frequently lack the ability to serve as the company’s new owners, manage the enterprise or execute an exit transaction.

Our sourcing channels, developed as distressed investors and turnaround specialists, have and we expect they will continue to provide our management team with a robust flow of acquisition opportunities, including the DePalma Business Combination. Members of our management team have communicated and continue to communicate with their networks of relationships to articulate the parameters for our search for a target company and a potential business combination and pursue and review potential interesting candidates.

We believe a business combination through a SPAC provides value-add for owners of previously financially distressed companies and our investors, alike. We believe we can serve as a source of capital for business owners with a business combination providing a significant monetization event for owners seeking liquidity or even continued equity participation for those seeking continued ownership. Target companies potentially benefit from access to a public vehicle that provides capital to support growth initiatives.

Our investors can benefit from ownership in a business at a discounted valuation and with significantly reduced liabilities. Creating value for our stockholders is the primary goal of this business strategy.

Competitive Advantages

We have capitalized and intend to continue to capitalize on the following competitive advantages in our pursuit of a target company:

Proactive and Proprietary Transaction Sourcing. Our management team believes that its market reputation, proactive approach to sourcing transactions, and extensive network of relationships have and will continue to provide proprietary investment opportunities. Marblegate’s deep expertise across a broad swath of industries and throughout the capital structure often make it an attractive partner for companies seeking capital solutions. Our management team believes that it has an established record of generating proprietary investment opportunities resulting from Marblegate’s unique sourcing strategies. These companies are often overlooked due to their complexity. The team leverages multiple sourcing channels including proprietary relationships with regional banks, distressed investors, private equity sponsors and seasoned operators and management teams.

Execution and Structuring Capability. Our management team believes that its expertise in restructuring companies provides us with a unique perspective and a deep understanding in the analysis of post-restructured companies, which can often be opaque, lack research coverage and involve a complex history. Marblegate’s experience in these markets allows it to source and complete transactions possessing structural attributes that create an attractive investment thesis.

These types of transactions are typically complex and require creativity, industry knowledge and expertise, rigorous due diligence, and extensive negotiation and documentation. Our management team has expertise in investing in distressed companies, restructuring the companies and working with management to create growth strategies post re-org. The complexities of companies exiting a reorganization are well understood by our management team and provide for a broad opportunity set. Our management team believes that by focusing its investment activities on these types of transactions, we will be able to identify acquisition opportunities that have attractive risk/reward profiles based on their valuations and structural characteristics.

History of Successful Acquisitions. As of December 31, 2024, Marblegate managed approximately $3.0 billion across multiple funds, primarily for institutional clients such as pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices, funds of funds and high net worth individuals. Marblegate has invested approximately $4.4 billion across multiple industries since the launch of its first fund in 2009. These investments include but are not limited to companies in healthcare, transportation, materials, consumer staples, financials, media and telecom, industrials and consumer discretionary industries. Marblegate implements growth initiatives to create and expand earnings power, cash flow, and enterprise value. Through a combination of operational improvements and managerial enhancements Marblegate has a demonstrable history of revenue enhancement and expense control. Utilizing data and technology Marblegate is able to drive measurable improvements and create expansion opportunities across the enterprises in which Marblegate invests. As a consequence of Marblegate’s investments these companies developed stronger balance sheets, better asset mixes and revitalized operating models generating stable growth opportunities.

Post-acquisition Added Value. Our management team members have many years of experience across multiple industries and subsectors resulting in broad expertise and an extensive network of relationships and resources. After consummation of the initial business combination, we anticipate assisting the target company in several areas, including: (i) strategic and financial goals and projections, (ii) technology and data enhancements (iii) capital markets advice and financing alternatives, (iv) identification and recruitment of senior management and (v) identification and analysis of potential strategic acquisitions.

Market Opportunity. We believe that U.S. bankruptcies have led to a large pool of target companies.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, past performance of Marblegate and our management team is not a guarantee either (i) that we will be able to identify a suitable candidate for our initial business combination or (ii) of success with respect to any business combination we may consummate, including the DePalma Business Combination. You should not rely on the historical performance record of Marblegate or our management team as indicative of our future performance. Additionally, in the course of their respective careers, members of our management team have been involved in businesses and deals that were unsuccessful. In addition, our officers and directors may have conflicts of interest with other entities to which they owe fiduciary or contractual obligations with respect to initial business combination opportunities.

Business Combination Criteria

In line with our business strategy, we seek candidates for our business combination with the following general criteria, which emphasize our areas of expertise as well as where we believe the opportunity set is robust.

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Post-Restructured Companies. We believe that post-restructured companies offer the potential for discounted valuations to their publicly traded peers given the complexity involved in understanding restructurings and post-restructured businesses (with the lack of information and research coverage) and the ownership base of former lenders whose debt was swapped for equity in restructurings. As restructuring specialists, our management team has a strong understanding of how to evaluate post-restructured companies and a robust network to identify opportunities among these companies.

