MDH Acquisition Corp. (NYSE:MDH) has mutually terminated its combination agreement with digital auto insurance provider Olive.com.
The press release did not include a reasoning for the breakup, but like many deals in the first half of 2022, the general malaise in the current market was the likely culprit. MDH aims to continue to seek out a target and has most of a year to do so with its transaction deadline coming up in February 2023.
It has been a theme of SPAC deal adjustments of the past few months that the path to completion in this environment may require either additional financing or a re-strike of the deal. Given that the market conditions and universe of comparable companies have changed radically in some cases since last fall, one might have expected more re-struck deals. In Olive.com’s case, its closest public comps Lemonade (NYSE:LMND) and de-SPACs Hippo (NYSE:HIPO) and Metromile (NASDAQ:MILE) have all fallen between -69% and -80% since this deal was announced on July 22.
But, as this and other terminations may indicate, teams have found it easier to tack on new financing rather than to re-open the valuation question and when they do the latter a full parting of ways can occur. Nonetheless, with other options available, packing one’s bags and saying farewell can be the best thing for both sides in this market.
Israeli tech firms have made up an outsized proportion of SPAC activity and despite the ongoing tensions in its region, that dealmaking is continuing unabated. In fact, the SPAC named for the particular mission of taking Israeli firms public through SPACs, Israel Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ISRL) in fact just took one step closer in completing that...
At the SPAC of Dawn Although the market has largely recovered from a negative stretch last week, the roller coaster is tilted back downward for Trump Media (NASDAQ:DJT), which slid -8% yesterday to $32.57 – one of its lowest points since closing with Digital World last month. Other SPACs and de-SPACs are having a more...
Remember the metaverse? Many do not. Meta’s (NASDAQ:META) attempted transition to virtually living and working seemed to mark a trend that went up and down quickly, but one SPAC deal has both survived that roller coaster and may rise with a second. Back in December 2022, Newbury Street (NASDAQ:NBST) announced a $1.85 billion combination with...
At the SPAC of Dawn Tucked into the bill that provides $95 billion in funding to American allies passed by the House this weekend is another measure that is likely to have far more impact on at least one pending deal in SPAC world. It would appear that the timing was fortuitous for TikTok rival...
With the passage this weekend of $95 billion in funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan by the House of Representatives, some focus has gone back towards the defense sector, which has generally had a good year as a whole. But, SPACs have not been as active in defense, despite the fact that companies in the...