NOTE 1: BASIS OF PRESENTAION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Whole Earth Brands, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (“Whole Earth Brands” or the “Company”) is a global industry-leading platform, focused on the “better for you” consumer packaged goods (“CPG”) and ingredients space. The Company’s branded products and ingredients are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the global secular consumer shift away from sugar toward clean label products and natural alternatives.

On June 24, 2020, Act II Global Acquisition Corp., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Act II”), domesticated into a Delaware corporation (the “Domestication”), and on June 25, 2020 (the “Closing”), consummated the indirect acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of (i) all of the issued and outstanding equity interests of Merisant Company (“Merisant”), Merisant Luxembourg Sarl (“Merisant Luxembourg”), Mafco Worldwide LLC (“Mafco Worldwide”), Mafco Shanghai LLC (“Mafco Shanghai”), EVD Holdings LLC (“EVD Holdings”), and Mafco Deutschland GmbH (together with Merisant, Merisant Luxembourg, Mafco Worldwide, Mafco Shanghai, and EVD Holdings, and their respective direct and indirect subsidiaries, “Merisant and Mafco”), and (ii) certain assets and liabilities of Merisant and Mafco included in the Transferred Assets and Liabilities (as defined in the Purchase Agreement (as hereafter defined)), from Flavors Holdings Inc. (“Flavors Holdings”), MW Holdings I LLC (“MW Holdings I”), MW Holdings III LLC (“MW Holdings III”), and Mafco Foreign Holdings, Inc. (“Mafco Foreign Holdings,” and together with Flavors Holdings, MW Holdings I, and MW Holdings III, the “Sellers”), pursuant to that certain Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) entered into by and among Act II and the Sellers dated as of December 19, 2019, as amended. In connection with the Domestication, Act II changed its name to “Whole Earth Brands, Inc.”

Upon the completion of the Domestication, each of Act II’s then-issued and outstanding ordinary shares converted, on a one-for-one basis, into shares of common stock of Whole Earth Brands. Additionally, immediately after the Acquisition, the Company issued an aggregate of 7,500,000 shares of Whole Earth Brands common stock and 5,263,500 private placement warrants exercisable for 2,631,750 shares of Whole Earth Brands common stock to certain investors. On the date of Closing, the Company’s common stock and warrants began trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbols “FREE” and “FREEW,” respectively.

As a result of the Acquisition, for accounting purposes, Act II is the acquirer and Mafco Worldwide and Merisant Company are the acquired parties and accounting predecessor. The Company’s financial statement presentation includes the combined financial statements of Mafco Worldwide and Merisant Company as the “Predecessor” for periods prior to the completion of the Acquisition and includes the consolidation of Mafco Worldwide and Merisant Company, for periods after the Closing (referred to as the “Successor”).

All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Basis of Presentation—The accompanying unaudited consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial reporting. The balance sheet data as of December 31, 2019 was derived from the audited Combined Financial Statements for Mafco Worldwide and Merisant included in the final prospectus and definitive proxy statement (the “proxy statement/prospectus”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 13, 2020 by Act II. These unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited combined financial statements and accompanying notes of Mafco Worldwide and Merisant for each of the two years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 and the audited financial statements and accompanying notes for Act II for the year ended December 31, 2019, which are included in the proxy statement/prospectus.

In the opinion of management, the financial statements contain all adjustments necessary to state fairly the financial position of the Company as of June 30, 2020 and the results of operations and cash flows for all periods presented. All adjustments reflected in the accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements, which management believes are necessary to state fairly the financial position, results of operations and cash flows, have been reflected and are of a normal recurring nature. Results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year. Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.