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Revitalized Growth Strategy. We focus on acquisition targets that have the potential to develop a leading, growing or significant niche market position in their respective industries. We believe that companies that successfully reorganize themselves use the process to not only reorder their liability structure but also to rework and reinvigorate their growth strategy. The unshackling of a business from an overburdened balance sheet and cost structure can enable it to invest in growth initiatives that will grow top line revenues as well as total enterprise profitability. We analyze the strengths and weaknesses of potential target businesses relative to their competitors. We seek to acquire one or more businesses that we believe have the ability to demonstrate advantages such as improvements to quality of product or significant measurable cost savings when compared to their competitors, which may help to increase their market share and profitability.

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Discount to Publicly Traded Peers. We seek potential candidates that are valued at a significant discount to their publicly traded peers. This discount allows for meaningful return potential for stockholders post the business combination and provides the targets’ current owners the opportunity for liquidity and multiple expansion.

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Businesses with Stronger Balance Sheets. We target companies that have strengthened their balance sheets through a restructuring process. In addition to restructuring the balance sheet, a successful restructuring process can also drive positive operating results from turnaround initiatives taken during a restructuring. Better asset mixes and revitalizing their operating models can create stable growth potential for these businesses going forward.

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Compelling Industry Characteristics. We focus on acquisition targets that have the potential to be or are industry leaders. These companies tend to operate in fragmented markets which present opportunities for significant consolidation and growth. We seek to identify an acquisition target that may benefit from synergistic add-on acquisitions, new product markets and geographies, increased production capacity, expense reduction and increased operating leverage. In general, we focus our investing attention on industries which enjoy broad stability and have favorable growth dynamics.

While we have used and will continue to use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating initial business combination opportunities, including the DePalma Business Combination, the business combination opportunity we ultimately pursue may be with a target business that only meets some but not all of these criteria and guidelines.

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 may deem relevant. In the event that we find an opportunity that has characteristics more compelling to us than the characteristics described above, we would pursue such opportunity.

Our Business Combination Process

In evaluating prospective business combinations, such as DePalma, we have conducted and will continue to conduct a thorough due diligence review process that encompasses, among other things, a review of historical and projected financial and operating data, meetings with management and their advisors (if applicable), on-site inspection of facilities and assets, discussion with customers and suppliers, legal reviews and other reviews as we deem appropriate. We also utilize our expertise analyzing target companies and evaluating operating projections, financial projections and determining the appropriate return expectations given the risk profile of the target business.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with Marblegate or investment funds or accounts advised by Marblegate or our sponsor, officers, or directors. While DePalma is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, in the event we do not consummate the DePalma Business Combination, and seek to complete our initial business combination with another company that is affiliated with Marblegate or investment funds or accounts advised by Marblegate or our sponsor, 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 our initial business combination is fair to our Company from a financial point of view.

An investment fund advised by Marblegate indirectly owns founder shares and private placement units. Additionally, Marblegate and Andrew Milgram and Paul Arrouet are deemed the beneficial owners of such founder shares and private placement units by virtue of exercising investment power over such shares or units on behalf of such investment funds. Because of this ownership, Marblegate, investment funds advised by Marblegate and our officers and directors, 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, particularly because such funds managed by Marblegate invest in distressed and post- restructured companies as part of their investment programs. 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.

All of our executive officers are employed by Marblegate. Marblegate is continuously made aware of potential business opportunities, one or more of which we may desire to pursue for an initial business combination.

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 pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. 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 to present the opportunity to such entity, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of Marblegate and our officers or directors will not materially affect our

ability to complete our initial business combination, as we believe any such opportunities presented would be smaller than what we are interested in, in different fields than what we would be interested in, or that our obligations are to entities that are not themselves in the business of engaging in business combinations. We may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with an entity to which Marblegate, investment funds advised by Marblegate or an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity 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 initial business combination by making a specified future issuance to any such entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our Company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

Our officers and directors may become an officer or director of another SPAC with a class of securities intended to be registered under the Exchange Act, even before we have entered into a definitive agreement regarding our initial business combination.

Initial Business Combination

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. Our board of directors will make the determination as to the fair market value of our initial business combination. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. Based on the valuation analysis of our management and board of directors, we have determined that the fair market value of DePalma was substantially in excess of 80% of the funds in the trust account and that the 80% test was therefore satisfied.

