Correspondence 0001829126-22-019683 from Southland Holdings, Inc. (SLND)
Southland Holdings, Inc.
Date: Dec. 5, 2022 · CIK: 0001883814 · Accession: 0001829126-22-019683
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 333-267393
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CORRESP
1
filename1.htm
Graubard
Miller
The
Chrysler Building
405
Lexington Avenue
New
York, N.Y. 10174-1101
(212)
818-8800
Facsimile
direct
dial number
(212)
818-8881
(212)
818-8638
email
address
jgallant@graubard.com
December
5, 2022
FOIA
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUEST
Confidential
Treatment Requested by
Legato
Merger Corp. II
777
Third Avenue, 37th Floor
New
York, New York 10017
CERTAIN
PORTIONS OF THIS LETTER AS FILED VIA EDGAR HAVE BEEN OMITTED AND FILED SEPARATELY WITH THE COMMISSION. CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT
HAS BEEN REQUESTED PURSUANT TO 17 CFR 200.83 WITH RESPECT TO THE OMITTED PORTIONS. OMITTED INFORMATION HAS BEEN REPLACED IN THIS
LETTER AS FILED VIA EDGAR WITH A PLACEHOLDER IDENTIFIED BY THE MARK “[***].” THE OMITTED PORTIONS ARE BRACKETED AND
HIGHLIGHTED IN THE UNREDACTED SUBMISSION FOR EASE OF IDENTIFICATION.
Securities
and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Office
of Real Estate & Construction
100
F Street, N.E.
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Re: Legato
Merger Corp. II
Amendment
No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4/A
Filed October 27, 2022
File No. 333-267393
Ladies
and Gentlemen:
On
behalf of Legato Merger Corp. II (the “Company”), we hereby respond as follows to the Staff’s comment letter,
dated November 23, 2022, relating to the above-referenced Registration Statement on Form S-4/A (“Registration Statement”).
Captions and page references herein correspond to those set forth in Amendment No. 2 to the Registration Statement, a copy of
which has been marked with the changes from Amendment No. 1 to the Registration Statement. Capitalized terms used herein and not
otherwise defined shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Registration Statement.
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY
LEGATO MERGER CORP. II
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 5, 2022
Page 2
We
are respectfully requesting continued confidential treatment for certain portions of this letter pursuant to Rule 83 promulgated
by the Commission, 17 C.F.R. § 200.83. Such request for confidential treatment has been made because of the commercially
sensitive nature of certain of the information discussed in this letter. A redacted letter will be filed on EDGAR, omitting the
confidential information contained in this letter. The Company respectfully requests that the Commission provide timely notice
to the undersigned before it permits any disclosure of the bracketed and highlighted information contained in this letter.
Please
note that for the Staff’s convenience, we have recited each of the Staff’s comments and provided the Company’s
response to each comment immediately thereafter.
Amendment
No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-4/A filed October 27, 2022
General
1. With
a view toward disclosure, please tell us whether anyone or any entity associated with
or otherwise involved in the transaction, is, is controlled by, or has substantial ties
with a non-U.S. person. If so, also include risk factor disclosure that addresses how
this fact could impact your ability to complete your initial business combination. For
instance, discuss the risk to investors that you may not be able to complete an initial
business combination with a U.S. target company should the transaction be subject to
review by a U.S. government entity, such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS), or ultimately prohibited. Further, disclose that the time necessary
for government review of the transaction or a decision to prohibit the transaction could
prevent you from completing an initial business combination and require you to liquidate.
Disclose the consequences of liquidation to investors, such as the losses of the investment
opportunity in a target company, any price appreciation in the combined company, and
the warrants, which would expire worthless.
We
have been advised by the Company and Southland that no person or entity that is associated with or otherwise involved in the transaction
is, is controlled by or has substantial ties with a non-U.S. person. Accordingly, we have not revised the disclosure in the Registration
Statement in response to this comment.
Legato
II’s Directors and Executive Officers Have Financial Interests in the Business Combination, page 14
2. We
note your response to comment 2. Please revise to include the shares of common stock
and warrants included as part of the private placement units. Further, please revise
to state, if true, that the Legato II Insiders will benefit from the completion of a
business combination and may be incentivized to complete an acquisition of a less favorable
target company or on terms less favorable to shareholders rather than liquidate; and
that the Legato II Insiders can earn a positive rate of return on their investment, even
if other Legato II shareholders experience a negative rate of return in the combined
company following the business combination.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 15 of the Registration Statement as requested.
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY
LEGATO MERGER CORP. II
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 5, 2022
Page 3
Unaudited
Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Statements, page 60
3. We
note your response to comment 10. Given that the earnout shares are contingent on the
projected achievement of the 2022 and 2023 Base Target amounts, it does not appear that
such shares should be included in the calculation of Pro Forma EPS given that they are
not shares that are issued or to be issued in order to consummate the transaction. Please
remove the contingent shares from your calculations. Refer to Article 11-02(a)(9)(ii)
of Regulation S-X.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 56 of the Registration Statement as requested.
