UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 9, 2021

Ascendant Digital Acquisition Corp.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

667 Madison Avenue

5th Floor

New York, New York 10065

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 209-6126

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

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.  ☐

Item 4.02. Non-Reliance on Previously Issued Financial Statements or a Related Audit Report or Completed Interim Review.

On April 12, 2021, the Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and Acting Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) together issued a statement regarding the accounting and reporting considerations for warrants issued by special purpose acquisition companies entitled “Staff Statement on Accounting and Reporting Considerations for Warrants Issued by Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)” (the “SEC Statement”). Specifically, the SEC Statement focused on certain settlement terms and provisions related to certain tender offers following a business combination, which terms are similar to those contained in the warrant agreement, dated as of July 23, 2020, between Ascendant Digital Acquisition Corp. (the “Company”) and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a New York corporation, as warrant agent. As a result of the SEC Statement, the Company reevaluated the accounting treatment of (i) the 20,700,000 redeemable warrants (the “Public Warrants”) that were included in the units issued by the Company in its initial public offering (the “IPO”) and (ii) the 10,280,000 redeemable warrants (together with the Public Warrants, the “Warrants”) that were issued to the Company’s sponsor in a private placement that closed concurrently with the closing of the IPO, and determined to classify the Warrants as derivative liabilities measured at fair value, with changes in fair value each period reported in earnings. While the Company has not generated any operating revenues to date and will not generate any operating revenues until after completion of its initial business combination, at the earliest, the change in fair value of the Warrants is a non-cash charge and will be reflected in the Company’s statement of operations.

On May 9, 2021, after consultation with WithumSmith+Brown, PC, the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm (the “Independent Accountants”), the Company’s management and the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Audit Committee”) concluded that, in light of the SEC Statement, it is appropriate to restate (i) certain items on the Company’s previously issued audited balance sheet dated as of July 28, 2020, which was related to its IPO, (ii) the Company’s previously issued audited financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020 and (iii) the Company’s previously issued and unaudited financial statements as of September 30, 2020 and for the three months ended September 30, 2020 and the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) to September 30, 2020 (the “Relevant Periods”). Considering such restatement, such audited financial statements should no longer be relied upon. The Company will file an amendment to its Annual Report on Form 10-K as of December 31, 2020 and for the period from February 11, 2020 (inception) through December 31, 2020, which will include the restated audited financial statements for the Relevant Periods.

Going forward, unless we amend the terms of our warrant agreement, we expect to continue to classify our warrants as a liabilities, which would require us to incur the cost of measuring the fair value of the warrant liabilities, and which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations. The Company’s management and the Audit Committee have discussed the matters disclosed in this Current Report on Form 8-K pursuant to this Item 4.02 with WithumSmith+Brown, PC.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Dated: May 10, 2021