Broadscale Acquisition Corp. (SCLE) Terminates Voltus Deal
Broadscale Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:SCLE) announced this afternoon that it has mutually terminated its combination with software engineering platform Voltus.
On Monday, August 8, Voltus informed Broadscale that it would be unable to complete all actions necessary in order for its registration statements to be effective prior to its agreement end date. As a result, the parties decided to terminate the agreement today.
But, Broadscale, a 24-month SPAC, intends to continue its search for an appropriate target to combine with, which must occur by February 17, 2023. The SPAC priced its upsized $300 million IPO on February 11, 2021, and originally set out to combine with a business bringing tangible improvements to the health, energy, food and transportation sectors.
Broadscale is led by Chairman and CEO Andrew L. Shapiro, Vice Chairman Edward E. Cohen, CFO and Head of Acquisitions John P. Hanna, and Chief Legal Officer and Secretary Jeffrey F. Brotman.
The termination comes roughly eight months after the $816 million deal announcement, which was originally announced on December 1, 2021, and marks the third termination of the week followed by Pono Capital (NASDAQ:PONO) and Benuvia, and Mudrick Capital II (NASDAQ:MUDS) and Blue Nile. While Pono did not disclose a reason for its termination, Mudrick Capital II parted ways with Blue Nile after the jewelry retailer entered into a different transaction agreement to be acquired by Sterling Jewelers Inc. (NYSE:SIG) for $360 million.
Broadscale expected to fund the deal with about $345 million from its current trust supplemented with a $100 million PIPE at $10.00 per share. The PIPE drew investment from Equinor Ventures, Belfer Management, Solanas Capital, Ev Williams (cofounder of Twitter and Obvious Ventures). Broadscale Acquisition Corp.’s sponsor, Voltus management, and existing Voltus investors, including Activate Capital and Ajax Strategies, also participated in the PIPE. The deal also featured a $200 million minimum cash condition in order to close.
The San Francisco-based company provides a platform that connects distributed energy resources to electricity markets, allowing customers to monetize and optimize excess power in the grid.