4. Notwithstanding
our comment above, please expand your disclosures related to the Earnout Shares to describe
the arrangement(s), the basis for determining the amount of payment(s) or receipt(s),
and an estimate of the range of outcomes (undiscounted) or, if a range cannot be estimated,
that fact and the reasons why. See Rule 11-02(a)(11)(ii)(A) of Regulation S-X. Furthermore,
please explain your proposed accounting for such shares. In providing your response,
please tell us how you considered the guidance in ASC 718 or ASC 815-40 in arriving at
your accounting determination.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 56 of the Registration Statement as requested.
We
have been advised that the parties plan to account for the Earnout Consideration Shares under ASC 718 with a credit to Par Value
and debit to Additional Paid-in Capital at the time that the shares are earned. As no part of the earnout shares are contingent
on the stock price of New Southland or other provisions, the Company and Southland do not believe that accounting for the Earnout
Consideration Shares under ASC 815-40 would be appropriate.
5. We
note your response to comment 11. Given that the merger will be accounted for as a reverse
recapitalization with Southland as the accounting acquirer, it appears to us that the
estimated $0.4 million advisory expenses to be incurred by Legato are transaction costs
related to the merger that should be expensed as incurred and recorded in the pro forma
statement of operations as a non-recurring item. Such costs should also be reflected
as a reduction to retained earnings on your pro forma condensed combined balance sheet.
See Rule 11-02(a)(6)(i)(B) of Regulation S-X. Please revise your pro forma disclosures
accordingly.
We
have revised the disclosure on pages 55 through 57 and 59 of the Registration Statement as requested.
Background
of the Business Combination, page 77
6. We
note your response to comment 13. Please further expand your background discussion to
provide more detailed disclosure regarding the following:
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY
LEGATO MERGER CORP. II
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 5, 2022
Page 4
● Please
describe how the parties arrived at $50 million in cash as a component of the merger
consideration. In this regard, we note that while your disclosure on page 79 suggests
that Southland expressed a preference for a cash component in response to the original
offer made by Legato II, no cash component was added until the third iteration of the
offer.
● Please
explain how and why any material terms of the merger agreement were revised over time.
In this regard, we note references to several drafts of the proposed merger agreement
and revisions to the definition of adjusted EBITDA and the minimum cash closing condition.
However, you do not detail or explain the importance of the merger agreement negotiations.
We further note that adjusted EBITDA is the basis for the merger earnout consideration.
● Please
explain whether or how the claims report impacted the negotiations. In this regard, we
note your disclosure on page 80 that Messrs. Monahan, Rosenfeld and Pratt considered
a review of Southland’s existing claims, work-in-progress, backlog and receivables
“to be critical in understanding the business and potential assets and liabilities
associated with these areas.”
We
have revised the disclosure on pages 79 through 82 of the Registration Statement as requested.
Discounted
Cash Flow Analysis, page 90
7. We
note your response to comment 16. Please revise to disclose the basis for the assumption
of net debt of $2 million. In this regard, we note that it is unclear how this amount
was derived.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 90 of the Registration Statement as requested.
Interests
of Certain Persons in the Proposed Transaction, page 98
8. We
note your response to comment 22. Please revise to include the shares of common stock
and warrants included as part of the private placement units. Further, please revise
to state, if true, that the Legato II Insiders will benefit from the completion of a
business combination and may be incentivized to complete an acquisition of a less favorable
target company or on terms less favorable to shareholders rather than liquidate; and
that the Legato II Insiders can earn a positive rate of return on their investment, even
if other Legato II shareholders experience a negative rate of return in the combined
company following the business combination.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 100 of the Registration Statement as requested.
CONFIDENTIAL TREATMENT REQUESTED BY
LEGATO MERGER CORP. II
Securities and Exchange Commission
December 5, 2022
Page 5
Sources
and Uses, page 99
9. We
note your response to comment 24. However, in the assuming maximum redemptions scenario,
the “Uses” table suggests that transaction expenses would be zero. Please
revise to clarify, as it appears that transaction expenses would be the same regardless
of the amount of redemptions.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 102 of the Registration Statement as requested.
Contractual
Obligations, page 157
10. We
note your response to comment 39. Please further revise to include tabular disclosure
of your debt obligations as of June 30, 2022, including interest on long-term debt and
long-term debt.
We
have revised the disclosure on page 160 of the Registration Statement as requested, as of September 30, 2022.
3.
Business Combinations, page F-52
11. We
note your response to comment 43. Please further clarify the following:
● How
much was the original claim amount that was recognized as of September 30, 2020 that
was included in the $95 million investment line item; and
● Please
further describe the subsequent accounting under ASC 606-10-31-14 and how such subsequent
accounting for the claim resulted in your Investments line item related to the TZC venture
increasing to $105.1 million and $106.4 million as of December 31, 2021 and June 30,
2022 respectively. Based on your response it appears that the project was completed in
2020. Furthermore, we note that for your equity method investments including TZC, you
are employing the equity method for balance sheets reporting and the proportional consolidation
method for statements of operations