'SPACs Attack' Recap: Looking Back At 5 SPAC Deals, Rumors And Top Headlines

Last week featured five announced SPAC deals and several rumors. The week also had earnings from several well-known former SPACs. Here is a look back at the week in SPACs for deals, rumors and headline news all covered on Benzinga’s “SPACs Attack.”

SPAC Deals

Navitas Semiconductor announced a SPAC deal with Live Oak Acquisition Corp II LOKB. The deal values the company at $1.04 billion. Navitas has proprietary GaNFast, a next generation semiconductor technology that the company says can deliver up to three times faster charging in half the size and weight compared to legacy silicon chips. Over 18 million GaNFast power ICs have shipped to key customers including Dell, Lenovo, LG, Amazon and Belkin. Markets for the GaN include mobile, consumer enterprise, renewables and electric vehicles.

Science 37, a developer of the decentralized clinical trial operating system, announced a SPAC merger with LifeSci Acquisition II Corp LSAQ. The company provides customers with a platform to “empower clinical research while optimizing the experience and outcomes for patients and researchers.” The company has completed over 95 clinical trials involving more than 366,000 patients. Science 37 believes it can speed up patient enrollment, improve patient retention and reach a more representative population. The company works with pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies and academic and governmental institutions.

ESS Tech announced a SPAC deal with ACON S2 Acquisition Corp STWO. ESS Tech is an energy storage company that has a low-cost storage battery that could help support renewables and stabilize the electrical grid. ESS is seeking to develop low-cost energy storage systems unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries. ESS uses abundant elements like iron, salt and water, which are more cost effective and environmentally safe.

Jasper Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on hematopoietic stem cell transplants, is going public with Amplitude Healthcare Acquisition Corporation AMHC. The deal is expected to help Jasper advance their JSP191 through trials in patients with AML/MDS. Jasper is targeting life threatening diseases like blood cancers, sickle cell diseases and immunodeficiencies.

Roivant Sciences is going public with Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp MAAC in a deal valuing the company at $5 billion. Roivant develops transformative medicines for its own business and other companies. Roivant uses physics and machine learning for drug discovery. The company has over 40 drugs in development including eight that have had positive Phase 3 studies. Roivant has ownership stakes in public companies including Immunovant IMVT, Arbutus Biopharma ABUS and Sio Gene Therapies Inc SIOX. Several 2021 events coming from partnered drugs are expected that could lead to FDA approvals.

Related Link: 5 Long Term SPACs For Investors To Consider

SPAC Rumors

Israeli video advertising company Innovid is in talks to go public via SPAC, according to Calcalist. Among the companies mentioned was Ion Acquisition Corp 2 IACB.

Bitcoin miner Iris is weighing a SPAC deal, according to Bloomberg. The deal could be the first SPAC listing for an Australian company.

Gores Technology Partners II GTPB is in talks to take Softbank-backed Alto Pharmacy public in a deal that could value the company at $2.3 billion, Bloomberg reports.

Equinox, an owner of gyms and the majority owner of SoulCycle, is in talks to go public with Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp VI IPOF. A deal could value Equinox at $9 billion, according to sources. SoulCycle is seen as a competitor to Peloton Interactive PTON. Equinox also owns over 100 full-service fitness clubs worldwide and over 100 U.S. locations of discount gym Blink. Equinox owns the Precision Run and Pure Yoga brands as well. Equinox launched a line of luxury hotels in 2019.

Related Link: How To Invest In SPACs 

Headline News

Tattooed Chef TTCF raised its fiscal 2021 guidance from $222 million to a range of $235 million to $242 million. The company also entered into agreements to acquire New Mexico Food Distributors and Karsten Tortilla Factory.

Payoneer, which is merging with FTAC Olympus Acquisition Corp FTOC, announced a deal with EBay Inc EBAY to enable sellers in select countries get paid for their sales using Payoneer’s platform. The deal includes a partnership with EBay sellers in China and will expand to additional countries later this year.

Arrival ARVL announced it has teamed up with Uber Technologies Inc UBER to produce an electric ride-hailing vehicle scheduled for 2023 production. The vehicle will be created using feedback from Uber and its drivers but will not be exclusive to Uber. The newly announced vehicle joins the lineup of electric buses and vans in production from Arrival.

The terms for a merger between CF Finance Acquisition Corp III CFAC and lidar company AEye were amended. The deal will now value the company at $1.52 billion, lowering the valuation of $1.9 billion originally given to the company in February.

PLBY Group Inc PLBY, the company behind Playboy, continued to see shares rise as an NFT play. The company launched non-fungible tokens with NiftyGateway last week.

Genius Sports Limited GENI announced two acquisitions last week. The company is acquiring free-to-play game provider FanHub. Offerings from FanHub include fantasy sports, trivia, bracket challenges, pick-em contests and polling games. FanHub has over 110 live products and more than 3 million active users. Genius also announced the acquisition of Second Spectrum, a video analytics platform for $200 million. Second Spectrum works with the NBA, EPL and MLS.

Several US senators have proposed spending $73 billion to electrify the nation’s 70,000 transit buses. The move is part of the push to have zero-emission vehicles in the U.S. The move could benfit companies like Arrrival, Lion Electric LEV and Proterra, which is set to merge with ArcLight Clean Transition Corp ACTC.

Related content: Benzinga's Full SPAC Calendar

DraftKings Inc DKNG reported first quarter revenue of $312 million, up 175% year-over-year. The company ended the quarter with 1.5 million monthly unique payers, up 114% year-over-year. The company launched sports betting and iGaming in Michigan and launched sports betting in Virginia in the first quarter. DraftKings now has online sports betting in 12 states and iGaming in four states. The company raised its full year revenue guidance from a range of $900 million to $1 billion to a range of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 63% to 79%.

Be sure to tune into "SPACs Attack," Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. EST. Here are the links to the past week’s shows.

• Monday: Legendary Betsy Cohen On SPACs Attack
• Tuesday: 10 SPACs Stocks Under $10: Stocks To Buy?
• Wednesday: What Is Next For $MUDS? Topps NFT
• Thursday: How Sarcos Is Changing The Future
• Friday: Why Li-Cycle Battery Recycling SPAC

Disclosure: Author is long shares LEV, ACTC and IPOF.

Photo by Alexander Mils from Pexels.