v3.26.1
Description of Organization and Business Operations
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Description of Organization and Business Operations [Abstract]  
DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

1. DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS

 

Organization and Business Operations

 

Lafayette Digital Acquisition Corp. I (the “Company”) is a blank check company incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company on August 5, 2025. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar Business Combination with one or more businesses (the “Business Combination”). The Company has not selected any specific Business Combination target and the Company has not, nor has anyone on its behalf, engaged in any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any Business Combination target with respect to an initial Business Combination with the Company.

 

As of March 31, 2026, the Company had not commenced any operations. All activity for the period from August 5, 2025 (inception) through March 31, 2026 relates to the Company’s formation and the initial public offering by the Company of its Units (as defined below) (the “Initial Public Offering”), and subsequent to the Initial Public Offering, identifying a target company for a Business Combination. The Company will not generate any operating revenues until after the completion of its initial Business Combination, at the earliest. The Company will generate non-operating income in the form of interest income on the proceeds derived from the Initial Public Offering (as defined below). The Company has selected December 31 as its fiscal year end.

 

The registration statement for the Company’s Initial Public Offering was declared effective on January 8, 2026. On January 12, 2026, the Company consummated the Initial Public Offering of 28,750,000 units (the “Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Units being offered, the “Public Shares”), which includes the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option in the amount of 3,750,000 Units, at $10.00 per Unit, generating gross proceeds of $287,500,000. Each Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Public Warrant”). Each whole Public Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.

 

Simultaneously with the closing of the Initial Public Offering, the Company consummated the sale of 760,000 private placement units (the “Private Units” and, with respect to the Class A ordinary shares included in the Private Units being offered, the “Private Shares”), at a price of $10.00 per Private Unit, in a private placement to the Company’s sponsor, Lafayette Digital Sponsor I, LLC (the “Sponsor”) and BTIG, LLC (“BTIG”), the representative of the underwriters in the Initial Public Offering, generating gross proceeds of $7,600,000. Of those 760,000 Private Units, the Sponsor purchased 435,000 Private Units, and BTIG purchased 325,000 Private Units. Each Private Unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-fourth of one redeemable warrant (each, a “Private Warrant”). Each whole Private Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.

 

Transaction costs amounted to $16,395,917, consisting of $5,750,000 of cash underwriting fee, $10,062,500 of deferred underwriting fee, and $583,417 of other offering costs.

 

The Company’s management has broad discretion with respect to the specific application of the net proceeds of the Initial Public Offering and the sale of Private Units, although substantially all of the net proceeds are intended to be generally applied toward consummating a Business Combination (less deferred underwriting commissions).

 

The Trust Account

 

The Business Combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the net balance in the Trust Account (as defined below) (excluding the amount of deferred underwriting discounts held and taxes payable on the income earned on the Trust Account) at the time of the signing an agreement to enter into a Business Combination. However, the Company will only complete a Business Combination if the post-Business Combination company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). There is no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully effect a Business Combination.

  

Following the closing of the Initial Public Offering, on January 12, 2026, an amount of $287,500,000 ($10.00 per Unit) from the net proceeds of the sale of the Units and the Private Units was placed in a U.S.-based trust account (the “Trust Account”), with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee. The funds may only be invested in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act, which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations; the holding of these assets in this form is intended to be temporary and for the sole purpose of facilitating the intended Business Combination. To mitigate the risk that the Company might be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, which risk increases the longer that the Company holds investments in the Trust Account, the Company may, at any time (based on management team’s ongoing assessment of all factors related to the potential status under the Investment Company Act), instruct the trustee to liquidate the investments held in the Trust Account and instead to hold the funds in the Trust Account in cash or in an interest bearing demand deposit account at a bank. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account that may be released to the Company to pay its taxes, if any, the proceeds from the Initial Public Offering and the sale of the Private Units will not be released from the Trust Account until the earliest of (i) the completion of the Company’s initial Business Combination, (ii) the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares if the Company is unable to complete the initial Business Combination within 24 months from the closing of the Initial Public Offering or by such earlier liquidation date as our board of directors may approve, or such other time period in which the Company must complete an initial Business Combination pursuant to an amendment to its amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (the “Completion Window”), subject to applicable law, or (iii) the redemption of the Company’s Public Shares properly submitted in connection with a shareholder vote to amend the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (A) modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Company’s Public Shares if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within the Completion Window or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity. The proceeds deposited in the Trust Account could become subject to the claims of the Company’s creditors, if any, which could have priority over the claims of the Company’s public shareholders.

 

Commencing on February 4, 2026, the holders of the Company’s Units may elect to separately trade the Class A ordinary shares and warrants included in the Units. Any Units not separated will continue to trade on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “ZKPU.” Any underlying Class A ordinary shares and warrants that are separated will trade on Nasdaq under the symbols “ZKP” and “ZKPW,” respectively. Holders of Units will need to have their brokers contact Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, the Company’s transfer agent, in order to separate their Units into Class A ordinary shares and warrants.

