At the SPAC of Dawn
Good morning! Watch this space moving forward as a roundup of evening filings as well as news nuggets to nibble on beside your morning coffee.
After largely positive Monday for US markets, futures are back in the red as traders anticipate the drop of the September 2023 Advance Monthly Retail report at 8:30 am ET.
Last month’s numbers from the Census Bureau showed a +0.6% sales increase amounting to $687.6 billion and a revision of the July figures to +0.5%. But, the market’s sensitivity to such numbers only increases the closer the calendar turns towards the winter holidays.
The Census figure is also adjusted for seasonal price swings, but not inflation, so reading it can be a mixed bag particularly as fears of an inflation-fueled recession have not completely receded. The last report found that the largest retail spending increases were at gas stations.
That suggested not only the growing impact of gas prices on American wallets, but also a trend towards thrift spending at convenience stores while sales of bigger-ticket items like furniture fell.
Deals
- Israel Acquisitions Corp. (NASDAQ:ISRL) announced this morning a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) with Tel Aviv-listed Pomvom (TA:PMVM) which provides digital media services to entertainment venues.
News and Rumors
- Bloomberg: WeWork Inc. (NYSE:WE), which went public with BowX in 2021, named David Tolley as CEO, shifting his temporary status to permanent at the head of the struggling co-working real estate company.
- Benzinga: EV-maker Faraday Future (NASDAQ:FFIE) announced new plans to cut costs and focus on its FF 91 SUV as it has not yet generated revenue since its combination with Property Solutions in July 2021.
- Bloomberg: Elliott Investment Management is considering making a proposal to take supply-chain software company E2open Parent Holdings (NASDAQ:ETWO) private. The company went public in 2021 through a merger with CC Neuberger Principal Holdings.
- Verge: President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign launched its own account on his probable opponent’s Truth Social platform. A part of Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth Social has sought to go public in a long-running process with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:DWAC).
Non-Redemption Agreements
- Blockchain Coinvestors Acquisition Corp. I’s (NASDAQ:BCSA) sponsor entered into one or more agreements with unaffiliated investors in exchange for an agreement not to redeem Class A ordinary shares. In exchange for the foregoing commitment, the sponsor has agreed to transfer to such investors an aggregate of 30,000 ordinary shares per 200,000 non-redeemed shares.
Scheduling Notes
- ESGEN Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ:ESAC) is pushing its extension vote from October 17 to 11 am ET October 20.
- Healthwell Acquisition Corp. I (NASDAQ:HWEL) has postponed its completion vote from October 19 to 10 am ET October 25. Healthwell I has a pending combination with cancer drug developer Starton Therapeutics
- TortoiseEcofin Acquisition Corp. III (NYSE:TRTL) has moved its October 17 extension vote to 3:30 pm ET October 19.
Mobiv Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:MOBV) announced this afternoon that it has closed its combination with EV motorcycle-maker SRIVARU. Shareholders originally approved the deal at a special meeting held back on September 28, but at that time, the parties expected the transaction to take just a week to close. Redemptions whittled Mobiv’s IPO share pool of 10,005,000 down...
Achari Ventures I (NASDAQ:AVHI) has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with medtech firm Vaso Corporation at an equity value of $176 million, or 19.5x its 2022 adjusted EBITDA. Wuxi, China-based Vaso provides IT services and sales support to medical device manufacturers. The combined company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the...
EF Hutton Acquisition Corp. I (NASDAQ:EFHT) announced this morning that its shareholders have approved its business combination with E.C.D. Auto Design. At the meeting, there were 5,089,203 shares of common stock, representing approximately 76.82% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, present. In connection with the meeting, the company’s stockholders holding 3,470,945 shares,...
Legato Merger Corp. III (NYSE:LEGT) filed for a $175 million IPO yesterday afternoon, becoming the fourth SPAC to file this week. While the other three SPACs that filed their S-1s earlier this week intend to pursue targets in the financial services and biotech industries, Legato III, similar to the earlier Legato SPACs, will focus on...
At the SPAC of Dawn This week ends with an unusually busy earnings calendar as 172 US-listed companies report quarterly figures today. Among them is Exela Technologies (NASDSAQ:XELA), which completed a combination with Quinpario 2 in 2017. The billing software company has gone on to do another SPAC deal on November 29, this time spinning...