Happy Sunday, Friends!
SPAC dealmaking surged in the last week with several new deals being announced, including an Italian copper company, a consumer electronics firm, and an oncology-focused business. Also, a space exploration company saw its shares skyrocket after successfully landing its spacecraft on the moon, and a struggling truck maker sells part of its assets. Read on to find out the latest about all things SPACs.Â
SPAC Deals AnnouncedÂ
$SEDA is Merging With Copper Producer Cunova in $736 Million Deal
Italian copper company KME plans to list its Cunova unit on the New York Stock Exchange by merging with SPAC SDCL Edge.
Based in Osnabrück, Germany, Cunova is a global provider of essential copper alloy products and services for various sectors such as casting, maritime, industrial, and energy.
The company has long-term relationships with a majority of the 25 largest steel producers across four continents, where its products are deeply integrated into its clients' operations.Â
Cunova is under JV GmbH, with KME holding a 45% stake in Cunova and Paragon owning 55%. Through a deal with Paragon and SPAC SEDA, KME will merge its aerospace business with Cunova, resulting in KME owning about 60% of the new entity, while Paragon exits its investment.
The combined company is valued at approximately $736 million, which is 9.4x the company’s 2023 projected earnings of $78 million. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
$ACAC is Taking Consumer Electronics Focused Foxx Development Public
SPAC Acri Capital Acquisition has agreed to merge with Foxx Development, a Texas company specializing in consumer electronics and IoT solutions.Â
Founded in 2017, Foxx serves retail and institutional customers across the United States, offering mobile phones, tablets, and other electronics. The company is also developing and distributing comprehensive communication terminals and IoT solutions.
The agreement requires the SPAC to issue $50 million in stock, plus up to 4.2 million additional shares to Foxx stockholders if specific financial goals for 2024 and 2025 are met.Â
The deal is anticipated to close sometime in the second half of the year, post which the combined company will list on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Acri raised $86.25 million in its June 2022 Initial Public Offering, aiming to invest in technology-driven sectors in North America.
Oncology-Focused Silexion is Going Public Through $62.5 Million Merger With $MACA
Moringa Acquisition has announced a merger with Silexion, an oncology biotech firm in the clinical stage, valued at a pre-transaction equity value of $62.5 million.
Silexion specializes in creating treatments for solid tumor cancers with the mutated KRAS oncogene, showing promising results in a Phase 2a trial compared to traditional chemotherapy.
The company aims to advance oncology treatments, particularly focusing on a second-generation product for advanced pancreatic cancer. Silexion claims that when combined with chemotherapy, its main drug, Loder, extended median survival by 9.3 months compared to chemotherapy alone (22.7 vs 13.4 months).
The transaction is anticipated to close sometime in the third quarter of 2024, after which the combined company will list on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
Moringa previously raised $100 million through its February 2021 initial public offering, but redemptions have left the blank-cheque firm with $42.7 million in cash. The SPAC had previously agreed to take the Israel-based travel booking platform Holisto public but terminated the deal with the SPAC last August. Â
De-SPAC News
$LUNR Stock Surges on Successfully Landing First Commercial Spacecraft on the Moon
Shares of the Houston-based space exploration company rallied as much as 70%, pushing its market cap over $1 billion, after it successfully landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface, becoming the first private company to do so.Â
For the first time in nearly 50 years, America has landed hardware on the moon, with the spacecraft touching down near the rim of Malapert-A crater, the closest any lander has come to the lunar south pole. Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket carrying the lander from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the moon.
Intuitive Machines developed its Odysseus lander with about $100 million of its own funds and an additional $118 million from NASA's CLPS program, aimed at encouraging private companies to create more cost-effective lunar landers.Â
However, the company’s stock pared back some of its gains after CEO Stephen Altemus stated that the moon lander tipped over shortly after touching down on the lunar surface a day earlier.
The Odysseus spacecraft is operational despite a challenging landing on the moon, with engineers actively sending commands. Although it tipped over during its final descent, landing on its side Altemus confirmed that all scientific payloads, except for one art piece, are intact and expected to fulfill their research goals.
Trevor Milton’s Friend Buys Out $NKLA’s Defunct Badger Project
Struggling electric truck company Nikola has sold its Badger electric pickup truck project to Embr Motors, a new company founded by TV personality Dave Sparks.Â
Embr Motors has acquired the intellectual property and assets of Nikola’s Badger pickup truck, along with its discontinued off-road and personal watercraft vehicles, including the only two Badger prototypes.
The announcement of the Badger program's sale is unexpected, especially since Nikola's founder, Trevor Milton, recently attempted unsuccessfully to appoint Sparks and others to the company's board. Milton was sentenced to four years in prison for securities and wire fraud, partly due to deceiving investors about the Badger's development.
Nikola explained that Dave Sparks and his partner, Cole Cannon, aimed to launch the Badger, bringing in EV partners to finalize the sale, with Nikola financing Embr's asset acquisition for a 30% company stake, potentially benefiting shareholders.
Additionally, Nikola is reclaiming 500,000 shares previously given to Sparks, with an agreement excluding Trevor Milton from any involvement in the projects.
Meme of the Day
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The HeadlinesÂ
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