 

Business Combination

 

The Company will provide the Company’s public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Public Shares upon the completion of the initial Business Combination either (i) in connection with a general meeting called to approve the initial Business Combination or (ii) without a shareholder vote by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether the Company will seek shareholder approval of a proposed initial Business Combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by the Company, solely in its discretion. The public shareholders will be entitled to redeem their shares at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account calculated as of two business days prior to the consummation of the initial Business Combination, including interest earned on the funds held in the Trust Account (less taxes payable), divided by the number of then outstanding Public Shares, subject to the limitations. The amount in the Trust Account is initially anticipated to be $10.00 per Public Share.

 

The Public Shares subject to redemption are recorded at a redemption value and classified as temporary equity upon the completion of the Initial Public Offering, in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 480, “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.”

 

If the Company is unable to complete the initial Business Combination within the Completion Window and does not hold a shareholder vote to amend the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to extend the amount of time the Company will have to consummate an initial Business Combination, or by such earlier liquidation date as the board of directors may approve, the Company will redeem 100% of the Public Shares at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the Trust Account, including interest earned thereon (less taxes, if any, payable and up to $100,000 of interest income to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then issued and outstanding Public Shares, subject to applicable law and certain conditions as further described herein. The Company expects the pro rata redemption price to be approximately $10.00 per Public Share, without taking into account any interest or other income earned on such funds.

 

The Sponsor, officers and directors have entered into a letter agreement with the Company, pursuant to which they agreed to (i) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares (as defined below), Private Shares and Public Shares in connection with the completion of the initial Business Combination; (ii) waive their redemption rights with respect to their Founder Shares, Private Shares and Public Shares in connection with a shareholder vote to approve an amendment to the Company’s amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) to modify the substance or timing of the Company’s obligation to allow redemption in connection with the initial Business Combination or to redeem 100% of the Public Shares if the Company has not consummated an initial Business Combination within the Completion Window or (B) with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial Business Combination activity; (iii) waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to their Founder Shares and Private Shares if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within the Completion Window, although they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the Trust Account with respect to any Public Shares they hold if the Company fails to complete the initial Business Combination within the Completion Window and to liquidating distributions from assets outside the Trust Account; and (iv) vote any Founder Shares and Private Shares held by them and any Public Shares purchased during or after the Initial Public Offering (including in open market and privately-negotiated transactions) in favor of the initial Business Combination (except that any Public Shares such parties may purchase in compliance with the requirements of Rule 14e-5 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) would not be voted in favor of approving the Business Combination transaction).

 

The Sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to the Company if and to the extent any claims by a third party for services rendered or products sold to the Company, or a prospective target business with which the Company has entered into a written letter of intent, confidentiality or other similar agreement or Business Combination agreement (except for the Company’s independent auditors), reduce the amount of funds in the Trust Account to below the lesser of (i) $10.00 per Public Share and (ii) the actual amount per Public Share held in the Trust Account as of the date of the liquidation of the Trust Account, if less than $10.00 per share due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, less taxes payable, provided that such liability will not apply to any claims by a third party or prospective target business who executed a waiver of any and all rights to the monies held in the Trust Account (whether or not such waiver is enforceable) nor will it apply to any claims under the Company’s indemnity of the underwriters of the Initial Public Offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). However, the Company has not asked the Sponsor to reserve for such indemnification obligations, nor has the Company independently verified whether the Sponsor has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations, and the Company believes that the Sponsor’s only assets are securities of the Company. Therefore, the Company cannot assure that the Sponsor would be able to satisfy those obligations.

 

Liquidity, Capital Resources, and Going Concern

 

The Company’s liquidity needs up to January 12, 2026 had been satisfied through the loan under an unsecured promissory note from the Sponsor of up to $300,000 (see Note 5). As of March 31, 2026, the Company had $846,656 in cash and had working capital of $851,100. 

 

In order to fund working capital deficiencies or finance transaction costs in connection with a Business Combination, the Sponsor, or certain of our officers and directors or their affiliates may, but are not obligated to, loan us funds as may be required. If we complete a Business Combination, we would repay such loaned amounts. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, we may use a portion of the working capital held outside the Trust Account to repay such loaned amounts but no proceeds from our Trust Account would be used for such repayment. Up to $1,500,000 of such Working Capital Loans may be convertible into units of the post Business Combination entity at a price of $10.00 per unit at the option of the lender. The units would be identical to the Private Units. In the event that a Business Combination does not close, the Company may use a portion of proceeds held outside the Trust Account to repay the Working Capital Loans but no proceeds held in the Trust Account would be used to repay the Working Capital Loans. As of March 31, 2026, there were no Working Capital Loans outstanding.

 

Based on the foregoing, management does not believe that the Company will have sufficient working capital and borrowing capacity to meet its needs through the earlier of the consummation of a Business Combination or one year from this filing. Over this time period, the Company will be using these funds to pay existing accounts payable, identifying and evaluating prospective initial Business Combination candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to merge with or acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination.

 

In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with FASB ASC 205-40, “Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern” (“ASC 205-40”), management has determined that the Company’s projected future liquidity position raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Company intends to complete its initial Business Combination before the mandatory liquidation date; however, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to consummate any Business Combination by January 12, 2028. No adjustments have been made to the carrying amounts of assets or liabilities should the Company be required to liquidate after January 12, 2028. The Company’s financial statements do not include any adjustment that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.