The Latest SPAC News and Rumors: May 11, 2022

Below is a daily summary of links to the latest SPAC news and rumors gathered across the web. 

Latest SPAC News: French media group Banijay to go public via Arnault-backed SPAC, Gensler says SPAC retreat shows concern about risk, and Gogoro to launch in Israel

French TV Producer Banijay to Go Public Via Arnault-Backed SPAC

French media group Banijay will go public through a merger with a blank-check acquisition firm backed by billionaire Bernard Arnault in a deal worth more than 4 billion euros ($4.21 billion), an executive at its parent company said on Tuesday.

The production house behind global television hits such as “The Voice”, “Black Mirror,” “The Kardashians” and “Master Chef” will be part of a listed entity, dubbed FL Entertainment, whose first day of listing will be on July 1, the executive, Francois Riahi, said.

SPAC Retreat Shows Wall Street Awakens to Risk, Gensler Says

Wall Street’s pullback from deals involving blank-check companies signals that major financial firms are concerned about the regulatory risks associated with the transactions, according to US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.

While Gensler declined to discuss specific firms, his comments about the once hot market come as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(NYSE:GS), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) are distancing themselves from deals involving special purpose acquisition companies. Concern about an SEC crackdown has prompted Goldman Sachs to pull out of most work on SPACs and Bank of America to end relationships with some of the vehicles, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.

Gogoro To Launch In Israel This Summer

Gogoro Inc. (Nasdaq: GGR), a global technology leader in battery swapping ecosystems that enable sustainable mobility solutions for cities, today announced it was partnering with industry leaders, Metro Motor and Paz Group in Israel to launch its industry leading battery swapping platform and Smartscooters in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area this summer and other cities in Israel in the future. Metro Motor is a top two-wheel vehicle distributor in Israel and Paz Group is a leading gas and energy company in Israel.

Poema Global completed its combination with two-wheeled EV battery charging network Gogoro earlier this year in March.

Westrock Coffee Achieves Its Commitment to Responsibly Source 100% of Its Tea Products

Westrock Coffee Holdings, LLC, a leading integrated coffee, tea, flavors, extracts, and ingredients solutions provider to the retail, foodservice and restaurant, convenience store and travel center, non-commercial account, CPG, and hospitality industries, announced today the successful achievement of its previously stated goal to responsibly source 100% of its tea globally.

Westrock Coffee previously announced it entered into a business combination agreement with Riverview Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RVAC). The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, and it is anticipated that the Company will retain the Westrock Coffee name and be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “WEST.”

InfiniteWorld Partners With Chibi Dinos to Create and Launch the Chibiverse

InfiniteWorld, community & infrastructure for the Metaverse that gives brands a platform to create, monetize, and drive consumer engagement through digital content, and Chibi Dinos, a blockchain gaming company providing the most innovative and entertaining utility for gamers and sports fans through NBA Street-Esque and play-and-earn gameplay, are proud to announce the launch of the “Chibiverse.” The Chibiverse is based on the original “Chibi Dinos,” intellectual property (IP) composed of 10,000+ uniquely generated NFTs created by serial entrepreneur Sean Kelly.

InfiniteWorld, part of the SUKU Ecosystem, an NFT and metaverse infrastructure company that enables brands to create, monetize, and drive consumer engagement with digital content, is poised to become a publicly traded company through a SPAC merger via Aries I Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: RAM), a special purpose acquisition company, that is expected to close during 1H22.