The Daily Dish (08/25/21)
ARK Invest Now Has an 11% Stake in Harry Sloan SPAC
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest now has an 11% stake in a SPAC that is backed by former Hollywood executive Harry Sloan. ARK Invest added another 1.2 million shares of Soaring Eagle Acquisition on Tuesday and now has nearly 18.5 million shares across ARK Innovation ETF and ARK Genomic Revolution ETF.
Soaring Eagle Acquisition agreed to a merger with cell-engineering company Ginkgo Bioworks in May which in a deal valued at $17.5 Billion. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, with shares expected to list on the NYSE under the ticker ‘DNA’.
ARK has been expanding its stake in recent days, with Soaring Eagle joining a list of companies where ARK holds more than a 10% stake.
Holding such a large position will mean that ARK will be categorised as an insider resulting in short-swing profit disgorgement rules. Under the stipulation, an insider must return any profits made from the purchase and sale of company stock within six months.
Apollo is Building a $500 Million SPAC Fund
Apollo Global Management is raising $500 Million in a fund that aims to invest in SPACs.
The fund will be one of the first of its kind and will buy stakes in IPOs and private placements of SPACs as well as provide liquidity to SPAC managers by acquiring their founder shares.
Apollo has launched its own SPACs, which include Spartan Energy Acquisition Corp and Spartan Acquisition Corp II, which have merged with EV maker Fisker and solar panel lender Sunlight Financial Holdings respectively.
Apollo has over $470 Billion in assets under management in credit, private equity and real estate.
Landa Digital Printing is Negotiating SPAC Deal at $2 Billion Valuation
Digital Printing Company LDP is currently negotiating a deal with a Nasdaq traded SPAC in a deal that is rumoured to value the company at $2 Billion.
The negotiations have been ongoing for the past couple of months with LDP having hired Bank of America to lead the move.
The company has raised over $700 million to date, with the last round raising $300 million at a $1.8 Billion valuation back in June 2018. LDP, which was initially spun out of Landa Labs over a decade ago, currently employs over 550 people.
Serial Israeli Entrepreneur Benny Landa is the majority shareholder with a 54% stake.
