UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

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

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM________TO_________

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 001-40878

IX ACQUISITION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Cayman Islands		98-1586922
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

53 Davies Street, London W1K 5JH United Kingdom		N/A
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

+44 (0) (203) 983-0450

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not applicable

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

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 Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant	IXAQU	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share	IXAQ	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Redeemable warrants, each warrant exercisable for one Class A ordinary share, each at an exercise price of $11.50 per share	IXAQW	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 (1) has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. 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. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer ☐	Accelerated filer ☐	Non-accelerated filer ☒	Smaller reporting company ☒
			Emerging growth company ☒

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 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 of the Act). Yes ☒ No ☐

As of June 30, 2023 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares (based on its reported last sale price on the Nasdaq Global Market on June 30, 2023 of $10.56) held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $49,248,894.

As of March 27, 2024, the Registrant had 6,848,192 Class A ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value per share, and 1,747,879 Class B ordinary shares, $0.0001 par value per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS


CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS		1
PART I
ITEM 1.	BUSINESS.	2
ITEM 1A.	RISK FACTORS.	10
ITEM IB.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.	10
ITEM 1C.	CYBERSECURITY	11
ITEM 2.	PROPERTIES.	11
ITEM 3.	LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.	11
ITEM 4.	MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.	11
PART II
ITEM 5.	MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.	12
ITEM 6.	[RESERVED].	12
ITEM 7.	MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.	13
ITEM 7A.	QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.	20
ITEM 8.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.	20
ITEM 9.	CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.	20
ITEM 9A.	CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.	20
ITEM 9B.	OTHER INFORMATION.	21
ITEM 9C.	DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS	21
PART III
ITEM 10.	DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.	22
ITEM 11.	EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.	27
ITEM 12.	SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.	27
ITEM 13.	CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.	28
ITEM 14.	PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.	30
PART IV
ITEM 15.	EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.	31
ITEM 16.	FORM 10-K SUMMARY.	33
SIGNATURES		34

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements contained in this report may constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this report may include, for example, statements about:

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our ability to select an appropriate target business or businesses;

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our ability to complete our initial business combination;

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our expectations around the performance of the prospective target business or businesses;

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our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

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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;

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our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

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our pool of prospective target businesses;

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the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential acquisition opportunities;

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our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

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the lack of a market for our securities;

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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;

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the Trust Account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

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our financial performance following the Initial Public Offering (as defined below).

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. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will 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. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors described under the heading “Risk Factors”. 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.

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PART I

References in this report to “we,” “us”, “our” or the “Company” refer to IX Acquisition Corp. References to our “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors, and references to the “sponsor” refer to IX Acquisition Services LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. References to “anchor investors” refer to the 16 qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors, each of which is not affiliated with us, our sponsor, our directors or any member of our management, that purchased an aggregate of 47% of the units and an aggregate of 1,747,879 Class B ordinary shares.

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Introduction

IX Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated on March 1, 2021 as a Cayman Islands exempted company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenue to date. Based on our business activities, the Company is a “shell company” as defined under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because we have no operations and nominal assets consisting almost entirely of cash.

On October 12, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering (the “Initial Public Offering”) of 23,000,000 units, including the issuance of 3,000,000 units as a result of the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating gross proceeds, before expenses, of $230,000,000.

On March 11, 2021, IX Acquisition Services LLC, our sponsor, purchased an aggregate of 5,750,000 of the Company’s Class B ordinary shares (the “Founder Shares”) for a purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On October 12, 2021, the sponsor sold an aggregate of 1,747,879 Founder Shares to the anchor investors for their purchase of the units in the Initial Public Offering. The number of Founder Shares outstanding was determined based on the Company’s expectation that the total size of the Initial Public Offering would be a maximum of 23,000,000 units if the underwriters’ over-allotment option was exercised in full, and therefore that such Founder Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares after the Initial Public Offering. Prior to our sponsor’s initial investment of $25,000, the Company had no assets, tangible or intangible.

