Item
1.02. Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement
As
previously disclosed, on October 19, 2022, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. V (“Mountain Crest” or “SPAC”) and
AUM Biosciences Pte. Ltd., a private company limited by shares incorporated in Singapore, with company registration number 201810204D
(“AUM” or the “Company”) entered into that certain Business Combination Agreement (as amended, supplemented or
otherwise modified from time to time, the “Business Combination Agreement”), which was subsequently amended on February 10,
2023, March 30, 2023 and April 19, 2023. On January 27, 2023, AUM Biosciences Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Holdco”),
AUM Biosciences Subsidiary Pte. Ltd., a private company limited by shares incorporated in Singapore, with company registration number
202238778Z and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdco, and AUM Biosciences Delaware Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and
a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdco, executed a joinder agreement with Mountain Crest and AUM and joined the Business Combination
Agreement as parties. The Business Combination Agreement would have provided, subject to its terms and conditions, for the initial business
combination of Mountain Crest (the “Business Combination”). On May 22, 2023, Mountain Crest filed a definitive proxy statement
on Schedule 14A, as amended on May 24, 2023 (the “Proxy Statement”) to solicit its stockholders’ voting on the Business
Combination Agreement, among other proposals, at a special meeting of stockholders scheduled to be held on June 23, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.,
Eastern Time, or any postponement or adjournment thereof (the “Special Meeting”). The Proxy Statement also provides that
Mountain Crest’s stockholders may request to redeem his/her shares by submitting the request in writing to Mountain Crest’s
transfer agent by June 21, 2023. On June 8, 2023, Mountain Crest received a termination notice (the “Notice”) from AUM. The
Notice terminated the Business Combination Agreement as of June 8, 2023.
Based
on the termination of the Business Combination Agreement, on June 16, 2023, Mountain Crest’s board of directors adopted a resolution
to cancel the Special Meeting. Accordingly, the Special Meeting will not be held on June 23, 2023, and Mountain Crest’s transfer
agent will not process any share redemption requests that may have been submitted by stockholders of Mountain Crest.
IMPORTANT
NOTICES
Additional
Information and Where to Find It
On
October 19, 2022, SPAC entered into a Business Combination Agreement (as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time,
the “Business Combination Agreement”) with AUM Biosciences Pte. Ltd., a private company limited by shares incorporated in
Singapore, with company registration 201810204D (the “Company”). On January 27, 2023, AUM Biosciences Limited, a Cayman Islands
exempted company (“Holdco”), AUM Biosciences Subsidiary Pte. Ltd., a private company limited by shares incorporated in Singapore,
with company registration number 202238778Z and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdco (“Amalgamation Sub”) and AUM
Biosciences Delaware Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdco (“Merger Sub”
and, together with Holdco and Amalgamation Sub, each, individually, an “Acquisition Entity” and, collectively, the “Acquisition
Entities”) executed a joinder agreement with SPAC and the Company and joined the Business Combination Agreement as parties, thereby
committing to be legally bound by the Business Combination Agreement. The Business Combination Agreement was amended on February 10,
2023, March 30, 2023 and April 19, 2023. Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, subject to the terms and conditions set forth
therein, (i) Amalgamation Sub would have amalgamated with and into the Company (the “Amalgamation”) whereby the separate
existence of Amalgamation Sub would have ceased and the Company would have been the surviving corporation of the Amalgamation and become
a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdco, and (ii) following confirmation of the effective filing of the Amalgamation but on the same
day, Merger Sub would have merged with and into SPAC (the “SPAC Merger” and together with the Amalgamation, the “Mergers”),
the separate existence of Merger Sub would have ceased and SPAC would have been the surviving corporation of the SPAC Merger and a direct,
wholly-owned subsidiary of Holdco. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company would have operated as Holdco, and had intended
to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol AUMB.
SPAC
and the Company have prepared and had Holdco file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), a registration
statement on Form F-4 (as amended, the “Registration Statement”) in connection with the registration under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended of Holdco’s ordinary shares pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, and containing a proxy statement/prospectus
for the purposes of SPAC soliciting proxies from the stockholders of SPAC to approve the Business Combination Agreement, the transactions
and related matters contained therein at a special meeting of SPAC stockholders and providing such stockholders an opportunity, in accordance
with SPAC’s organizational documents and initial public offering prospectus, to have their shares of SPAC’s common stock
redeemed.
