Correspondence 0001140361-24-050647 from Murano Global Investments Plc (MRNO)
Murano Global Investments Plc
Date: Dec. 31, 2024 · CIK: 0001988776 · Accession: 0001140361-24-050647
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File numbers found in text: 001-41985
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CORRESP
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filename1.htm
December 31, 2024
FILED VIA EDGAR
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Office of Real Estate & Construction
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549
Attention:
Ms. Kellie Kim
Ms. Kristina Marrone
Re:
Murano Global Investments Plc
Form 20-F
Filed May 1, 2024
File No. 001-41985
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Murano Global Investments Plc (the “Company” or “we”) hereby transmits the Company’s response to the comment letter
(the “Comment Letter”) received from the staff (the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”),
dated December 17, 2024, regarding the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (the “Form 20-F”) filed with the Commission on May 1, 2024. Concurrently with this
response letter, the Company is publicly filing with the Commission via EDGAR Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 20-F/A (“Amendment No. 1”), which has been revised to reflect the Company’s response
to the Staff’s comment number 2 set forth in the Comment Letter.
For ease of review, we have set forth below each of the numbered comments in the Comment Letter in bold italics type, followed by the Company’s responses thereto. Unless otherwise indicated,
capitalized terms used herein have the meanings assigned to them in Amendment No. 1.
***
Note 19. Correction of immaterial errors, page F-48
1.
We note the correction of errors related to the classification of non-cash transactions and deferred taxes in previously issued
financial statements. Please provide us with a detailed materiality analysis supporting your conclusion that the impact of the errors is not material. In addition, tell us how you complied with the disclosure requirements of paragraph 49
of IAS 8.
Response: The Company respectfully advises the Staff that during the preparation of the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company
identified certain errors in its prior year combined financial statements, which are summarized as follows:
1.
Under the Company’s accounting policy, cash paid for interest recognized as an expense in the statement of profit and loss is classified as a financing cash flow while cash paid on capitalized borrowing costs is classified within cash
flows from investing activities. For the years ended December 2022 and 2021, the Company appropriately reflected the cash paid on capitalized borrowing costs as cash paid for the acquisition of property, construction in process and
equipment within investing cash flows. However, such amounts were also erroneously reflected during those periods as a non-cash adjustment to net profit to arrive at cash flows from operating activities, and as interest paid within
financing activities, thereby overstating cash flows from operating activities and understating cash flows from financing activities in 2022 and 2021 (the “Cash Flow Errors”).
2.
During 2022 and 2021, Murano failed to account for deferred taxes related to derivatives that were designated as economic hedges of variable interest debt. The omission of deferred taxes led to misstatements of the combined statements of
profit and loss and other comprehensive income for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the statements of financial position as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 and January 1, 2021 (the “Deferred Tax Errors”).
The impact of the misstatements on the combined financial statements are summarized as follows:
Adjustments in the combined statements of financial position
As of December 31, 2022
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Deferred tax liabilities
4,295,874,995
57,837,596
4,353,712,591
Total liabilities
10,345,727,922
57,837,596
10,403,565,518
Accumulated deficit
(1,181,000,159)
(57,837,597)
(1,238,837,756)
Total net assets
8,457,172,581
(57,837,596)
8,399,334,985
As of December 31, 2021
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Deferred tax liabilities
2,326,848,915
(2,384,364)
2,324,464,551
Total liabilities
6,495,730,554
(2,384,364)
6,493,346,190
Accumulated deficit
(1,485,599,420)
2,384,364
(1,483,215,056)
Total net assets
4,246,379,239
2,384,364
4,248,763,603
As of January 1, 2021
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Deferred tax liabilities
2,171,778,310
(25,138,382)
2,146,639,928
Total liabilities
5,509,975,376
(25,138,382)
5,484,836,994
Accumulated deficit
(1,402,845,011)
25,138,382
(1,377,706,629)
Total net assets
4,199,851,772
25,138,382
4,224,990,154
Adjustments in the combined statements of profit and loss and other comprehensive income
Year Ended December 31, 2022
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Income taxes
(170,487,446)
(60,221,961)
(230,709,407)
Net profit
304,599,261
(60,221,961)
244,377,300
Total comprehensive income
4,509,138,666
(60,221,961)
4,448,916,705
Year Ended December 31, 2021
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Income taxes
(83,104,963)
(22,754,018)
(105,858,981)
Net profit
(82,754,409)
(22,754,018)
(105,508,427)
Total comprehensive income
85,197,957
(22,754,018)
62,443,939
Adjustments in the combined statements of cash flows
Year Ended December 31, 2022
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Interest expense
328,367,127
(241,931,148)
86,435,979
Net cash flows used in operating activities
(33,580,241)
(241,931,148)
(275,511,389)
Interest paid
(286,996,622)
241,931,148
(45,065,474)
Net cash flows from financing activities
1,528,421,985
241,931,148
1,770,353,133
Year Ended December 31, 2021
As Previously Reported
Adjustment
As Restated
Interest expense
153,401,639
(102,952,238)
50,449,401
Net cash flows used in operating activities
(81,026,744)
(102,952,238)
(183,978,982)
Interest paid
(141,114,065)
102,952,238
(38,161,827)
Net cash flows from financing activities
732,867,795
102,952,238
835,820,033
Management’s assessment of materiality included a detailed analysis of both quantitative and qualitative factors and is summarized below.