Principles of Consolidation—The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Whole Earth Brands, Inc., and its indirect and wholly owned subsidiaries: Merisant Company, Merisant Luxembourg Sarl, Mafco Worldwide LLC Mafco Shanghai LLC, EVD Holdings LLC, and Mafco Deutschland GmbH. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates—The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the unaudited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements—The Company qualifies as an emerging growth company (“EGC”) and as such, has elected not to opt out of the extended transition period for complying with certain new or revised accounting pronouncements. During the extended transition period, the Company is not subject to certain new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies. The accounting pronouncements pending adoption below reflect effective dates for the Company as an EGC with the extended transition period.

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)”, and issued subsequent amendments to the initial guidance. The new guidance requires lessees to recognize assets and liabilities arising from leases as well as extensive quantitative and qualitative disclosures. The lessee needs to recognize on its balance sheet a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for the majority of its leases (other than leases with a term of less than 12 months). The lease liabilities should be equal to the present value of lease payments not yet paid. The right-of-use asset is measured at the lease liability amount, adjusted for lease prepayment, lease incentives received and the lessee’s initial indirect costs. For public entities, the updated standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. This standard is effective for the Company as an EGC for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, with early adoption permitted. Act II adopted the standard as of January 1, 2020. The Company recognized the leases acquired as part of the Acquisition on June 25, 2020, which were recorded pursuant to the aforementioned ASU. Refer to Note 3 for additional details.

In March 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-07, “Compensation - Retirement Benefits (Topic 715).” Under the new guidance, employers are required to present the service cost component of net periodic benefit cost in the same statement of operations caption as other employee compensation costs arising from services rendered during the period. Employers are required to present the other components of the net periodic benefit cost separately from the caption that includes the service costs and outside of any subtotal of operating profit and are required to disclose the caption used to present the other components of net periodic benefit cost, if not presented separately on the statement of operations. The Company adopted ASU 2017-07 effective in the second quarter of 2020. The adoption of this standard did not have an effect on the Company’s historically reported net income (loss) but resulted in a presentation reclassification which increased the Company’s historically reported operating profit by $0.1 million for the six month period ended June 25, 2020.

In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, “Income Statement-Reporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220),” which amends existing standards for income statement-reporting comprehensive income to allow a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and improve the usefulness of information reported to financial statements users. ASU 2018-02 was effective for years beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption was permitted. On January 1, 2019, the Predecessor elected to adopt this standard on a full retrospective approach and reclassified $2.1 million from accumulated other comprehensive income within net parent investment.

New Accounting Standards— In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting”. Subject to meeting certain criteria, the new guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions to applying contract modification accounting under existing U.S. GAAP, to address the expected phase out of the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) by the end of 2021. The amendments in ASU 2020-04 apply only to contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The new standard was effective upon issuance and generally can be applied to applicable contract modifications through December 31, 2022. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard but does not expect it to have a material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, “Income Taxes (ASC 740) - Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes”. The standard enhances and simplifies various aspects of the income tax accounting guidance. For public entities, the standard is effective for annual periods and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2020. This standard is effective for the Company as an EGC for the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2019-12 on its consolidated financial statements. 

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-14, “Compensation - Retirement Benefits - Defined Benefit Plans - General (Subtopic 715-20).” The standard modifies certain disclosure requirements for employers that sponsor defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans by removing disclosures that are no longer considered cost beneficial, clarifying specific requirements of disclosures, and adding disclosure requirements identified as relevant. This standard is effective for the Company as an EGC for the fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments in ASU 2018-14 should be applied retrospectively to each period presented. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2018-14.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, “Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326).” The standard requires entities to estimate losses on financial assets measured at amortized cost, including trade receivables, debt securities and loans, using an expected credit loss model. The expected credit loss differs from the previous incurred losses model primarily in that the loss recognition threshold of “probable” has been eliminated and that expected loss should consider reasonable and supportable forecasts in addition to the previously considered past events and current conditions. Additionally, the guidance requires additional disclosures related to the further disaggregation of information related to the credit quality of financial assets by year of the asset’s origination for as many as five years. Entities must apply the standard provision as a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which the guidance is effective. This standard is effective for the Company as an EGC for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022 including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2016-13.