Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Business Combinations and Reverse Recapitalization

v3.21.4
Business Combinations and Reverse Recapitalization
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Business Combination and Asset Acquisition [Abstract]  
Business Combinations and Reverse Recapitalization
NOTE 4 – Business Combinations and Reverse Recapitalization
On September 15, 2021, Archaea consummated the previously announced Business Combinations with Aria and Legacy Archaea, as described in Note 1 - Organization and Description of Business.
Reverse Recapitalization
Legacy Archaea is considered the accounting acquirer of the Business Combinations because Legacy Archaea Holders have the largest portion of the voting power of the Company and Legacy Archaea’s senior management comprise the majority of the executive management of the Company. Additionally, the Legacy Archaea Holders appointed the majority of board members exclusive of the independent board members. The Archaea Merger represents a reverse merger and is accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with GAAP. Under this method of accounting, RAC is treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the Archaea Merger is treated as the equivalent of Legacy Archaea issuing shares for the net assets of RAC, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of RAC were stated at historical cost, no goodwill or other intangible assets were recorded.
The Archaea Closing Merger Consideration consisted of 33,350,385 newly issued Opco Class A units and 33,350,385 newly issued shares of Class B Common Stock.
In the reverse recapitalization, the Company received $236.9 million in gross cash proceeds from RAC upon Closing. For accounting purposes, these cash proceeds were treated as the equivalent of proceeds for issuance of the following outstanding shares and warrants at the time of Closing:
23,680,528 shares of Class A Common Stock, after redemptions
5,931,350 shares of Class B Common Stock
11,862,492 Public Warrants and 6,771,000 Private Placement Warrants, each exercisable at a price of $11.50 per share. See Note 11 - Derivatives for further discussion.
In connection with the Business Combinations, the Company incurred approximately $40.5 million of equity issuance costs, mainly consisting of underwriting, legal, consulting, and other professional fees, which are recorded to additional paid-in capital as a reduction of proceeds.
PIPE Financing
On April 7, 2021, in connection with its entry into the Business Combination Agreements, the Company entered into subscription agreements (each, an “Initial Subscription Agreement”) with certain investors (the “Initial PIPE Investors”) pursuant to which, among other things, the Initial PIPE Investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase, and the Company agreed to issue and sell to the Initial PIPE Investors, an aggregate of 30.0 million shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $300.0 million ($10.00 per share), on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein (the “Initial PIPE Financing”).
Additionally, on April 7, 2021, RAC, RAC Opco, Sponsor and Atlas Point Energy Infrastructure Fund, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Atlas”), entered into an Amendment to Forward Purchase Agreement (the “FPA Amendment”) pursuant to which the Forward Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 30, 2020 (the “Original FPA Agreement” and, together with the FPA Amendment, the “FPA”), by and among such parties was amended to provide that Atlas shall purchase a total of $20.0 million of Forward Purchase Securities (as defined in the Original FPA Agreement) and the Forward Purchase Warrants (as defined in the Original FPA Agreement) will consist of one-eighth of one redeemable warrant (where each whole redeemable warrant is exercisable to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share). Atlas satisfied its obligation to purchase the Forward Purchase Securities by participating in the PIPE Financing, and upon consummation of the Combinations, Atlas received 250,000 warrants (each exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $11.50).
On September 13, 2021, due to the expectation that one of the Initial PIPE Investors would not be able to fulfill its $25.0 million commitment for 2.5 million shares ($10.00 per share) in the Initial PIPE Financing, the Company entered into additional subscription agreements (each, a “Follow-On Subscription Agreement”) with certain investors (the “Follow-On PIPE Investors” and, together with the Initial PIPE Investors, the “PIPE Investors”) pursuant to which, among other things, the Follow-On PIPE Investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase from the Company, and the Company agreed to issue and sell to the Follow-On PIPE Investors, an aggregate of 1,666,667 newly issued shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $25.0 million ($15.00 per share), on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein (the “Follow-On PIPE Financing” and, together with the Initial PIPE Financing, the “PIPE Financing”). Each Follow-On Subscription Agreement is substantially identical to the form of Initial Subscription Agreement.
