TradeUP (NASDAQ:UPTD) announced this morning that it has closed its combination with Estrella Biopharma and its shares and warrants will begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbols “ESLA” and “ESLAQ” on October 2.
This will be the first time that TradeUp sub-unit’s will split into shares and their accompanied 1/2 warrants. The SPAC secured shareholder approval for the deal way back on July 31, but TradeUP has spent the past two months securing additional committed financing for the combination.
Estrella is to receive $23.1 million in gross proceeds in the end made up of $10 million in PIPE cash, $9.75 million from a preferred offering and about $300,000 in debt, according to the parties’ press release.
That leaves about $3.05 million in equity coming from TradeUp shares. The SPAC saw 98% redemptions reduce its trust to about $829,703 in the final vote, but it also issued 250,000 TradeUp shares to White Lion Capital as a part of a its commitments in a common stock agreement that may see it purchase up to $50 million in stock post-close.
TradeUp initially announced its $398 million combination with Estrella Biopharma in October 2022. Emeryville, California-based Estrella is developing three potential cancer therapies aimed at improving the effectiveness of T-cell treatments.
In March, it gained FDA clearance to start Phase I/II trials for its EB-103 drug candidate, which uses its CD19 t-cell therapy to combat b-cell lymphoma.
ADVISORS
- US Tiger Securities, Inc. has acted as financial advisor to TradeUP.
- Robinson & Cole LLP acted as legal advisor to TradeUP.
- Winston & Strawn LLP acted as legal advisor to Estrella.
After a quiet June, July is set to be active throughout the month with nine de-SPACs and sponsors coming unlocked from their trading restrictions. This timing is most fortuitous for insurance investor Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) and East Resources, which took it public in 2023, as it is the best performer of this group of companies...
Pyrophyte II (NYSE:PAII.U) has filed for a $175 million SPAC to dig for a natural resources target while the team’s first deal remains pending. The new SPAC is offering investors 1/2 warrants in each unit and it will have 24 months to complete a business combination without asking shareholders for an extension. It is the...
At the SPAC of Dawn The last day of the quarter is to play host to a pair of shareholder votes and a possible pricing of Indigo‘s (NASDAQ:INACU) $100 million IPO. This week is also to play host to fresh jobs numbers just before the long July 4 weekend. Black Hawk (NASDAQ:BKHA) was also one...
Terms Tracker for the Week Ending June 27, 2025 Welcome to our weekly column where we discuss the findings from our IPO terms tracker based on the previous week’s pricings. June continued its late-month rally with another five SPAC IPOs pricing this week, bringing the monthly total to 10 and the 2025 year-to-date count to...
Blueport (NASDAQ:BPACU) has filed for a $69 million SPAC that would bring another first-time sponsor team to market. The new SPAC is offering investors a right to a 1/6 share in each unit and it will have 15 months to complete a business combination. It is underwritten by Alliance Global Partners and will not be...