Pioneer Merger Corp. (Nasdaq:PACX) and Acorns, the saving and investing app, announced this morning via 8-K that they have opted to mutually terminate their business combination agreement.
While we do not have a formal press release, according to Bloomberg, the deal was terminated due to market conditions. Furthermore, Acorns intends to now pursue a regular way IPO while also seeking interim funding.
Acorns will be paying a $17.5 million termination fee to Pioneer in order to cancel this transaction, which it will pay in monthly payments through December 15, 2022. This is not a small amount for a company that previously estimated they would not be cash flow or EBITDA positive through at least 2023, according to their presentation.
Interestingly, Acorns CEO Noah Kerner was also quoted in the same article stating that, “...we will be pivoting to a private capital raise at a higher pre-money valuation.” This is part of a larger story where the macro environment (not just SPACs) is such that it means private market funding is going to be more attractive right now than the public equity markets. Inflation, Quantitative Easing, Covid, are all working against the public equity markets.
Pioneer and Acorns originally announced their intended combination on May 27, 2021, a little more than six months ago. Pioneer still has nearly 12 months left on it’s SPAC clock with a completion deadline of January 11, 2023, which is ample time to secure a second business combination.
Pioneer is led by Chairman Jonathan Christodoro, Co-Presidents Rick Gerson and Oscar Salazar alongside CEO Ryan Khoury, COO Scott Carpenter and CFO Matthew Corey.
Terms Tracker for the Week Ending June 27, 2025 Welcome to our weekly column where we discuss the findings from our IPO terms tracker based on the previous week’s pricings. June continued its late-month rally with another five SPAC IPOs pricing this week, bringing the monthly total to 10 and the 2025 year-to-date count to...
Blueport (NASDAQ:BPACU) has filed for a $69 million SPAC that would bring another first-time sponsor team to market. The new SPAC is offering investors a right to a 1/6 share in each unit and it will have 15 months to complete a business combination. It is underwritten by Alliance Global Partners and will not be...
At the SPAC of Dawn The markets appear to poised to continue a rosy week with futures in the green in anticipation of PCE inflation readings. Space is one of the sectors feeling the most love recently and launch services firm Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) is keeping up the momentum, scheduling two launches within 48 hours...
FIGX Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FIGXU) announced the pricing of its $131 million IPO and its units are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “FIGXU”, Friday, June 27, 2025. The new SPAC aims to seek out a financial services target with a particular focus on wealth and asset managers with the potential to...
Yorkville Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:YORKU) announced the pricing of its $150 million IPO and its units are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol “YORKU”, Friday, June 27, 2025. The new SPAC plans to combine with a target company in the telecom, media or technology sectors. Yorkville Acquisition Corp.’s management team is led...