HH&L Acquisition Co. (HHLA) Terminates DiaCarta Deal

HH&L (NYSE:HHLA) announced this afternoon that it has terminated its business combination with biotech firm DiaCarta.

On June 26, the SPAC sent a termination notice to DiaCarta due to breaches of representations and covenants by DiaCarta and fraudulent misrepresentation. The termination notice does not waive HH&L’s rights and they reserve the right to pursue legal remedies for any losses incurred.

HH&L announced the $460 million business combination with DiaCarta in October 2022. It originally intended to bring an estimated $414 million trust into the deal, but saw 84.95% of its trust removed due to redemptions at a meeting last month, leaving it with $10.4 million post-vote. During that May meeting, the SPAC approved an extension giving it a new timeline of August 9, and the option to further extend up to six times for an additional one-month each time to February 9, 2024.

It remains unclear if HH&L will continue to search for an alternative target, but given its new completion deadline, it has nearly seven months to do so. The company originally set out to combine with a high-growth healthcare business in Asia with a focus on China.