We will seek a target in the disruptive technology sector with a spotlight on companies in Asia, with Japan in particular (but expressly not in China or Hong Kong). Japan is home to some of the most well-known companies, particularly in the area of consumer electronics. In recent years, more and more private equity firms are attracted to balance sheets awash with cash in Japan; more than half of Japanese companies have net cash versus 10 percent to 20 percent in western developed markets – and the ability of businesses to increase dividends and share buybacks, which could see greater value ascribed to shares. Japanese stocks are therefore becoming interesting for investors seeking a secure and growing dividend income, and ideally some growth on top. The dividend yield exceeds that of the U.S. market, but on average, Japanese businesses are only paying out a third of profits as dividends, so there is significant room for payouts to grow. While we may pursue an initial business combination target in any industry or geographic region, we will focus on Japan and Southeast Asia, but will not consider any target investments in China or Hong Kong.

We intend to focus our search for a target business addressing a large market opportunity with a company that is driving its growth through technology. Potential industries that fit this focus are enterprise security and operations applications, cloud-based content and digital streaming services, drone technology and service, AI companies, consumer healthcare and wellness, biomedical technology, entertainment/gaming companies, distance learning, and e-sports companies.

Our management team is led by our CEO Dustin Shindo, who brings more than 25-years of experience as an entrepreneur including a previous IPO on the NASDAQ, serving as a public company CEO, and having completed numerous business deals in the countries of eastern and southeastern Asia. Mr. Shindo also serves as the CEO of Junify Corp., a private company delivering cloud access security services via the SaaS model. The company’s customers are in the U.S. and Japan.

(Note: Pono Capital Corp. priced its SPAC IPO on Aug. 10, 2021, in line with the terms in its prospectus: 10 million units at $10 each to raise $100 million.)