Morning Roundup: November 28, 2023

SPAC-morning-roundup

Morning Roundup: November 28, 2023

At the SPAC of Dawn

SPAC closing timelines can always be somewhat unpredictable, but PROOF I (NYSE:PACI) has the opportunity today to vie for a recent speed record today.

It announced a combination with private aviation firm Volato 118 days ago on August 2 and its shareholders are set to vote to approve the combination later today. Even should it close the deal swiftly after the vote, it would still not beat out this year’s land-speed champion Black Spade in its 91-day sprint to close with VinFast (NASDAQ:VFS).

Nonetheless, PROOF I’s deal might not have quite as much wind beneath its wings had it scheduled the meeting a couple weeks earlier. Private aviation has seen a surge in demand since pandemic and the US set records at both the individual airport-level and nationally with the volume of fliers in the skies last week for the Thanksgiving holidays.

The proof will still be in the pudding with redemptions for the deal, however, as the SPAC has not attached committed outside funding to the transaction yet since announcement and it has a $35 million minimum cash condition to hit.


Deals and Funding

  • L Catterton Asia (NASDAQ:LCAA) has added $750 million in new financing commitments in the form of convertible notes that add to $120 million in existing PIPE funding. PIPE investors and note holders are expected to own 19% of the combined company at close.
  • Plum I (NASDAQ:PLMI) has advanced its letter-of-intent to combine with Veea to a definitive agreement at an enterprise value of $281 million. Veea, a digital transformation company, is expected to secure $50 million in private financing prior to the transaction’s close.
  • Kernel Group (NASDAQ:KRNL) has mutually terminated a forward purchase agreement with Meteora Capital Partners that would have seen it purchase up to 7,700,000 kernel shares. Meteora will receive 50,000 shares as compensation for the termination.

News and Rumors

  • CFO Dive: Pagaya (NASDAQ:PGY) CFO Michael Kurlander is leaving the technology firm after two years. The departing Kurlander came to Pagaya In June of 2021, roughly a year before Pagaya shares began trading on Nasdaq in June of 2022 after completing a business combination with EJF Acquisition Corp.
  • PR: Fusion Fuel Green (NASDAQ:HTOO) has raised $20 million in senior convertible notes financing from Macquarie with a 4% interest rate just under three years out from its combination with HL in December 2020.

Scheduling Notes

  • DHC (NASDAQ:DHCA) is pushing its November 30 extension vote to 9 am ET December 1 and shareholders will now have until 5 pm ET November 30 to make redemption decisions. DHC announced a $358 million combination with customer engagement firm BEN in September.