We may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition. Any such parties would co-invest only if (i) permitted by applicable regulatory and other legal limitations; (ii) we and Marblegate considered a transaction to be mutually beneficial to us as well as the affiliated entity; and (iii) other business reasons exist to do so, such as the strategic merits of including such co-investors, the need for additional capital beyond the amount held in our trust account to fund the initial business combination and/or the desire to obtain committed capital for closing the initial business combination. An Affiliated Joint Acquisition may be effected through a co-investment with us in the target business at the time of our initial business combination, or we could raise additional proceeds to complete the initial business combination by issuing to such parties a class of equity or equity- linked securities. We refer to this potential future issuance, or a similar issuance to other specified purchasers, as a “specified future issuance” throughout this Report. The amount and other terms and conditions of any such specified future issuance would be determined at the time thereof. We are not obligated to make any specified future issuance and may determine not to do so. This is not an offer for any specified future issuance. Pursuant to the anti-dilution provisions of our Class B common stock, any such specified future issuance would result in an adjustment to the conversion ratio such that our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees, if any, would retain their aggregate percentage ownership at 25% of the sum of the total number of all shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of our initial public offering plus all shares issued in the specified future issuance, unless the holders of a majority of the then-outstanding shares of Class B common stock agreed to waive such adjustment with respect to the specified future issuance at the time thereof. We cannot determine at this time whether a majority of the holders of our Class B common stock at the time of any such specified future issuance would agree to waive such adjustment to the conversion ratio. They may waive such adjustment due to (but not limited to) the following: (i) closing conditions which are part of the agreement for our initial business combination; (ii) negotiation with Class A stockholders on structuring an initial business combination; (iii) negotiation with parties providing financing which would trigger the anti-dilution provisions of the Class B common stock; or (iv) as part of the Affiliated Joint Acquisition. If such adjustment is not waived, the specified future issuance would not reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class B common stock, but would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of our Class A common stock. If such adjustment is waived, the specified future issuance would reduce the percentage ownership of holders of both classes of our common stock.

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. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial 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 stockholders 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-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

Financial Position

With funds available in the trust account for an initial business combination in the amount of$4,064,428 as of December 31, 2024, we offer a target business a variety of options such as creating a liquidity event for its owners to provide capital for the potential growth and expansion of its operations or to strengthen its balance sheet by reducing its debt or leverage ratio. Because we are able to complete our initial business combination using our cash, debt or equity securities, or a combination of the foregoing, we have the flexibility to use the most efficient combination that will allow us to tailor the consideration to be paid to the target business to fit its needs and desires. However, we have not taken any steps to secure third party financing and there can be no assurance it will be available to us.

Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations until we consummate our initial business combination. 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 units, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination (pursuant to forward purchase agreements or backstop agreements we may enter into following the consummation of our initial public offering or otherwise), shares issued to the owners of the target, debt issued to bank or other lenders or the owners of the target, or a combination of the foregoing. We may seek to complete our initial business combination with a company or business 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 securities, 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 common stock, 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-transaction company, the payment of principal or interest due on indebtedness incurred in completing our initial business combination, to fund the purchase of other companies or for working capital.

We may seek to raise additional funds through a private offering of debt or equity securities in connection with the completion of our initial business combination, and we may effectuate our initial business combination using the proceeds of such offering rather than using the amounts held in the trust account. In addition, we may target businesses larger than we could acquire with the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, and may as a result be required to seek additional financing to complete such proposed initial business combination. Subject to compliance with applicable securities laws, we would expect to complete such financing only simultaneously with the completion of our initial business combination. In the case of an initial business combination funded with assets other than the trust account assets, our proxy materials or tender offer documents disclosing the initial business combination would disclose the terms of the financing and, only if required by law, we would seek stockholder approval of such financing. There are no prohibitions on our ability to raise funds privately or through loans in connection with our initial business combination. At this time, we are not a party to any arrangement or understanding with any third party with respect to raising any additional funds through the sale of securities or otherwise.

Although our management will assess the risks inherent in a particular target business with which we may combine, we cannot assure you that this assessment will result in our identifying all risks that a target business may encounter. Furthermore, some of those risks may be outside of our control, meaning that we can do nothing to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

Sources of Target Businesses

Target business candidates have been brought and we expect they will continue to be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and investment professionals. Target businesses have also been brought and we expect they will continue to be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us by 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 many of these sources will have read our prospectus for our initial public offering or this Report and know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as our sponsor and 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 have received 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 and our sponsor and their respective industry and business contacts as well as their affiliates. We may engage the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee, advisory fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms 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 any entity with which our sponsor or officers are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, reimbursement, consulting fee, monies in respect of any payment of a loan or other compensation by the company prior to, or in connection with any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). Although none of our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated initial business combination, we do not have a policy that prohibits our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, from negotiating for the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses by a target business. We agreed to pay our sponsor a total of $10,000 per month for secretarial and administrative support and reimburse our sponsor for any out-of-pocket expenses related to identifying, investigating and completing an initial business combination. Some of our officers and directors may enter into employment or consulting agreements with the post-transaction 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 initial business combination candidate.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with an initial business combination target that is affiliated with Marblegate or our sponsor, officers or directors or making the initial business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with Marblegate, our sponsor, officers or directors. While DePalma is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, in the event we do not consummate the DePalma Business Combination, and seek to complete our initial business combination with another initial business combination target that is affiliated with Marblegate, our sponsor, officers, or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions that such an 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.

If any of our officers or directors becomes aware of an initial business combination opportunity that falls within the line of business of any entity to which he or she has pre-existing fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she may be required to present such business combination opportunity to such entity prior to presenting such business combination opportunity to us. Our officers and directors currently have certain relevant fiduciary duties or contractual obligations that may take priority over their duties to us. We may, at our option, pursue an Affiliated Joint Acquisition opportunity with an entity to which Marblegate or an officer or director has a fiduciary or contractual obligation. Any such entity 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 initial business combination by making a specified future issuance to any such entity.