On the Closing Date, gross consideration of $300 million was received under the PIPE Financing, including the proceeds under the FPA Amendment, in exchange for 29,166,667 shares of Class A Common Stock and 250,000 warrants (each warrant exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $11.50).
Aria Merger
Aria was acquired to complement Archaea's existing RNG assets and for its operational expertise in the renewable gas industry. Aria was determined to be a VIE immediately prior to the Business Combination. Concurrent with the Business Combinations, the Company became the primary beneficiary of Aria. The Aria Merger Consideration consisted of both cash consideration and consideration in the form of newly issued Opco Class A units and newly issued shares of the Company’s Class B Common Stock. The cash component of the Aria Merger Consideration paid upon Closing was $377.1 million paid to Aria Holders, subject to certain future adjustments set forth in the Aria Merger Agreement, and $91.1 million for repayment of Aria debt. The remainder of the Aria Closing Merger Consideration consisted of 23.0 million Opco Class A units and 23.0 million shares of Class B Common Stock.
Total consideration was determined to be as follows:
(in thousands) At September 15, 2021
Issuance of Opco Class A units $ 394,910 
Cash consideration 377,122
Repayment of Aria debt at Closing 91,115 
Total Purchase Price Consideration $ 863,147 
The Aria Merger represented an acquisition of a business and was accounted for using the acquisition method, whereby all of the assets acquired, liabilities assumed and noncontrolling interests were recognized at their fair value on the acquisition date, with any excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair value recorded as goodwill. Certain data to complete the purchase price allocation is not yet available, including but not limited to final appraisals of certain assets acquired and liabilities assumed. The Company will finalize the purchase price allocation during the 12-month period following the Closing, during which time the value of the assets and liabilities may be revised as appropriate. The following table sets forth the preliminary allocation of the Aria Merger consideration.
(in thousands)
As of September 15,
2021
Fair value of assets acquired:

Cash and cash equivalents
$ 4,903 
Account receivable, net
27,331 
Inventory 9,015 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
3,834 
Property, plant and equipment, net
120,517 
Intangible assets, net
585,398 
Equity method investments
232,619 
Other non-current assets
861 
Goodwill 24,257 
Amount attributable to assets acquired
$ 1,008,735 


Fair value of liabilities assumed:

Accounts payable
$ 2,760 
Accrued and other current liabilities
25,069 
Below-market contracts 108,880 
Other long-term liabilities
8,879 
Amount attributable to liabilities assumed
145,588 
Net assets acquired
863,147 
Total Aria Merger consideration
$ 863,147 
The goodwill is primarily attributable to the expected synergies Archaea believes will be created as a result of the combined companies, the ability to enhance Aria's current RNG assets, and the ability to convert certain of Aria's power assets to RNG assets. We expect a majority, if not all of the goodwill, to be assigned to the RNG reporting unit upon finalizing the purchase price allocation. Due the existence of cumulative losses, no deferred taxes are recorded for the Aria merger transaction.
Included in the consolidated statement of operations for both the three and nine months ending September 30, 2021 are revenues of $6.2 million and net income of $0.6 million related to results of Aria for the 16 day period from the Closing of
the Business Combinations through September 30, 2021. The Company recognized transaction costs of $2.7 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 related to the Business Combinations.
Unaudited Pro Forma Operating Results
The following unaudited pro forma combined financial information has been prepared as if the Aria Merger and other related transactions had taken place on January 1, 2020. The information reflects pro forma adjustments based on certain assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable, including depreciation of the Company's fair-value property, plant and equipment and landfill gas rights, amortization of fair value intangibles and below-market contracts, and that debt associated with the transaction was outstanding as of January 1, 2020. Additionally, pro forma net loss attributable to Class A Common Stock excludes $19.2 million of transaction costs. The pro forma combined financial information has been included for comparative purposes and is not necessarily indicative of the results that might have actually occurred had the Aria Merger taken place on January 1, 2020; furthermore, the pro forma financial information is not intended to be a projection of future results.
