The Daily Dish (09/30/21)
Chamath Palihapitiya Believes SPAC Revolution Still Early Despite Recent Challenges
Chamath Palihapitiya, who has been dubbed as the ‘King of SPACs’ believes that the long-term SPAC market remains healthy despite mounting regulatory pressure, the slowdown in deals, and underperformance after de-SPAC.
Palihapitiya, who has raised billions of dollars and launched 10 SPACs so far, believes that SPAC sponsors should have more skin in the game, both through more up-front capital and incentives that are better aligned with investors.
Through his SPACs, Palihapitiya has completed high-profile deals that include Space Tourism Company Virgin Galactic Holdings, Online Real Estate Platform Opendoor Technology, and Health Insurance Company Clover Health Investments.
The latter has been a target of short-selling firm Hindenburg Research, which claims the firm of concealing a US Department of Justice inquiry into its business. Ultimately, Palihapitiya believes that the current SPAC correction will separate “the wheat from the chaff” and lead to higher quality deals in the future.
LumiraDX has an Underwhelming SPAC Listing, Stock Down 20%
Point of care diagnostic testing company LumiraDx saw shares tumble more than 20% to close below $8 on its listing debut on Wednesday. LMDX announced its SPAC deal with CA Healthcare Acquisition Corp back in April, valuing the company at $5 billion.
Since then, the company has revised its valuation to $3 billion citing general market decline for Covid-19 testing volumes and the recent market environment for the publicly traded diagnostic company being unfavorable.
While the company originally expected to raise $115 million in gross proceeds, 67% of CA Healthcare shareholders redeemed shares, resulting in funds of only $38 million.
LumiraDX boasts a pipeline of more than 30 testing kits across common health conditions including infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and coagulation disorders.
Reddit Reads
GSAH Sets Merger Vote for October 19th
Shareholders of GS Acquisition Corp II will meet on October 19th to approve the SPAC merger with Mirion Technologies.
SEAH Updates Investor Presentation, Stock Volumes Surge
Highlights from the presentation include the fact that SEAH is both profitable and debt-free while having a global footprint.
3D Printing Company Shapeways Makes SPAC Debut Today
New-York based 3D printing company Shapeways, is set to make its SPAC debut on the NYSE today after a successful merger with Galileo Acquisition Corp.
The deal values the company at $605 million with Shapeways receiving $103 million in gross proceeds, which includes a $75 million PIPE investment from Miller Value, XN, and Desktop Metal.
Shapeways is part of the fast-growing 3D printing space, which differs from traditional manufacturing by allowing manufacturers to use only the materials needed to make a given part or product, enabling flexibility to make changes to product molds.
Shapeways has already produced and shaped as many as 20 million parts through additive manufacturing.