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, pursuant to the Sponsor Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, the Company completed the private sale of an aggregate of 6,150,000 warrants (the “Sponsor Private Placement Warrants”) to the sponsor at a purchase price of $1.00 per Private Placement Warrant, ( as defined below), generating gross proceeds to the Company of $6,150,000, a portion of which was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, pursuant to the Underwriters Private Placement Warrants Purchase Agreement, the Company completed the private sale of an aggregate of 1,000,000 warrants (the “Underwriters Private Placement Warrants,” and together with the Sponsor Private Placement Warrants, the “Private Placement Warrants”) to Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. (“Cantor”) and Odeon Capital Group, LLC (“Odeon”) at a purchase price of $1.00 per Underwriters Private Placement Warrant, generating gross proceeds to the Company of $1,000,000, a portion of which was added to the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering held in the Trust Account. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid with respect to such sale. The issuance of the Private Placement Warrants was made pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

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The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the warrants sold in the Initial Public Offering, except that the Private Placement Warrants, so long as they are held by our sponsor, Cantor, Odeon or its or their permitted transferees, (i) are not redeemable by us, (ii) may not (including the Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of such Private Placement Warrants), subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by such holders until 30 days after the completion of the Company’s initial business combination, (iii) may be exercised by the holders on a cashless basis and (iv) are entitled to registration rights. If the Company does not consummate its initial business combination by May 12, 2023, since first month of extension has been exercised, or, if all extensions are exercised, by October 12, 2024, the Private Placement Warrants will expire worthless. The Underwriters Private Placement Warrants have been deemed compensation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and are therefore subject to the lock-up restrictions imposed by FINRA Rule 5110(e) pursuant to which these securities will not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged, or hypothecated, or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the commencement of sales of the Initial Public Offering except as permitted under FINRA Rule 5110(e)(2) including to any member who participated in the Initial Public Offering and the officers or partners, registered persons or affiliates thereof. In addition, for as long as the Underwriters Private Placement Warrants are held by Cantor, Odeon, the other underwriters or their designees or affiliates, they may not be exercised after five years from the commencement of sales of the Initial Public Offering. We have granted Cantor and Odeon or their designees or affiliates certain registration rights relating to these securities. The underwriters may not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five and seven years, respectively, after the effective date of the registration statement relating to the Initial Public Offering and may not exercise demand rights on more than one occasion.

Upon the closing of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Placement Warrants, $231,150,000 was placed in a Trust Account with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (“Continental”) acting as trustee (the “Trust Account”). We are not permitted to withdraw any of the principal or interest held in the Trust Account, except for the withdrawal of interest to pay our taxes and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, as applicable, if any, until the earliest of (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination by May 12, 2023, since first month of extension has been exercised, or, if all extensions are exercised, by October 12, 2024, subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of our public shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to our Amended & Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (A) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we have not consummated our initial business combination by May 12, 2023, since first month of extension has been exercised, or, if all extensions are exercised, by October 12, 2024 or (B) with respect to any material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity. The proceeds held in the Trust Account may only be invested in United States “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 promulgated under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. On November 13, 2023, the Company liquidated the investments held in the Trust Account. As of December 31, 2023, the assets held in the Trust Account were an interest-bearing demand deposit account.

After the payment of underwriting discounts and commissions (excluding the deferred portion of $12,100,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions payable upon consummation of our initial business combination if consummated) and approximately $550,000 in expenses relating to the Initial Public Offering, approximately $1,450,000 of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and Private Placement was not deposited into the Trust Account and was initially available to us for working capital purposes. The net proceeds deposited into the Trust Account remain on deposit in the Trust Account earning interest. As of December 31, 2023, there was approximately $31 million in cash held in the Trust Account and $24,278 of cash held outside the Trust Account.

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Extension

The (i) final prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) by the Company on October 8, 2021 (File No. 333-2592567) in connection with the Company’s Initial Public Offering that was consummated on October 12, 2021 and (ii) Company’s Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provided that the Company initially had until April 12, 2023 (the date that was 18 months after the consummation of the Initial Public Offering) to complete a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses (and such period, the “Combination Period”). On April 10, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the “2023 Extraordinary Meeting”). At the 2023 Extraordinary Meeting, the Company’s shareholders approved, among other things, a proposal to grant the Company the right to extend the Combination Period, from April 12, 2023 to May 12, 2023 (the “Extended Date”), and to allow the Company, without another shareholder vote, by resolution of the Company’s board of directors , to elect to further extend the Extended Date in one-month increments up to eleven additional times, or a total of up to twelve months total, up to April 12, 2024 (the “Extension Proposal”) by amending the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (the “First Extension”). Under Cayman Islands law, such amendment of the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association took effect upon approval of the Extension Proposal. In connection with the vote to approve the Extension Proposal, the holders of 18,336,279 Class A ordinary shares properly exercised their right to redeem their shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $10.31 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $189 million. In connection with each monthly extension in accordance with the First Extension, the sponsor deposited $160,000 into the Trust Account every month from April to November 2023.