(Unaudited Pro Forma)
Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
(in thousands) 2021 2020 2021 2020
(As Restated) (As Restated)
Total Revenues $ 48,538  $ 37,474  $ 143,525  $ 115,237 
Net Income (Loss) $ (11,934) $ (3,825) $ 58,345  $ (9,017)
Stockholders’ Agreement
Pursuant to the terms of the Stockholders Agreement, the Company Holders (as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) were granted certain customary registration rights. Also, the Aria Holders (as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) are subject to a 180-day lock-up period on transferring their equity interests in the Company and Opco, while the Legacy Archaea Holders (as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) are subject to a lock-up period (i) ending on the date that is the two-year anniversary of the Closing Date solely with respect to the Company Interests distributed by Archaea Energy LLC after the one-year anniversary of the Closing Date to the Legacy Archaea Holders who are members of management of the Company as of the Closing or their Affiliates (as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) and (ii) ending on the date that is the one-year anniversary of the Closing Date with respect to all other Company Interests issued to the Legacy Archaea Holders at the Closing other than those described in the immediately foregoing clause (i).
The lock-up restrictions applicable to the Aria Holders are subject to early expiration based on the per share trading price of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, par value $0.0001, as set forth in the Stockholders Agreement. The Stockholders Agreement generally provides that if, following the Closing, the last sale price of the Class A Common Stock (as adjusted for the stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and similar transactions) (the "trading share price") on the principal exchange on which such securities are then listed or quoted for any 10 trading days within any 15 trading-day period commencing 15 days after the Closing, exceeds (i) $13.50 per share, then the Aria Holders, together with their permitted transferees, may transfer the equity interests in the Company that they received pursuant to the Aria Merger Agreement (the "Aria Closing Shares) during the 180-day lock-up period without restriction in an amount up to one-third of the Aria Closing Shares, (ii) $16.00 per share, then the Aria Holders, together with their permitted transferees, may transfer up to an additional one-third of the Aria Closing Shares in excess of the Aria Closing Shares described in the foregoing clause (i) (i.e., up to two-thirds of the Aria Closing Shares in the aggregate) without restriction, and (iii) $19.00 per share, then the Aria Holders, together with their permitted transferees, may transfer any of the Aria Closing Shares without restriction. As of November 11, 2021, all of the Aria Closing Shares were no longer subject to the lock-up restrictions due to Class A Common Stock trading prices.
Predecessor Financial Statements
Archaea determined that Aria is the predecessor to the Company due to the relative fair values of the Company and legacy operations Aria had compared to Archaea. As such, we have included Aria's consolidated statements of operations for the periods from July 1 to September 14, 2021, from January 1 to September 14, 2021, and the three months and nine months
ended September 30, 2020, and the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 following the Notes to the Company's Consolidated Condensed Financial Statements for comparative purposes.
Other Business Acquisitions
Gulf Coast Environmental Systems
On January 14, 2020, Legacy Archaea entered into a Membership Interest and Loan Purchase Agreement with NEI Ventures, LLC (“Noble”). Pursuant to this agreement, Legacy Archaea purchased 51% of the Class A membership interests of GCES for consideration of $0.5 million. Additionally, Legacy Archaea purchased a loan receivable held by Noble which was due from GCES for consideration of approximately $0.7 million. In February 2020, Legacy Archaea obtained additional Class A interests in consideration of waiving certain receivables, and thereby increasing its GCES ownership to 72.2%.
The acquisition of GCES was accounted for using the acquisition method, whereby all of the assets acquired, liabilities assumed and noncontrolling interests were recognized at their estimated fair value on the acquisition date, with the excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair value recorded as goodwill. The Company recorded goodwill of approximately $2.7 million.