Selection of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination

Nasdaq rules require that we must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the value of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the interest earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. The fair market value of our initial business combination will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation, a valuation based on trading multiples of comparable public businesses, or a valuation based on the financial metrics of M&A transactions of comparable businesses. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of our initial business combination, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or another independent entity that commonly renders valuation opinions with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of our initial business combination, it may be unable to do so if it is less familiar or experienced with the business of a particular target or if there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of a target’s assets or prospects. We do not intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations. Additionally, pursuant to Nasdaq rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination either (i) in such a way so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses, or (ii) in such a way so that the post-transaction 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 stockholders. However, we will only complete an initial business combination if the post-transaction 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. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post- transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial 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 stockholders 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-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of Nasdaq’s 80% fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the transactions and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable.

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 endeavors 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.

In evaluating a prospective business target, such as DePalma, we have conducted and will continue to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which encompasses, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, interviews of customers and suppliers, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial and other information that is made available to us.

The time required to 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.

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. In addition, we are focusing our search for an initial business combination in a single industry. By completing our initial business combination with only a single entity, our lack of diversification may:

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

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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 closely scrutinize the management of a prospective target business, including the management team of DePalma, when evaluating the desirability of effecting our initial business combination with such business and plan to continue to do so if the DePalma Business Combination is not consummated and we seek other business combination opportunities, our assessment of the target business’ 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, including the DePalma Business Combination in which the Sponsor will have the right to designate two of the five directors on the post-Closing board of directors, 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 an initial business combination, we may seek to recruit additional managers to supplement the incumbent management of the target business. We cannot assure you that we will have the ability to recruit additional managers, or that additional managers will have the requisite skills, knowledge or experience necessary to enhance the incumbent management.

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

We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC. However, we will seek stockholder approval if it is required by law or applicable stock exchange rule (as is the case with the DePalma Business Combination as currently contemplated), or we may decide to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. Presented in the table below is a graphic explanation of the types of initial business combinations we may consider and whether stockholder approval is currently required under Delaware law for each such transaction.


Type of Transaction		Whether Stockholder/ Approval is Required
Purchase of assets		No
Purchase of stock of target not involving a merger with the company		No
Merger of target into a subsidiary of the company		No
No Merger of the company with a target		Yes

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

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we issue shares of Class A common stock that will be equal to or in excess of 20% of the number of shares of our Class A common stock then outstanding;

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any of our directors, officers or substantial stockholders (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 present or potential issuance of common stock could result in an increase in outstanding common shares or voting power of 5% or more; or

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the issuance or potential issuance of common stock will result in our undergoing a change of control.

See “DePalma Business Combination Agreement” above for more information on the requisite approvals needed for the DePalma Business Combination.

Permitted Purchases of our Securities

If we seek stockholder 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 sponsor, initial stockholders, directors, officers or their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. There is no limit on the number of shares our initial stockholders, directors, officers or their affiliates may purchase in such transactions, subject to compliance with applicable law and Nasdaq rules. 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. If they engage in such transactions, they will not make any such purchases when they are in possession of any material nonpublic information not disclosed to the seller or if such purchases are prohibited by Regulation M under the Exchange Act. 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 comply with such rules. 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. None of the funds held in the trust account will be used to purchase shares or public warrants in such transactions prior to completion of our initial business combination.

The purpose of any such purchases of shares could be to vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination or to 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. The purpose of any such purchases of public warrants could be to reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrant holders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. 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 shares of Class A common stock or 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.

Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates anticipate that they may identify the stockholders with whom our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates may pursue privately negotiated purchases by either the stockholders contacting us directly or by our receipt of redemption requests submitted by stockholders following our mailing of proxy materials in connection with our initial business combination. To the extent that our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates enter into a private purchase, they would identify and contact only potential selling stockholders 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 stockholder has already submitted a proxy with respect to our initial business combination. Our sponsor, officers, directors or their affiliates will only purchase shares if such purchases comply with Regulation M under the Exchange Act and the other federal securities laws.

Any purchases by our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates who are affiliated purchasers under Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act will only be made to the extent such purchases are able to be made in compliance with Rule 10b-18, which is a safe harbor from liability for manipulation under Section 9(a)(2) and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Rule 10b-18 has certain technical requirements that must be complied with in order for the safe harbor to be available to the purchaser. Our sponsor, officers, directors and/or their affiliates will not make purchases of common stock if the purchases would violate Section 9(a)(2) or Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. Any such purchases will be reported pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act to the extent such purchases are subject to such reporting requirements.

As of the date of this Report, there have been no such discussions and no agreements to such effect have been entered into with any such investor or holder. If such arrangements or agreements are entered into, we will file a Current Report on Form 8-K to disclose any arrangements entered into or significant purchases made by any of the aforementioned persons. Any such report will include (i) the amount of shares of common stock purchased and the purchase price; (ii) the purpose of such purchases; (iii) the impact of such purchases on the likelihood that the business combination transaction will be approved; (iv) the identities or characteristics of security holders who sold shares if not purchased in the open market or the nature of the sellers; and (v) the number of shares of common stock for which we have received redemption requests.