On November 24, 2023, and as supplemented on December 6, 2023, the Company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in lieu of an annual general meeting of shareholders on December 11, 2023 (the “Meeting”). At the Meeting, the Second Extension Amendment Proposal (as defined below) to further amend the Amended & Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (the “Second Extension Amendment”) was approved. The Company filed the Second Extension Amendment with the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies on December 12, 2023.

At the Meeting, the Company’s shareholders were presented with a proposal to approve, by way of special resolution, the Second Extension Amendment to give the board of directors the right to extend the date by which the Company must consummate a business combination from December 12, 2023 on a monthly basis up to ten (10) times until October 12, 2024 (or such earlier date as determined by the board of directors) (the “Second Extension Amendment Proposal”).

In connection with the approval of the Second Extension Amendment Proposal, the sponsor agreed to contribute to the Company, as a loan (the “Contribution”), the lesser of (x) $50,000 or (y) $0.025 for each Class A ordinary share included as part of the units sold in the Initial Public Offering, the public shares, that remains outstanding and was not redeemed for each calendar month (commencing on December 12, 2023 and on the 12th day of each subsequent month) until October 12, 2024, or portion thereof, that is needed to complete a business combination.

In connection with the vote to approve the Second Extension Amendment Proposal, the holders of 1,817,650 public shares properly exercised their right to redeem such shares for cash at a redemption price of approximately $11.00 per share, for an aggregate redemption amount of approximately $19.99 million. Consequently, the Contribution will be $50,000 per month needed for the Company to complete a business combination. The first Contribution was deposited into the Company’s U.S.-based Trust Account on December 12, 2023. Subsequently in 2024, the Company has made additional deposits of $50,000 in January, February and March 2024, respectively, extending the Combination Period through April 12, 2024.

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Effecting Our Initial Business Combination

General

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any operations for an indefinite period of time following the Initial Public Offering. We intend to effectuate our initial business combination using cash from the proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the private placement of the Private Placement Warrants, the proceeds of the sale of our shares in connection with our initial business combination, 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.

While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any industry or sector and in any region, we intend to focus on industries that complement our management team’s background so we can capitalize on their ability to identify, acquire and support the operations of a successful business. We therefore intend to focus on companies in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (“TMT”) and Information and Communication Technology (“ICT”) industries, specifically the telecommunications infrastructure, internet and technology and digital services sectors operating in Europe and emerging markets (which may include a business based in the U.S., which has operations or opportunities in Europe and emerging markets or a business based in Europe and emerging markets which has operations or opportunities in the U.S.); however, we may decide to enter into an initial business combination with a target business that is not based in, and does not have any operations or opportunities in, Europe and emerging markets.

Business Strategy and Acquisition Criteria

We believe our sponsor’s and management team’s deal sourcing, investing and operating expertise, as well as their network of contacts, will uniquely position us to take advantage of proprietary opportunities in the telecommunications infrastructure, internet and technology and digital services sectors, where we believe opportunities exist to employ a “buy and build” (roll-up) strategy to consolidate assets across fragmented subsectors, creating new majors with improved efficiencies and network effects through scale. We believe this expertise and industry insight will allow us to generate a number of acquisition opportunities.

As a result of our investing and operating expertise, we believe there are a number of high-quality telecommunications infrastructure, internet and technology and digital services sector businesses in Europe and emerging markets with adequate scale to be attractive public companies in the United States, in particular operating within the following sectors of the TMT and ICT industries:

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cloud-based services. Furthermore, the increased consumption of cloud-based services for remote work and school has accelerated the transition to online services, making access to broadband internet and high-bandwidth mobile data critical. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been significant growth in demand for mobile data, especially in Europe and emerging markets, with the improvement in 3rd generation (3G) and 4th generation (4G) connectivity standards, and the demand for mobile data is expected to increase further with the development of 5th generation (5G) connectivity standards. Meeting such demand will require numerous investments in the infrastructure of networks and datacenters to provide the needed online and cloud-based services.

