The Daily Dish (6/23/21)
GameStop is a SPAC Now… Kinda
Two mega trends of 2021 are finally colliding, with the original meme stock GameStop becoming an SPAC equivalent.
The video-game retailer has used the recent increase in its market capitalization to transform itself. GameStop has issued new shares worth $552 million in April and $1.1 Billion in June.
Cash now makes up over half of the companies balance sheet, compared with just 13% at the median US-listed companies.
CEO of GameStop, Matt Furlong is planning to tun the company into a different business by investing the cash to invest in M&A, much like SPACs have done in the past few years, technology, new products and blockchain efforts.
Digital Health Company Pear Has an SPAC Merger
Digital Therapeutics company Pear announced an SPAC merger with Thimble Point Acquisition, for a deal valuing the combined entity at around $1.6 billion.
The deal is expected to inject the company with approximately $400 million in cash, which would be used in the rollout of approved therapies and to bring its 14 product candidates in the pipeline through to market.
The funding is also expected to help the company scale its platform for third party product distribution platform. The lofty valuation comes on account of greater use of remote work tools to help deliver healthcare services during the pandemic.
Pear has three apps which are currently approved by the FDA for prescription by doctors, including reSET and reSET-O for people living with substance and opioid use disorders, and a tool for chronic insomniacs called Somryst that could eliminate the need for habit forming sleep medication.
Experimental stage drugs in the company’s portfolio include apps for schizophrenia, pain relief, migraine, depression and irritable bowl syndrome.
China Focuses SPAC Cedarlake Raises over $200 Million
Cederlake, an SPAC created by former Morgan Stanley executive Yi Bao has filed with the SEC to raise up to $200 million in the US. The SPAC aims to focus on finding targets in China’s fast growing consumer, technology and mobility sectors.
The company has joined a growing number of investors to leverage SPACs to list privately held companies in China, which is home to more than 590 unicorns. Founded in 2016, Cedarlake has managed over $2.4 billion of capital across multiple business sectors.
With 4 offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, the company has made over 30 investments in consumer, technology and mobility sectors to date.
