The Daily Dish (10/01/21)
Lordstown Motors Shares Surge After Foxconn Factory Deal
Shares in Lordstown Motors were up as much as 21% as the company entered into an in-principal agreement to sell its assembly plant in Ohio to Foxconn for $230 million. Under the deal, the Taiwan-based electronics contract manufacturer will assemble Lordstown’s first product, which is billed to be an all-electric pickup truck, called the Endurance.
Selling the plant to the iPhone maker will infuse the company with much-needed liquidity, while also ensuring that Foxconn gets a jump start to produce EVs. Foxconn also has a deal with EV maker Fiskar to produce vehicles over the next few years. The deal also includes the purchase of $50 million in Lordstown stock by Foxconn.
The news comes at a great time for Lordstown, which has been strapped for cash as it attempts to begin production of the Endurance.
The company’s management had gone so far as to say that there was substantial doubt for the company to continue operations so the deal with Foxconn comes at an opportune time.
Amicus Spins off $600 Million Gene Therapy Business in SPAC Deal
Biopharma Company Amicus has had a tough few years where a lot of the products in the pipeline have failed, resulting in a rollercoaster ride for investors.
In a bid to streamline its business, the company is spinning its gene therapy business in a $600 million SPAC merger with ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp IV. The deal will include $400 million in funding from the SPAC trust and $200 million in private funding.
Amicus will still retain a 36% stake in the new company with current CEO John Crowley leading the company.
The company’s pipeline includes two Batten disease programs with clinical proof of concept in CLN6 and CLN3, which it snapped up from the $100 million buyouts from Celenex three years ago.
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Cannabis Firm Parallel Terminates SPAC Merger
Ceres Acquisition Corp and Cannabis producer Parallel have decided to mutually terminate their $1.88 Billion SPAC merger agreement. Canada-based Ceres Acquisition will now have time till next March to find another private company to merge with.
Several Investors have lost confidence in the company’s ability to meet its lofty projections when the deal was announced resulting in the plug being pulled on the deal. Investors who had committed to a $225 million PIPE funding refused to invest over the following months.
Parallel is led by billionaire William Wrigley Jr and sells products like gummies, vapes, and balms.
Other SPAC deals that have collapsed over the last few months include sports card maker Topps and the Universal Music Group Investment from PSTH.