Redemption Rights for Public Stockholders upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock 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 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 taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein. As of December 31, 2024, the amount in the trust account was approximately $11.02 per public share (including accrued interest thereon). The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to Cantor. Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares, private placement shares, and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our initial business combination. The anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination.

Manner of Conducting Redemptions

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares of Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the initial business combination or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed initial 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 stockholder approval under the law or stock exchange listing requirement. Under Nasdaq rules, asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our Company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would require stockholder approval. If we structure an initial business combination with a target company in a manner that requires stockholder approval, we will not have discretion as to whether to seek a stockholder vote to approve the proposed initial business combination. We may conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons. So long as we obtain and maintain a listing for our securities on Nasdaq, we will be required to comply with such rules.

If a stockholder vote is not required and we do not decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

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

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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.

Upon the public announcement of our initial business combination, we or our sponsor will terminate any plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 to purchase shares of our Class A common stock in the open market if we elect to redeem our public shares through a tender offer, 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.

If, however, stockholder approval of the transaction is required by law or stock exchange listing requirement, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation:

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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

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file proxy materials with the SEC.

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

If we seek stockholder approval, unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or stock exchange rules, we will complete our initial business combination only if a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voted are voted in favor of the initial business combination. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of shares of outstanding capital stock of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of capital stock of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. Our initial stockholders will count toward this quorum and pursuant to a letter agreement, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote their founder shares, private placement shares, and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering (including in open market and privately negotiated transactions) in favor of our initial business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding shares of common stock voted, unless otherwise required by applicable law, regulation or stock exchange rules, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our initial business combination once a quorum is obtained. As of December 31, 2024, after accounting for the redemption of public shares in connection with the Extensions, the sponsor owns 72.87% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Accordingly, the sponsor will have the ability, voting on its own, to satisfy quorum requirements and to approve an initial business combination, and none of our public shares will need to vote in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved. We intend to give not less than 10 days’ prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our initial business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our initial stockholders, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination. Each public stockholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction. The anchor investors will not be entitled to redemption rights with respect to any founder shares held by them in connection with the completion of a business combination.

The proposed initial 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 initial business combination. In the event the aggregate cash consideration we would be required to pay for all shares of Class A common stock that are validly submitted for redemption plus any amount required to satisfy cash conditions pursuant to the terms of the proposed initial business combination exceed the aggregate amount of cash available to us, we will not complete the initial business combination or redeem any shares, and all shares of Class A common stock submitted for redemption will be returned to the holders thereof.

Limitation on Redemption upon Completion of our Initial Business Combination if we Seek Stockholder Approval

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we seek stockholder 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 certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from seeking redemption rights with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in our initial public offering (the “Excess Shares”). Such restriction shall also be applicable to our affiliates. We believe this restriction will discourage stockholders from accumulating large blocks of shares, and subsequent attempts by such holders to use their ability to exercise their redemption rights against a proposed initial 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 stockholder 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 or our management at a premium to the then-current market price or on other undesirable terms. By limiting our stockholders’ 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 stockholders to unreasonably attempt to block our ability to complete our initial business combination, particularly in connection with an initial 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, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination.

Tendering Stock Certificates in Connection with Redemption Rights

We may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the meeting held to approve a proposed initial business combination by a date set forth in the proxy materials mailed to such holders or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically using the DWAC System, at the holder’s option. The proxy materials that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will indicate whether we are requiring public stockholders to satisfy such delivery requirements. Accordingly, a public stockholder would have from the time we send out our proxy materials until the date set forth in such proxy materials to tender its shares if it wishes to seek to exercise its redemption rights. Given the relatively short exercise period, it is advisable for stockholders 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 $100.00 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.

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 stockholders’ vote on an initial business combination, and a holder could simply vote against a proposed initial business combination and check a box on the proxy card indicating such holder was seeking to exercise his or her redemption rights. After the initial business combination was approved, the company would contact such stockholder to arrange for him or her to deliver his or her certificate to verify ownership. As a result, the stockholder then had an “option window” after the completion of the initial business combination during which he or she could monitor the price of the company’s stock 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 stockholders were aware they needed to commit before the stockholder meeting, would become “option” rights surviving past the completion of the initial business combination until the redeeming holder delivered its certificate. The requirement for physical or electronic delivery prior to the meeting ensures that a redeeming holder’s election to redeem is irrevocable once the initial business combination is approved.

Any request to redeem such shares, once made, may be withdrawn at any time up to the date set forth in the proxy materials. 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 stockholders 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 initial business combination is not completed, we may continue to try to complete an initial business combination with a different target until April 5, 2025.

Redemption of Public Shares and Liquidation if no Initial Business Combination

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we have until April 5, 2025, to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period (unless our board of directors and stockholders approve a further extension of 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 our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to our obligations under Delaware 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 complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have waived their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares and private placement shares held by them if we fail to complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period. However, if our sponsor, officers or directors, underwriters or the anchor investors acquire public shares in or after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed, pursuant to a written agreement with us, that they will not propose any amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period or certain amendments to our charter prior thereto or (ii) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares of Class A common stock 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 taxes divided by the number of then outstanding public shares.

