The Nightcap from SPAC Track
Nightly recap of the day's SPAC highlights (May 25th, 2021)
May 25th, 2021
Good evening,
Thanks for reading “The Nightcap”, a nightly recap of the highlights of the SPAC world. You can always discover and track all of the SPACs at spactrack.net.
The Stats:
The Deals:
1) PTK Acquisition (PTK) & Valens Semiconductor.
$894M EV
$125M PIPE
2) Foresight Acquisition Corp. (FORE) & P3 Health Partners.
P3 Health Partners to Become Publicly Traded via Merger with Foresight Acquisition Corp.
$2.29B EV
$209M PIPE
Deal News Reports:
1) Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. II (DCRN) has agreed to merge with Tritium, according to Bloomberg.
EV Charger Maker Tritium Going Public in SPAC Merger Deal (Bloomberg— behind paywall)
Tritium, which makes fast chargers for electric vehicles, has reached an agreement to go public through a merger with blank-check company Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corp. II, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The deal with the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, values Tritium at $1.2 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information was private. The transaction is expected to generate proceeds of about $400 million, said the people.
Unlike most SPAC mergers, Tritium’s combination with Decarbonization Plus II didn’t include raising a private placement, the people said.
New S-1 Filings:
1) 8i Acquisition 2 Corp. (LAX)
$50M, 1 warrant (redeemable for 1/2 of a share), and 1 right (1/10 of a share)
Focus: Asia
Sponsor’s Previous SPAC Activity: 8i Enterprises Acquisition Corp (JFK) merged with Diginex (EQOS) in October of last year. EQOS closed the day at $5.75.
IPOs to Begin Trading Tomorrow:
1) Dynamics Special Purpose Corp. (DYNS)
$200M, No warrants
Focus: Healthcare
Management:
Omid Farokhzad (Founder & CEO of Seer, Inc., Co-founder of BIND Therapeutics & Selecta Biosciences, and Former Professor at Harvard Medical School)
Mostafa Ronaghi (Former CTO at Illumina)
Directors:
Jay Flatley (Former Chairman & CEO of Illumina)
Deep Nishar (Senior Managing Partner of the Softbank Vision Fund)
2) Post Holdings Partnering Corp. (PSPC.U)
$300M, 1/3 warrant
Focus: Consumer Packaged Goods
Notable SPAC News:
1) The founder of lidar maker Velodyne is going to war with his own SPAC (The Verge)
David Hall, the founder of leading lidar manufacturer Velodyne, is going to war with the SPAC that acquired his company. In a letter, Hall is calling for the resignation of two of the company’s SPAC-appointed board directors, whom he blames for Velodyne’s “poor financial performance.”
It’s the latest twist in the increasingly dramatic saga of Velodyne, a top maker of the laser sensors that are viewed as crucial for the operation of autonomous vehicles. Last month, Hall was ousted as chair of the company’s board, and his wife, Marta Thoma Hall, was removed as its chief marketing officer. The board cited an investigation into “inappropriate behavior” by both Halls in its justification for their removal. Marta Hall remains a member of Velodyne’s board of directors, while David Hall resigned his position on March 2nd.
Now, David Hall is striking back by directly challenging the special purpose acquisition company, Graf Industrial Corp, that merged with Velodyne last summer. He is calling for the ouster of two of the SPAC’s chosen board members, Michael Dee and Christopher Thomas, and their replacement with an “independent” member of his own choosing.
“I will not stand idly by and watch the board squander Velodyne Lidar’s bright future with what I believe is a lack of strategic focus and poor corporate governance,” Hall writes
2) Robert Smith’s Vista Equity Weighs Joining Rivals With Two SPACs (Bloomberg— behind paywall)
Vista Equity Partners is exploring raising two special purpose acquisition companies despite a slowdown in issuance in the vehicles that have gained mainstream popularity and even inspired a hip-hop track.
Vista, led by billionaire Robert F. Smith, last month registered entities named V-Acquisition I Corp. and V-Acquisition II Corp. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to data reviewed by Bloomberg.
SPACs Leaving the Nest:
1) Big Rock Partners Acquisition Corp (BRPA) completed merger with NeuroRx. The combined entity is now NRx Pharmaceuticals and it began trading today as NRXP.
Upcoming Dates:
This Week’s Shareholder Meetings and Unit Splits (common shares and warrants to commence trading separately from underlying units)
Thursday, May 27th
Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V (IPOE) Shareholder Meeting to Approve Business Combination with SoFi
Friday, May 28th
Northern Star Acquisition Corp. (STIC) Shareholder Meeting to Approve Business Combination with Barkbox
If you found this newsletter useful and you aren’t a subscriber yet, subscribe for free here:
Thanks for reading,