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Internet and technology: We believe EU-based companies are well-positioned to navigate the stricter technology regulations of the EU. The EU is at the forefront of technology regulation, as demonstrated by the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018. Even after years of battles between EU officials and global-tech giants like Apple, Facebook and Google, the EU continues to pursue tighter regulation in the form of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act to enhance competitiveness of the internet and technology industries in Europe. Considering that internet usage in Europe is on par with that of the U.S., we believe that EU-based companies are well-positioned to navigate the forthcoming changes in the regulatory regime, capture the increasing demand for data usage and become regional champions in the internet and technology space. Additionally, internet usage in emerging markets is increasing exponentially as existing technologies continue to commercialize in new geographies.

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Digital services: The digital services economy — especially fintech, medtech and digital media — represents a massive opportunity in Europe and emerging markets. We believe that many of the industries in the digital services space remain highly fragmented, especially in Europe and emerging markets, and that there may be opportunities to acquire one or more consumer focused businesses and pursue a “buy and build” consolidation strategy. Additionally, the proliferation of the “As-A-Service” business model (XaaS) has brought digital transformation to numerous new industries. Across multiple categories, XaaS companies serve as platforms, enabling innovation by supporting flexibility and agility to their customers, while remaining largely cost-effective. These traits of XaaS companies in particular, and digital services in general, are a recipe for strong and sustained growth, especially in emerging markets where non-digital alternatives are either absent or never fully matured. For example, fintech adoption is observed to be particularly strong in markets where physical bank branches and ATMs were never widely deployed, and thus, there was no incumbent alternative to compete with.

We believe the following factors represent a strong rationale for pursuing our business strategy:

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Broad universe of potential targets: We intend to focus our investment efforts across the TMT and ICT industries, including the telecommunications infrastructure, internet and technology and digital services sectors. We believe this broad universe of targets provides us with significant flexibility to identify opportunities with the greatest value creation potential. The sector comprises hundreds of different companies in various sub-vertical markets and distinct stages of life cycles. Given the rapid changes and emergence of novel business models in the TMT and ICT industries, we believe new companies will continue to be created, grow to meaningful sizes and become attractive acquisition targets, further supplementing the existing broad range of opportunities.

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Tailwinds from 5G rollout: The rising consumer demand for connectivity and a drastic increase in the number of global mobile connections has driven the evolution of the communication standard from 1st generation (1G) to the current 4G and will soon lead to a global ubiquity of 5G. We believe that this trend will drive significant growth and create value in telecommunications assets and digital infrastructure across countries.

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Favorable spending trends: Total global TMT and ICT expenditure has grown at a pace substantially above the rate of inflation in the recent past, and this growth is projected to continue over the years to come.

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Impacts of COVID-19: Government recognition of the critical importance of the TMT and ICT industries to meet the daily needs of citizens to access employment, education, telehealth, financial services and entertainment is at an all-time high. Governments are evaluating subsidies and updating regulatory treatment to ensure citizens have access to the internet.

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Rapid pace of innovation. Connectivity digital infrastructure, including disruptive new technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, 5G, IoT and blockchain, are driving robust demand for access to increased and higher-quality TMT services and ICT infrastructure.

Consistent with our business strategy, we have identified the following general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses. We will use these criteria and guidelines in evaluating acquisition opportunities, but we may decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet these criteria and guidelines. We intend to acquire one or more businesses that we believe:

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are subject to low currency risks and earn a significant share of their revenues in a major global currency such as the U.S. dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British pound (GBP) or Chinese yuan (CNY);

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have meaningful potential for future shareholder value creation through business growth and operational improvements;

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have achieved or have the potential for significant revenue and earnings growth through a combination of organic growth, synergistic add-on acquisitions, new product markets and geographies, increased production capacity, expense reduction and increased operating leverage;

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already have, or have the potential to generate, consistent, stable and recurring free cash flow with predictable and visible revenue streams;

SEC Form 10-K filed by IX Acquisition Corp.