Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. (WWAC) Expands FPA, Non-Redemption Agreements

Worldwide Webb Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:WWAC) announced in an 8-K this morning that it has expanded forward-purchase agreement (FPA) and non-redemption financing that it added to its combination with Aeries Technology on Friday.

Meteora Capital has agreed to purchase up to 250,000 shares in the SPAC under the same terms as those already struck with Sea Otter Trading, Sandia Investment and YA II, who themselves signed on for up to 3,000,000.

Like the other investors, who also agreed not to redeem 1,239,670 shares, Meteora has agreed to reverse its redemption decision for up to 103,306 shares and will receive the same compensation of a cash payment at the redemption rate minus $4.84 per share.

That comes to $5.82 per share and a $7.8 million cash payment that these investors are due if they reverse their redemptions on the full amount. They naturally can also still sell those shares in the future.

This is a not insignificant investment by Worldwide Webb in addition to the payments that Worldwide Webb has pledged for the FPA portion of the agreement. It shows that the price is high even for securing non-redemption agreements in this market, but it also shows the value in having a SPAC sponsor willing and able to support a deal in its endgame.

Worldwide Webb shareholders approved the deal last week, but the SPAc came out of it with 92.9% redemptions. At the time, the parties noted they expected to close the deal today with the combined company set to begin trading tomorrow, but they have not since provided an timing update.

The two sides originally inked their $656 million business combination back in March. Mumbai-based Aeries provides outsourcing and offshoring business services for companies, frequently in tandem with private equity partners.

Once the deal is completed, Aeries’ shares and warrants are expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbols “AERT” and “AERTW”, respectively.