Nightcap: Not much SPAC flexing today
Nightly recap of the day's SPAC highlights (July 7, 2021)
Good evening,
Thanks for reading the “Nightcap”, a nightly recap of the highlights in the SPAC world. You can always discover and track all of the SPACs at spactrack.net.
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The Stats:
The Deals:
1) dMY Technology Group, Inc. IV (DMYQ: $9.97) & Planet Labs
Planet to Become Publicly Traded Company through Merger with dMY IV (Press Release)
Merger Partner Description:
Planet is a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, committed to using space to help life on Earth. Planet is driven by a mission to image the world every day, and make change visible, accessible and actionable. Founded in 2010 by three NASA scientists, Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest earth observation fleet of imaging satellites, capturing and compiling data from over 3 million images per day. Planet provides mission-critical data, advanced insights, and software solutions to over 600 customers, comprised of the world's leading agriculture, forestry, intelligence, education and finance companies and government agencies, enabling users to simply and effectively derive unique value from satellite imagery.
Valuation: $2.25B Pro-forma EV
PIPE: $200M fully committed led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, with key participation including Koch Strategic Platforms and Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures and existing Planet investor Google
Planet Labs Investor Presentation
2) Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. (ATHN: $9.99) & Heliogen
Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. Announces Business Combination with Heliogen, Inc., a Leading Provider of AI-Enabled Concentrated Solar Energy; Combined Company Expected to Be Listed on New York Stock Exchange (Press Release)
Merger Partner Description:
Heliogen is a renewable energy technology company focused on empowering a sustainable future by eliminating the need for fossil fuels in all sectors of the economy. The company’s Sunlight Refinery™ aims to cost-effectively deliver near 24/7 carbon-free energy in the form of heat, power, and green hydrogen fuel at scale for the first time in history. Heliogen was created at Idealab, the leading technology incubator founded by Bill Gross in 1996.
Valuation: $2B Pro-forma EV
PIPE: $165M fully committed anchored by existing and new investors including funds and accounts managed by Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), Salient Partners, Saba Capital, and the XCarb Innovation Fund of ArcelorMittal
Heliogen Investor Presentation
Deal News Reports:
Payments Recovery Firm MSP Said In Talks With Lionheart SPAC (article behind paywall)
MSP Recovery, a company that specializes in the recovery of Medicare and Medicaid secondary payments, is in talks to go public through a merger with Lionheart Acquisition Corp. II (LCAP: $9.90), a blank check-firm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Any transaction, if agreed, may be announced in coming weeks and could value the combined entity at more than $30 billion, one of the people said. MSP Recovery’s law firm affiliate may separate from its data business, which is in talks to be combined with the Lionheart SPAC, the people said. No terms have been finalized and it’s possible talks could collapse.
A representative for MSP didn’t immediately have a comment. A Lionheart spokesperson declined to comment.
Lionheart, led by Chief Executive Officer Ophir Sternberg, raised $230 million in an August initial public offering. The SPAC said at the time it may focus on “any business, industry, sector or geographical location” but that it intends to merge with a firm “that applies innovative digital technologies and technology-enhanced services and solutions to the identification, design, development, construction, operation, financing, management and disposition of real estate properties.
Sternberg, who was chairman of a SPAC that merged with BurgerFi International Inc., in May teamed up with MSP founder John H. Ruiz to purchase powerboats brand Cigarette Racing Team.
Other News:
Fitness IPO gives SPACs a work over
Mark Wahlberg’s fitness company has shown that the projections bandied around in SPAC mergers can sometimes prove conservative. F45 Training, which puts workout-goers through 45-minute sessions, is planning an initial public offering roughly a year after abandoning a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. The delay has paid off: F45 is gunning for a value of $1.5 billion, 80% more than in the SPAC deal.
F45’s revenue fell by 11% in 2020, to $82.3 million. That's about half what it had forecast before Covid-19. But it's a solid outcome considering competition from stay-at-home workouts like Peloton Interactive, and beats the scaled-back $60 million forecast F45 put out after the pandemic hit. In the last year its studios, nearly all franchises, also increased by a fifth, more than anticipated.
The market is also hotter now. In the year since F45 agreed to be bought by Crescent Acquisition for $845 million, gym operator Planet Fitness’s enterprise value-to-sales multiple has also doubled.
Quick News Corner:
Malaysia's AirAsia aims to raise $300M via SPAC listing of digital business
Gores Metropoulos II, Inc’s (GMII: $9.89) merger partner, Sonder, reports Q1 2021 Revenue of $31.6M grew 11% compared to Q4 2020 and Reaffirms Outlook for FY 2021 Revenue Growth of 49%
Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp.’s (NEBC: $9.96) merger partner, Rover, reports Highest Single Month Gross Bookings Value of $57 Million
IPOs to Begin Trading Tomorrow*:
1) Agrico Acquisition Corp. (RICO-U)
$125M, 1/2 warrant
Focus: Agtech, agriculture, horticulture, and aquaculture
*Priced at the time of this writing
New S-1s (2)
1) Apex Technology Acquisition Corp. II (APXB)
$300M, 1/4 warrant
Focus: Software and internet technology industries
Management:
Jeff Epstein (Former CFO of Oracle)
Directors:
Donna Wells (Former CMO of Mint.com)
2) Atlas Growth Acquisition Limited (ATLA)
$110M, 1/2 warrant
Focus: Healthcare, consumer tech, and TMT in Asia
Graphics are Tight:
After a SPAC merger has been announced with a target in an emerging technology sector, it is common for competitors from that sector to follow suit over the following months. Competitors can be, in effect, forced to go public in order to prevent the others from gaining the advantage (the capital injection, access to the public market, recognition, and so on).
Here’s a sweet graphic by SPAC Track contributor, Tornike Laghidze, showing the emerging technology sector runs the SPAC market has experienced.
Upcoming Dates:
This Week’s Announced Shareholder Meetings, Unit Splits, Warrant Redemptions:
Thursday, July 8th
Spartan Acquisition Corp. II (SPRQ: $9.94) Shareholder Meeting to Approve Business Combination with Sunlight Financial
Unit Split: Catalyst Partners Acquisition Corp. (CPAR-U: $10.07)
Friday, July 9th
Warrant Redemption: Opendoor Technologies (OPEN: $16.03)
Unit Split: GigInternational1, Inc. (GIWW-U: $10.05)
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