SPACs Attack Recap: 5 Deals, Rumors And Headline News

It was another busy week for the SPAC market with numerous deal announcements and rumored deals. Benzinga's "SPACs Attack" covered it all throughout the week.

Here is a look back at the announced deals, rumors and some top headlines.

SPAC Deals

Vicarious Surgical, a next-gen robotics company backed by Bill Gates, announced a SPAC merger to bring the company public. D8 Holdings Corp DEH will bring Vicarious public in a deal valuing the company at $1.1 billion. Gates and Becton, Dickinson BDX are among the PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity — a way to attract investment from accredited investors) investors in the deal.

The company develops disruptive technology with the goal of increasing efficiency of surgical procedures, improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. Vicarious says its devices have lower costs and are more portable than legacy robotic surgery offerings.

Tissue repair and regeneration company Surrozen is going public via SPAC merger with Consonance-HFW Acquisition Corp CHFW. Proceeds from the deal will be used to help Surrozen advance its pipeline of projects through Phase 1b trials and to discover more pre-clinical antibody programs. The company will nominate former Pfizer PFE Chief Medical Officer Mace Rothenberg to its board of directors.

Independent music company Reservoir Holdings is going public in a SPAC merger with Roth CH Acquisition Co II ROCC valuing the company at $788 million. Reservoir Media has over 140,000 copyrights under its music publishing business including hits from Johnny Cash, John Denver, Lady Gaga, Cardi B and Bruno Mars.

The company also has a creative business that represents musicians and has rights to more than 26,000 sound recordings that include popular movie soundtracks. Reservoir Media has not announced any plans to launch NFTs but could be seen as a company that could have upside in the space.

Leading Southeast Asia online food delivery, ride-hailing and digital wallet company Grab, is going public in the largest SPAC deal ever. A merger with Altimeter Growth Corp AGC values Grab at $39.6 billion. Grab had gross merchandise value of $12.5 billion in 2020. The company targets the 670 million residents of the Southeast Asia region, one of the fastest growing digital economies in the world.

Online penetration for food delivery and electronic transactions in the regions remains low compared to regions like the U.S. and China. Grab has diversified its product offerings, and the company is seeing customers use more of its services. The proportion of Grab users that use two or more services grew five times over the last to years, according to the company.

Biotech company Tango Therapeutics announced a SPAC merger with BCTG Acquisition Corp BCTG. Tango develops drugs based on synthetic lethality, a concept that involves tapping into a genetic vulnerability in cancer. The company has a partnership with Gilead Sciences Inc GILD for up to 15 targets. Tango expects to file an investigational new drug application by the end of 2021 for its lead drug.

SPAC Rumors

Chinese automaker Geely is exploring the SPAC option to go public. No specific SPACs have been mentioned yet.

Israeli chipmaker Valens is in talks to go public with PTK Acquisition Corp PTK in a deal that could value the company at up to $1.2 billion.

Medical startup Babylon is in talks with Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp KURI to go public. Babylon connects patients and doctors via an app. A deal could value Babylon at more than $3 billion.

Connected vehicle technology company Autotalks is in talks to go public via SPAC merger. A deal could value the company at $2 billion. No specific companies have been mentioned yet. Autotalks has strategic contracts with Volkswagen VWAGY and Toyota Motor Corp TM.

Impossible Foods also is exploring to go public via SPAC or traditional IPO.

Headline News

Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp SRNGU, which is in talks to take Ginkgo Bioworks public, will split its units on Monday April 19. Investors will be able to buy common shares and warrants beginning next week.

DraftKings Inc DKNG was one of three companies named as official sports betting partners of the NFL. The companies will be able to use official league logos and be partners on media and content. The companies also will use official in-game data from the NFL. The data is provided to sports betting companies by Genius Sports, which is going public with dMY Technology Group II DMYD.

Shares of Clover Health Investments Corp CLOV rose Friday as the company was mentioned as a short squeeze candidate with a high percentage of its float traded short.

REE Automotive, which is going public with 10X Capital Venture Acquisition Corp VCVC, signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Magna International MGA. The partnership will bring a modular electric vehicle design under the Powered by REE brand for potential partners with Magna.

Iconic trading card manufacturer Topps announced plans to launch MLB NFTs on April 20. Standard packs that contain six digital cards will sell for $5 and premium packs that contain 45 digital cards will sell for $100. Topps is going public in a SPAC merger with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II MUDS.

News also came out that the SEC could delay the issuing of new SPAC IPOs, with plans to reclassify SPAC warrants as liabilities instead of equity.

Quantumscape Corp QS shares fell on a short report from Scorpion Capital labeling the company “a pump and dump SPAC scam by Silicon Valley celebrities.”

Software company AvePoint, which is going public with Apex Technology Acquisition Corp APXT, reported first quarter subscription revenue growth of 49% year-over-year in what is normally its slowest quarter. The company raised its full year revenue target to $194 million. The company also authorized a $20 million share buyback of Apex Technology Acquisition Crop shares prior to the SPAC merger closing.

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: Changing Digital Health With ShareCare SPAC Interview
• Tuesday: Best SPAC Stocks Under $10.50?
• Wednesday: Crypto, Lending, Payment, Banking SPACs Coinbase IPO
• Thursday: Origin Materials Joins SPACs Attack AACQ
• Friday: Why AeroFarms SPAC? SV

Disclosure: The author is long shares of SRNGU.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash.