The Latest SPAC News and Rumors: June 29, 2022

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

Latest SPAC News: SPAC listings nudge Singapore IPO market to busiest in years, Wall Street banks pull back from Middle East SPACs on SEC clampdown, and Germany aims to make SPACs more attractive

SPAC listings nudge Singapore IPO market to busiest H1 in 5 years

The 3 recently listed SPACs have generated “strong interest” and raised a total of IPO proceeds of about S$528 million, leading Singapore’s IPO market to its busiest half year in five years, according to a PwC Singapore report released on Tuesday (Jun 28).

The listing of Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation marked the largest local IPO in the first half of 2022 after raising S$208 million, followed by Pegasus Asia and Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition raising S$170 million and S$150 million respectively.

PwC noted that this highlights a positive trend of SPAC IPOs “successfully” making their debut on the Singapore Stock Exchange, after the SPACs came under a framework introduced by Singapore’s exchange in September 2021.

Wall Street Banks Pulls Back From Middle East SPACs on SEC Clampdown

Wall Street banks are rethinking their involvement in the listings of special purpose acquisition companies in the Middle East’s nascent market as new liability guidelines from US regulators chill the once red-hot industry.

Middle East SPAC sponsors such as Gulf Capital and Investcorp were initially in talks with Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp.respectively, but they are likely to rely on local banks to finalize the deal, according to people familiar with the matter. It’s unclear what role either US bank will play, if any.

Germany wants to make shares, start-ups, IPOs and SPACs more attractive

Germany’s finance and justice ministers presented a plan on Wednesday to make the country’s financial markets more attractive to investors and improve access to capital for start-ups and growth companies.

The plan included provisions to lower the minimum capital requirement for an IPO to 1 million euros ($1.05 million) from 1.25 million now, and to increase the tax-free allowance for employee share ownership to 5,000 euros from 1,440 euros.

The plans would also aim to improve conditions for SPACs. The vehicles raise money in an IPO, put it in a trust and then aim to merge with a private company and take it public.

Super Group gets Ontario’s two-year iGaming licenses for Spin and three other online casino brands 

As the Ontario iGaming and sports betting market prepares to enter its third month in activity, Super Group announced it has been approved to launch four online casino brands in the jursidiction, including its main gaming brand Spin. It is set to receive licenses for each from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

The approved licenses are for Jackpot City, Royal Vegas, Rubin Fortune and Spin Casino, all owned by Super Group subsidiary Cadtree Limited. While many licenses in the market are for only one year, each of these will last two years, until June 2024.

Loss after tax for the first quarter of 2022 was €163.2 million (USD 174.6 million) compared to a profit of €38.6 million in the same period of the prior year. This result was affected by costs and adjustments related to the business combination with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corporation (SEAH), a publicly-traded SPAC, and the following listing on the New York Stock Exchange on January 28.