Polestar SPAC offers sober detour on EV hype road 27 Sep 2021 The Swedish electric-car maker is merging with Guggenheim Partners’ blank-cheque vehicle at a $20 bln valuation. A suitably racy revenue multiple needs turbocharged growth to avoid future potholes. But unlike rival Lucid, Chinese-owned Polestar at least has existing production.
Hong Kong unicorn bets on positive Covid results 16 Sep 2021 Biotech upstart Prenetics is set to go public in a $1.7 bln merger with a blank-cheque firm. Demand for virus test kits at airports and homes has boosted sales, but that is unlikely to last. Growth will depend on new technologies and habits in a post-pandemic world.
SPAC deal is private-stock trading coming of age 13 Sep 2021 Helping investors, employees and others trade shares of companies that haven’t yet gone public used to be a seriously gray area of finance. Now Forge, one of the players, is set to get its own listing in a $2 bln blank-check merger. With market maturity comes more competition.
Today’s Theranos would have gone public via a SPAC 8 Sep 2021 Elizabeth Holmes’ blood-testing outfit touted novel technology and big future sales. Holmes, on trial, blurred lines between marketing and fraud. Trevor Milton, founder of electric-truck firm Nikola, now faces similar charges. A key difference: Nikola is already publicly traded.
Capital Calls: SPACs’ defense, Zoom 31 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: Nearly 60 corporate law firms put their names to a rejection of recent suits against blank-check firms; the video-conferencing company reported slowing growth in the second quarter.
Capital Calls: Forbes catches SPAC wave 27 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: The business brand and magazine has agreed to merge with a blank-check firm in a $630 million deal, upping its value since last time it changed hands.
Gig-work startup is bad fit with today’s SPACs 25 Aug 2021 ShiftPixy, a temporary-employment app whose shares, floated in 2017, have lost 99% of their value since, has cut the funding target for four blank-check vehicles it is sponsoring. It looks like a last-ditch effort to score in an indiscriminate SPAC market that no longer exists.
Capital Calls: Delta Air Lines’ vaccine stick 25 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: The U.S. carrier will charge unvaccinated stateside employees $200 per month towards healthcare. Adding some push to the pull of incentives makes sense.
Branson’s second space SPAC draws awkward parallel 23 Aug 2021 Virgin Orbit, an offshoot of Galactic, inked a blank-cheque deal valuing it at $3.2 bln. With just three successful satellite launches, the projections are a leap of faith. But Orbit is using Galactic’s inflated multiples for validation. It underscores SPACs’ otherworldliness.
Ackman’s SPAC inconveniences everyone 20 Aug 2021 The hedge fund manager aimed to have the biggest and most shareholder-friendly blank-check firm. After a deal setback and a lawsuit, he’s hoping to return $4 bln to investors early. His novel ideas have become a burden for them, for him, for regulators and even for other SPACs.
Bill Ackman’s SPAC is a treat that is going moldy 19 Aug 2021 A shareholder is suing the hedge fund manager, claiming his blank-check company acted like an investment company and should be governed as such. U.S. regulatory ambiguity creates scope for such disputes. Clearer guidelines would help, but for now, some managers will be deterred.
Capital Calls: Walmart plays both ends of the trade 17 Aug 2021 Concise views on the global economy: The U.S. retailer expects strong sales throughout the year despite a surge in Covid-19.
Spinning Eagle is a SPAC twist, not a revolution 16 Aug 2021 Harry Sloan’s blank-check firm wants to raise $2 bln with the option to spin off some cash in another SPAC. It's a way to have scale to buy a big target without being forced to. Unlike, say, Bill Ackman's overwrought effort, it's a reasonable tweak that shouldn't worry regulators.
SPAC five-year plans fall short of Soviet accuracy 12 Aug 2021 AppHarvest, a greenhouse grower that completed a SPAC merger earlier this year, cut its 2021 sales forecast by nearly two-thirds. Revenue-free firms float on five-year projections, but a series of early stumbles show most long-term forecasts are practically a stab in the dark.
Capital Calls: Olympics on TV, Abrdn 10 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: NBC Universal's prime-time viewers for the Tokyo games were only half as many as for London 2012, boding ill for traditional U.S. TV; the British asset manager formerly known as Standard Life Aberdeen may be turning the corner.
Ackman’s SPAC tries to run before it can walk 3 Aug 2021 The hedgie wanted his blank-check vehicle to buy 10% of Universal Music for $4 bln and live on to find a second deal. His structure was already non-standard. Adding exotic features brought a clash with regulators trying to set SPAC norms. Ackman’s next attempt needs to be vanilla.
Capital Calls: Grab, Gaming, SocGen, Stellantis 3 Aug 2021 Concise views on global finance: The Southeast Asian super-app delivers some of the goods; Tencent shares tank after Chinese state-media criticism; the French lender’s investment bank overhauls goals; the carmaker hikes operating margin targets to a chunky 10%.
TPG-backed vacation deal is a worthy destination 29 Jul 2021 One of the private equity firm’s SPACs is merging with Vacasa in a $4.5 bln deal. The firm helps owners list and manage their vacation properties including on Airbnb. The management is experienced, the concept is solid and Vacasa could be a strategic fit for others down the line.
SPAC sheriff shows up not a moment too soon 29 Jul 2021 The U.S. Department of Justice accused electric-truck maker Nikola’s founder Trevor Milton of making false and misleading statements. He had already stepped down from the $5 bln firm. But investors have started pushing back elsewhere. These are needed steps to legitimize SPACs.
Apollo SPAC offers cheap ride on EV hype freeway 28 Jul 2021 Electric vehicle charging group Allego is listing through one of the buyout firm’s blank-cheque companies for $3 bln. It’s a crowded space, but a valuation multiple of 5 times 2024 sales is less racy than rivals. Still, only booming battery car demand will avoid a short-circuit.