If we do not consummate our initial business combination by the deadline set forth in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, 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 $71,532 of proceeds held outside the trust account as of December 31, 2024, although we cannot assure you that there will be sufficient funds for such purpose. We will depend on sufficient interest being earned on the proceeds held in the trust account to pay any tax obligations we may owe. However, if those funds are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses associated with implementing our plan of dissolution, to the extent that there is any interest accrued in the trust account not required to pay taxes on interest income earned on the trust account balance, we may request the trustee to release to us an additional amount of up to $100,000 of such accrued interest to pay those costs and expenses.

If we were to expend all of the net proceeds of our initial public offering and the sale of the private placement units, 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 stockholders upon our dissolution would be approximately $10.93 (as of December 31, 2024). 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 stockholders. We cannot assure you that the actual per-share redemption amount received by stockholders will not be substantially less than $10.93 (as of December 31, 2024). Under Section 281(b) of the DGCL, our plan of dissolution must provide for all claims against us to be paid in full or make provision for payments to be made in full, as applicable, if there are sufficient assets. These claims must be paid or provided for before we make any distribution of our remaining assets to our stockholders. 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.

Although we seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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 any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, 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. 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. Marcum, our independent registered public accounting firm, and the underwriters of our initial public offering will not execute agreements 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. 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, or a prospective target business with which we have entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or similar agreement or business combination agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below the lesser of (i) $10.05 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 $10.05 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the trust account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) 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.

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 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 (i) $10.05 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest which may be withdrawn to pay taxes, 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 if, for example, the cost of such legal action is deemed by the independent directors to be too high relative to the amount recoverable or if the independent directors determine that a favorable outcome is not likely. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations and we cannot assure you that our sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations. 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 $10.05 per public share.

We have sought and will continue to 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, 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. In the event that we liquidate and it is subsequently determined that the reserve for claims and liabilities is insufficient, stockholders who received funds from our trust account could be liable for claims made by creditors. As of December 31, 2024, the amount held outside of the trust account was $$71,532.

Under the DGCL, stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If the corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution.

Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful (potentially due to the imposition of legal proceedings that a party may bring or due to other circumstances that are currently unknown), then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period (unless our board of directors and stockholders approve a further extension of 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 our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Accordingly, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the end of the Combination Period, and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend well beyond the third anniversary of such date.

Because we will not be complying with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that will provide for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the subsequent 10 years. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, etc.) or prospective target businesses. As described above, pursuant to the obligation contained in our underwriting agreement, we will seek to have all vendors, service providers, 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 any monies held in the trust account. As a result of this obligation, the claims that could be made against us are significantly limited and the likelihood that any claim that would result in any liability extending to the trust account is remote. Further, our sponsor may be liable only to the extent necessary to ensure that the amounts in the trust account are not reduced below (i) $10.05 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account, due to reductions in value of the trust assets, in each case net of the amount of interest withdrawn to pay taxes and will 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. 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.

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 stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account,

we cannot assure you we will be able to return $10.05 per share to our public stockholders. Additionally, if we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders 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 stockholders. 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, thereby exposing itself and our Company to claims of punitive damages, by paying public stockholders 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 stockholders will be entitled to receive funds from the trust account only upon the earlier to occur of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend any provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to offer redemption rights in connection with any proposed initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by the end of the Combination Period or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our business combination by the end of the Combination Period, subject to applicable law. Stockholders who do not exercise their redemption rights in connection with an amendment to our certificate of incorporation would still be able to exercise their redemption rights in connection with a subsequent business combination. In no other circumstances will a stockholder have any right or

interest of any kind to or in the trust account. In the event we seek stockholder approval in connection with our initial business combination, a stockholder’s voting in connection with the initial business combination alone will not result in a stockholder’s redeeming its shares to us for an applicable pro rata share of the trust account. Such stockholder must have also exercised its redemption rights as described above. These provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, like all provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, may be amended with a stockholder vote.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating and selecting a target business for our initial business combination, we have encountered competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including other blank check companies, private equity groups and leveraged buyout funds, and operating businesses seeking strategic business combinations. 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 we do. Our ability to acquire larger target businesses is limited by our available financial resources. This inherent limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the initial business combination of a target business. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders 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.

Employees

We currently have three officers. These individuals are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time they devote in any time period varies based on the stage of the initial 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.

Periodic Reporting and Financial Information

Our units, Class A common stock, and warrants are registered under the Exchange Act, and as a result, we 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, including this Report, contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of the prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business, such as the DePalma Registration Statement. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, GAAP, or IFRS, depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with 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 business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP 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 business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We are required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 as required by the Sarbanes- Oxley Act. Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company 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 business combination. We 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. 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 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 stockholder 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 continue 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 October 5, 2026, (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 shares of Class A common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, 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 Rule 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 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 shares held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

Item 1A.

