Alpha Star Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ALSA) announced this afternoon that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) to combine with global payments and SaaS provider Cyclebit Group.
Founded in 2012, Cyclebit builds technology across the payments sector including card acquiring, point-of-sale services and marketplace solutions. The Stockholm, Sweden-based payment provider operates a number of brands and solutions, that are focused on solving a specific market need for banks, telco, retail, and distribution customers. It generated $39.3 million in revenue in 2021, but expects to bring in $53.6 million for 2022.
Alpha Star kept the details pertaining to the potential merger to a minimum, but disclosed that Cyclebit’s existing equityholders will roll 100% of their equity into the combined public company. The SPAC expects to announce further details on the business combination once a definitive agreement is signed, which is expected to occur the fourth quarter of 2022.
Alpha Star announced the pricing of its $100 million IPO last year on December 13, 2021, and had originally intended to focus on middle-market growth businesses that have a connection to the Asian markets with a total enterprise value between $300 million and $600 million. Alpha Star is led by Chairman and CEO Zhe Zhang, and CFO Goujian Chen.
This LOI comes days before its deadline on September 15, 2022. The SPAC initially had 9 months to find a business combination, but has the ability to extend for an additional 12 months. Since this deal is not at the “definitive agreement” stage, and is still at the non-binding LOI stage, SPACInsider will not consider this deal “announced”. As such, it will remain in the “Searching” category until a definitive agreement is signed.
At the SPAC of Dawn There are signs that the macro environment for SPACs is gradually improving, but the Screaming Eagle team yesterday announced a non-redemption agreement for its combination with Lionsgate Studios. Such agreements are generally a lever one pulls when a SPAC expects a potentially turbulent closing. All in all, the terms for...
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...