The Latest SPAC News and Rumors: July 1, 2022
Below is a daily summary of links to the latest SPAC news and rumors gathered across the web.
Latest SPAC News: eToro to abandon Fintech V deal, NYSE pitches US listings to Middle Eastern tech firms, and experts say lack of education threatens future of SPACs in UAE
Israel eToro to abandon deal to go public via SPAC merger
Online brokerage eToro and Betsy Cohen-backed blank-check firm FinTech Acquisition Corp V (NASDAQ:FTCV) are planning to let the Thursday deadline for their merger pass without closing the deal, The Information reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The companies had amended their agreement in late December to extend the deal deadline to June end and lower the Israel-based online stock brokerage’s valuation to $8.8 billion from $10.4 billion
READNYSE Pitches US Listings to Gulf Tech Firms Amid Global Selloff
The New York Stock Exchange is trying to lure Middle Eastern technology companies to list in the US, promising access to a broader investor base and deeper capital markets, even amid heightened volatility that’s scuppered listings worldwide.
“We have spoken to some companies in the region,” NYSE’s head of international capital markets Alexandre Ibrahim said, without naming the firms. “They could come here without a capital raise or conduct an initial public offering in the capital markets,” he said. “There are a lot of unicorns in the Middle East already.”
Spotify Technology SA rival Anghami (NASDAQ:ANGH) went public on the Nasdaq in February after its merger with a special purpose acquisition company and has since slumped more than 50% amid a broader rout in the SPAC industry. Ride-sharing firm Swvl Holdings Corp., which followed Anghami a few months later after being acquired by a blank-check firm, is down more than 30%.
Ibrahim said the performance of the two companies shouldn’t deter others, given the gloomy market environment overall. “It doesn’t have to do with the product itself,” he said, referring to SPACs.
Lack of investor education threatens future of SPACs in the UAE, experts say
Lack of investor education on SPACs remains a major obstacle for the new ‘listing’ route to take off in a big way in the UAE, market experts said.
The tepid progress of listing through the SPAC route remained a concern amidst the recent boom in IPOs in the country, they said.
The rush for IPO listings in UAE saw the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) approve in January a regulatory framework for SPACs. But the new listing route has not taken off in the same way as traditional IPOs, market experts at a panel discussion organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) held in Dubai pointed out.
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