As
the Registration Statement has been filed and declared effective, SPAC has mailed a definitive proxy statement to its stockholders. Investors
and security holders and other interested parties are urged to read the Registration Statement, any amendments thereto and any other
documents filed with the SEC carefully and in their entirety when they become available because they will contain important information
about SPAC, the Company and the proposed business combination. Additionally, SPAC will file other relevant materials with the SEC in
connection with the business combination. Copies of these documents may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Securityholders of SPAC are urged to read the Registration Statement and the other relevant materials when they become available before
making any voting decision with respect to the proposed business combination because they will contain important information. The Registration
Statement and proxy statement may also be obtained without charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by writing to SPAC at
311 West 43rd Street, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10036. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF SPAC ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS (INCLUDING
ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE TRANSACTIONS THAT SPAC WILL FILE WITH
THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SPAC, THE COMPANY AND THE TRANSACTIONS.
Forward-Looking
Statements
This
Current Report on Form 8-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions
of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Mountain Crest’s and AUM’s actual results may differ
from their expectations, estimates, and projections and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions
of future events. Words such as “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “budget,” “forecast,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,”
“believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions (or the negative
versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
These
forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from
those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Most of these factors are outside SPAC’s and the Company’s control and
are difficult to predict. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (1) the occurrence of any event, change,
or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination Agreement; (2) the outcome of any legal proceedings
that may be instituted against SPAC and the Company following the announcement of the Business Combination Agreement and the transactions
contemplated therein; (3) the inability to complete the proposed business combination, including due to failure to obtain approval of
the stockholders of SPAC and the Company, certain regulatory approvals, or satisfy other conditions to closing in the Business Combination
Agreement; (4) the occurrence of any event, change, or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the Business Combination
Agreement or could otherwise cause the transaction to fail to close; (5) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business
and/or the ability of the parties to complete the proposed business combination; (6) the inability to obtain the listing of Holdco’s
ordinary shares on Nasdaq following the proposed business combination; (7) the risk that the proposed business combination disrupts current
plans and operations as a result of the announcement and consummation of the proposed business combination; (8) the ability to recognize
the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition, the ability
of the Company to grow and manage growth profitably, and retain its key employees; (9) costs related to the proposed business combination;
(10) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (11) the possibility that SPAC or the Company may be adversely affected by other economic,
business, and/or competitive factors; (12) risks relating to the uncertainty of the projected financial information with respect to the
Company; (13) risks related to the organic and inorganic growth of the Company’s business and the timing of expected business milestones;
(14) the amount of redemption requests made by SPAC’s stockholders; and (15) other risks and uncertainties indicated from time
to time in the final prospectus of SPAC for its initial public offering and the Registration Statement relating to the proposed business
combination, including those under “Risk Factors” therein, and in SPAC’s other filings with the SEC. SPAC cautions
that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. SPAC and the Company caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date made. SPAC and the Company do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release
publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in their expectations or any change in events,
conditions, or circumstances on which any such statement is based.
Participants
in Solicitation
SPAC,
Holdco and the Company, and their respective directors and executive officers, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of
proxies from SPAC’s stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about SPAC’s directors and executive
officers and their ownership of SPAC’s securities is set forth in SPAC’s filings with the SEC. Additional information regarding
the interests of those persons and other persons who may be deemed participants in the proposed transaction may be obtained by reading
the proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed transaction. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the
preceding paragraph.
No
Offer or Solicitation
This
Current Report on Form 8-K is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities
or in respect of the transactions described above and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the
securities of SPAC or the Company, nor shall there be any sale of any such securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.
No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Dated:
June 16, 2023 |
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MOUNTAIN
CREST ACQUISITION CORP. V |
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By: |
/s/
Suying Liu |
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Name: |
Suying
Liu |
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Title: |
Chief
Executive Officer |
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