Quantitative analysis
In assessing the quantitative magnitude of the errors, management notes that although pre-tax income is typically the starting point for a quantitative measure of materiality, it is not deemed to be the metric that
is most relevant to the users of the Company’s financial statements. This is because, until the end of 2022, all projects were in the construction phase and the transactions that had a significant impact on the results of 2022 and 2021 were not
directly attributable to the revenue-generating operations of the Company.
Accordingly, the Company determined 1% of total assets as the measurement basis to determine the Company’s materiality because it reflects the investments made by the Company to establish the hotels and other real
estate investments that will form the basis of the Company’s main activities.
Internal materiality in Mexican pesos for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, was $194,309,429, $188,029,005 and $107,421,098, respectively. Based on these measures, the impacts of the Cash Flow Errors
exceed the quantitative thresholds while the impacts of the Deferred Tax Errors on the statements of financial position and profit and loss and other comprehensive income are below the quantitative thresholds.
Qualitative analysis
Management’s analysis of qualitative factors is summarized as follows:
1)
Whether the misstatement arises from an item capable of being measured with precision or whether it arises from an estimate and, if so, the degree of imprecision inherent in the estimate.
Analysis: Capitalized borrowing costs were calculated with precision, based on interest
rates and balances of qualifying assets.
The misstatements to the deferred tax liability and related expense can similarly be calculated with precision identifying the temporary difference and applying appropriate income tax rates.
2)
Whether the misstatement masks a change in earnings or other trends.
Analysis: No. Due to the Company’s focus on construction and development activities in 2022
and 2021, the Company realized substantial net cash outflows from operating activities and inflows from proceeds from financing arrangements. The misstatements therefore did not have the effect of masking those trends as the previously reported
and restated balances reflected the same nature of the cash flows.
The Company also does not believe the adjustments mask any material changes or trends to net profit during 2022 or 2021. This is because during 2022 and 2021, the Company had not yet generated
sufficient revenues to achieve an established operational track record.
Nonetheless, the Company reported other key business and financial metrics, in filings on Form F-4/A filed on February 15, 2024, and in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F filed on May 1, 2024
for which the misstated accounts are only used in the determination of non-IFRS performance measures including EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. None of the adjustments required to correct the misstatements affect the calculations of these non-IFRS
measures.
3)
Whether the misstatement hides a failure to meet the consensus expectations of analysts for the company.
Analysis: No. There were no consensus expectations of analysts regarding measures affected
by the misstatements.
4)
Whether the misstatement turns a loss into income or vice versa.
Analysis: No. The corrections to the misstatements did not change the previously reported
net operating cash flows or financing cash flows from positive to negative or vice versa.
Similarly, the misstatements do not turn the net profit into net losses or vice versa for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
5)
Whether the misstatement relates to a segment or other portion of the registrant's business that has been identified as playing a significant role in the registrant's operations or profitability.
Analysis: No, given that the misstatements relate to the Company’s one and only reportable
segment, which generated little or no revenues during 2022 or 2021.
6)
Whether the misstatement affects the registrant's compliance with regulatory requirements.
Analysis: No. The Company’s compliance with regulatory requirements was not affected by the
misstatements.
7)
Whether the mistake affects the registrant's compliance with loan covenants or other contractual requirements.
Analysis: No. The Company’s compliance or failure to comply with loan covenants or other
contractual requirements was not affected by the misstatements.
8)
Whether the misstatement has the effect of increasing management compensation, for example, by satisfying requirements for the granting of bonuses or other forms of incentive compensation.
Analysis: No. Management’s compensation was not affected by the misstatements.
9)
Whether the misstatement involves the concealment of an unlawful transaction.
Analysis: No. The misstatements do not conceal illegal or unauthorized transactions.
To further analyze the materiality of the errors, the Company has analyzed the misstatements in light of guidance surrounding the definition of materiality and the impact on the decision-making of the primary users
of the combined financial statements set forth in paragraph 7 of IAS 1 as follows:
1)
Would the correction of the error significantly affect Murano's outlook?
Analysis: Although the Company’s cash flows are also discussed and analyzed in the
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations section of the Company’s regulatory filings, such disclosures do not specifically mention the period-to-period changes of cash paid for interest or borrowing
costs.
The Company also considered the impacts of the misstatements on management’s accounting and disclosures related to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Both the 2022 financial
statements filed in the Company’s registration statement on Form F-4/A on February 15, 2024, and the 2023 financial statements filed in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F on May 1, 2024, disclose material uncertainties giving rise to
substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. In addition, the audit reports on the aforementioned financial statements include explanatory paragraphs related to the going concern uncertainties. Based on management’s
analysis, neither the individual or cumulative effects of the misstatements impact the conclusions or disclosures reached in relation to the going concern uncertainties reported in the financial statements of 2023 or 2022.
Based on the above, management concludes that the correction of the misstatements is unlikely to significantly affect Murano's outlook. While the correction resulted in adjustments to deferred tax
balances and the related expense/benefit, it is unlikely to have a material impact on Murano's overall financial position or performance.
2)
Who are