Risk Factors.

As a smaller reporting company under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, we are not required to include risk factors in this Report. However, below is a partial list of material risks, uncertainties and other factors that could have a material effect on us and our operations:

•

we are a blank check company and an early stage company with no revenue or basis to evaluate our ability to select a suitable business target;

•

we may not be able to complete the DePalma Business Combination or any other business combination in the Combination Period;

•

our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses, such as DePalma, may not be realized;

•

we may not be successful in retaining or recruiting required officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination, including the DePalma Business Combination;

•

our officers and directors may have difficulties allocating their time between the Company and other businesses and may potentially have conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

•

we may not be able to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination, including the DePalma Business Combination, or reduce the number of stockholders requesting redemption;

•

we may issue our shares to investors in connection with our initial business combination at a price that is less than the prevailing market price of our shares at that time;

•

our stockholders may not be given the opportunity to choose the initial business target or to vote on the initial business combination;

•

trust account funds may not be protected against third party claims or bankruptcy;

•

an active market for our public securities may not develop and our stockholders will have limited liquidity and trading;

•

our financial performance following a business combination with an entity may be negatively affected by their lack of an established record of revenue, cash flows and experienced management;

•

there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial business combination, which could increase the costs associated with completing our initial business combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target;

•

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;

•

we may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us after the initial public offering, which may include acting as a financial 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 the initial public offering, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination;

•

if we do not consummate the DePalma Business Combination, we may attempt to complete our initial business combination with 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;

•

our warrants are accounted for as derivative liabilities and are 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 our common stock or may make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination;

•

since our initial stockholders will lose their entire investment in us if our initial business combination is not completed (other than with respect to any public shares they may acquire during or after the initial public offering), and because our sponsor, officers and directors may profit substantially even under circumstances in which our public stockholders 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 value of the founder shares following completion of our initial business combination is likely to be substantially higher than the nominal price paid for them, even if the trading price of our common stock at such time is substantially less than $11.02 per share (as of December 31, 2024);

•

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 completed our initial business combination within the Combination Period, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $11.02 per share (as of December 31, 2024), or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless;

•

we may not be able to complete an initial business combination with certain potential target companies if a proposed transaction with the target company may be subject to review or approval by regulatory authorities pursuant to certain U.S. or foreign laws or regulations, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States;

•

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

•

investments in entities that have undergone restructurings are subject to additional risks;

•

a 1% U.S. federal excise tax may be imposed on us in connection with our redemptions of shares in connection with a business combination or other stockholder vote pursuant to which stockholders would have a right to submit their shares for redemption;

•

there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a “going concern”;

•

adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, including events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults or non-performance by financial institutions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, or our prospects;

•

we may seek to further extend the Combination Period, which could have a material adverse effect on the amount held in our trust account and other adverse effects on our Company;

•

military or other conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East or elsewhere may lead to increased volume and price volatility for publicly traded securities, or affect the operations or financial condition of potential target companies, which could make it more difficult for us to consummate an initial business combination;

•

market conditions, economic uncertainty or downturns could adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and our ability to consummate a business combination;

•

cyber incidents or attacks directed at us or third parties could result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption and/or financial loss;

•

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; and

•

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.

We have received notice from Nasdaq stating that the Company is not in compliance with Listing Rule IM-5101-2, which requires that a special purpose acquisition company complete one or more business combinations within 36 months of the effectiveness of the registration statement filed in connection with its initial public offering. As a result, our securities will be delisted and the liquidity and the trading price of our securities could be adversely affected.

On October 1, 2024, we received a notice from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) stating that the Company was not in compliance with Listing Rule IM-5101-2 (the “Rule”), which requires that a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) complete one or more business combinations within 36 months of the effectiveness of the registration statement filed in connection with its initial public offering. Since the Company’s registration statement became effective on September 30, 2021, it was required to complete an initial business combination by no later than September 30, 2024. The Rule also provides that failure to comply with this requirement will result in the Listing Qualifications Department issuing a Staff Delisting Determination under Rule 5810 to delist the Company’s securities.

The Company timely requested a hearing before an independent Hearings Panel (the “Panel”) and the hearing was held on November 19, 2024. On December 13, 2024, the Company received notice from the Nasdaq Office of General Counsel that the Panel had granted the Company’s request to continue its listing on Nasdaq through March 31, 2025. The Panel’s decision (“Decision”) was subject to certain conditions, including that the Company will have completed the DePalma Business Combination on or before March 31, 2025 and that the combined company will have demonstrated compliance with all applicable requirements for initial listing on Nasdaq.

On April 2, 2025, the Company received a further notice from the Panel, stating that, due to the Company’s failure to satisfy the terms of the Panel’s Decision, including the requirement that the Company will have completed the DePalma Business Combination by March 31, 2025, the Panel has determined to delist the Company’s securities from Nasdaq, and Nasdaq will suspend trading in those securities effective at the open of business on April 4, 2025. In connection with the delisting and suspension, Nasdaq has advised that it will complete the delisting by filing a Notification of Removal from Listing and/or Registration under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act on Form 25 with the SEC after the applicable Nasdaq review and appeal periods have lapsed. Notwithstanding the delisting of the Company’s securities from Nasdaq, it remains the intention of the Company to complete the DePalma Business Combination as described in the DePalma Registration Statement as soon as practicable. In connection therewith, the Company, New MAC and the DePalma Companies have applied to have the combined company’s securities listed on the Nasdaq following the consummation of the DePalma Business Combination.

