At the SPAC of Dawn

The Fed’s announcement yesterday that it was in no hurry to cut rates slammed the market generally through the rest of the trading day, but things have picked back up in the early hours of Thursday.

That could in part be due to unexpectedly high jobless claims. The 224,000 initial jobless claims for the past week is the highest number in months and is one of the indicators that the Fed takes into account when deciding whether inflation is tracking up or down.

De-SPACs may have unwittingly added to this number as several have borne the same high pressures as much of the tech industry that has led to layoffs. Just this week, three separate EV de-SPACs were reportedly cutting staff.

Deals and Funding

• Globalink Investment Inc. (NASDAQ:GLLI) has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with biotech firm Alps Global Holding Berhad at an enterprise value of $1.6 billion. Globalink has about $27.7 million remaining its trust and has not yet supplemented this with additional committed financing.
  

News and Rumors

• Reuters: Volvo (ST:VOLCAR) announced it will stop subsidizing EV-maker Polestar (NASDAQ:PSNY), which it spun off in a combination with Gores Guggenheim in June 2022. Volvo is also considering transferring its holdings in Polestar to its own investors, which would hand most shares to car-making conglomerate Geely (HK:0175).
• PR: Space services firm Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) has begun a private offering of $275 million in convertible senior notes due in 2029. The institutions buying these notes will have to option to purchase about $41 million more. Rocket Lab is to follow this with capped call transactions to reduce the dilution from the notes and will use proceeds to pay off earlier equipment financing debts and fund further expenditures. Rocket Lab combined with Vector in August 2021.
• Bloomberg Law: Enovix (NASDAQ:ENVX) has claimed a victory over investors alleging it made false statements in the course of its de-SPACing process with Rodgers Silicon Valley as a federal court has dismissed a class action suit against the battery-maker.
• Burns&Wilcox: Overall, securities class-action filings increased +3% in 2023 and litigation against SPACs continued to represent the largest category of suits despite similar filings against cryptocurrency companies falling -39% year-over-year.
• Evo: Lotus, which announced its combination with L Catterton Asia (NASDAQ:LCAA), has confirmed its first electric sports car, currently codenamed Type 135, will be built at Hethel and will replace the petrol-engined Emira, which is scheduled to end production before 2027.

Scheduling Notes

• Sizzle Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:SZZL) has postponed its completion vote to 10 am ET February from February 6 as it continues to be in discussions for potential strategic investments in the company that would be set to take effect at close.