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

Ares Acquisition Corporation (the "Company") has followed Accounting Standards Codification Topic 480, "Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity," ("ASC 480") in accounting for its redeemable Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 per share (the "Public Shares"). This included recording the Public Shares in permanent equity on its balance sheet. However, the Company maintained shareholders' equity of at least $5,000,001 as the Company will not redeem Public Shares that would cause the Company's net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions.

In September 2021, the Company's management re-evaluated its previously held view that classification of $5,000,001 in permanent equity was appropriate, and determined that the Public Shares should be reclassified to temporary equity on its balance sheet. In connection with the preparation of the financial statements as of and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 that were included in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed with the SEC on November 12, 2021 (the "Q3 Form 10-Q"), the Company concluded that it would change its accounting and reflect the full amount of all redeemable Public Shares in temporary equity. This was a change from the Company's previous accounting practice whereby it maintained shareholders' equity of at least $5,000,001 as the Company will not redeem Public Shares that would cause the Company's net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001 following such redemptions. In connection with the change in presentation for the Public Shares subject to possible redemption, the Company also restated its earnings per share to allocate net income (loss) evenly to all Public Shares and Class B ordinary shares.

On December 27, 2021, the Company's management and the audit committee of the Company's board of directors (the "Audit Committee") concluded that the Company's previously issued (i) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on May 17, 2021; (ii) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on August 16, 2021 and (iii) unaudited interim financial statements included in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021, filed with the SEC on November 12, 2021 (collectively, the "Affected Periods"), in each case, should be restated to classify all of the Public Shares as temporary equity and should no longer be relied upon. As a result, the Company will restate its financial statements for the unaudited interim quarterly period ended March 31, 2021 and the unaudited interim quarterly period ended June 30, 2021 in an amended Q3 Form 10-Q (the "Amended Q3 Form 10-Q").

The Company does not expect any of the above changes will have any impact on its cash position and cash held in the trust account established in connection with the Initial Public Offering.

Based on the circumstances described above, the Company's management has concluded that a material weakness exists in the Company's internal control over financial reporting and that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were not effective. The Company's remediation plan with respect to such material weakness will be described in more detail in the Amended Q3 Form 10-Q.

The Audit Committee and the Company's management have discussed the matters disclosed in this Current Report on Form 8-K with WithumSmith+Brown, PC, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm.

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