If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange,

expect our securities could be quoted on an

over-the-counter

market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

•

appearing to be less attractive to potential target companies than an exchange listed SPAC;

•

a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

•

reduced liquidity for our securities;

•

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

•

a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and

•

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

In addition, if our securities are delisted from Nasdaq, offers and sales of our securities by us may be subject to state securities regulation and additional compliance costs.

For additional of risks relating to our operations, other than the above, see the section titled “Risk Factors” contained in our (i) IPO Registration Statement, (ii) Annual Reports on Form

10-K

for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021, December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on April 1, 2022, April 3, 2023 and April 1, 2024, respectively, (iii) quarterly reports on Form

10-Q

for the quarters ended September 30, 2021, March 31, 2022, June 30, 2022. September 30, 2022 and March 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on November 11, 2021, May 13, 2022, August 12, 2022, November 10, 2022 and May 15, 2023, respectively, and (vi) Definitive Proxy Statements on Schedule 14A filed the SEC on November 9, 2022, June 6, 2023, November 28, 2023 and August 26, 2024. Any of these factors could result in a significant or material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Additional risks could arise that may also affect our business or ability to consummate an initial business combination. We may disclose changes to such risk factors or disclose additional risk factors from time to time in our future filings with the SEC.

For additional risk factors relating to DePalma and the

DePalma

Business Combination, see the DePalma Registration Statement filed with the SEC.

Item 1B.

Unresolved Staff Comments.

Not applicable.

Item 1C.

Cybersecurity.

As a blank check company, we do not have any operations and our sole business activity has been to search for and consummate a business combination. However, because we have investments in our trust account and bank deposits and we depend on the digital technologies of third parties, we and third parties may be subject to attacks on or security breaches in our or their systems. Because of our reliance on the technologies of third parties, we also depend upon the personnel and the processes of third parties to protect against cybersecurity threats, and we have no

personnel or processes

of our own for this purpose. In the event of a cybersecurity incident impacting us, the management team will report to the board of directors and provide updates on the management team’s incident response plan for addressing and mitigating any risks associated with such an incident. As an early-stage company without significant investments in data security protection, we may not be sufficiently protected against such occurrences. We also lack 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 material adverse consequences on our business and lead to financial loss. We have not encountered any cybersecurity incidents since our initial public offering.

Item 2.

Properties.

Our executive offices are located at 411 Theodore Fremd Avenue, Suite 206S, Rye, New York, 10580 and our telephone number is (914) 415-4081. The cost for our use of this space is included in the $10,000 per month fee we pay to our sponsor for office space, administrative and shared personnel support. We consider our current office space adequate for our current operations.

Item 3.

Legal Proceedings.

To the knowledge of our management team, there is no material litigation currently pending or contemplated against us, any of our officers or directors in their capacity as such or against any of our property.

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5.

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

(a) Market Information

Our units, public shares and public warrants are each traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbols GATEU, GATE and GATEW, respectively. Our units commenced public trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on October 1, 2021, and our public shares and public warrants commenced separate public trading on November 22, 2021. On August 8, 2023, our units, Class A common stock and warrants were transferred to the Nasdaq Capital Market at the opening of business.

(b) Holders

On January 23, 2025, there were 2 holders of record of our units, 2 holders of record of shares of our Class A common stock, 35 Class B holders and 2 holders of record of our warrants.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of our initial business combination. 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. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to our initial business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time. In addition, our board of directors is not currently contemplating and does not anticipate declaring any stock dividends in the foreseeable future. Further, if we incur any indebtedness in connection with our initial 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) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

(f) Use of Proceeds from the Initial Public Offering

None. For a description of the use of proceeds generated in our initial public offering and private placement, see Part II, Item 2 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, as filed with the SEC on April 1, 2022. There has been no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our initial public offering and private placement as described in the IPO Registration Statement.

In November 2023, we instructed Continental to liquidate the investments held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in an interest-bearing demand deposit account at a bank, with Continental continuing to act as trustee, until the earlier of the consummation of our initial business combination or our liquidation. As a result, following the liquidation of investments in the trust account, the remaining proceeds from the initial public offering and private placement are no longer invested in U.S. government securities or money market funds invested in U.S. government securities.

(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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.

All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Report including, without limitation, statements in this section regarding our financial position, business strategy and the plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward- looking statements. When used in this Report, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of our management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, our management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors detailed in our filings with the SEC. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto contained elsewhere in this Report.

Overview

We are a blank check company formed under the laws of the State of Delaware on December 10, 2020 for the purpose of effectuating a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses (the “Business C

SEC Form 10-K filed by Marblegate Acquisition Corp.