D & Z Media Acquisition Corp., a blank-check firm co-sponsored by Intercontinental Exchange Inc., plans to close shop and return the cash it raised to investors after its deal hunt failed.
(Bloomberg) — D & Z Media Acquisition Corp., a blank-check firm co-sponsored by Intercontinental Exchange Inc., plans to close shop and return the cash it raised to investors after its deal hunt failed.
The special-purpose acquisition company’s sponsors said the firm will liquidate this week after deciding against adding more cash to its holdings to buy additional time to close a deal. The firm expects the payout to be $10.17 per share after it raised $287.5 million in 2021 with an eye to bringing a media, education-technology or related company public.
The SPAC was led by Chair and Chief Executive Officer Betty Liu, a media entrepreneur and alum of both the New York Stock Exchange and Bloomberg TV. Intercontinental Exchange and Navigation Capital Partners were co-sponsors, filings show.
The once-hot SPAC industry has crumbled as investors opt to take their money and bail on deals while sponsors shutter formerly ambitious efforts. In the last few months, the likes of Wall Street titan Ken Moelis and former NFL quarterback-turned activist Colin Kaepernick have shut down operations.
SPACs are known as blank-check firms because they raise money via public listings with plans to merge with an unidentified target company. They give themselves a short window to buy something or return the cash to investors, and holders have the ability to redeem their investment if they don’t like the deal. Management teams can get short extensions to find and close deals, but they usually have to get shareholder approval and pay them to do it.
The Liu-led venture was hit by a mass investor exodus last month when roughly 97% of investors opted to swap their shares for $10 when they voted to give the SPAC until October to complete a deal. Mark Wiltamuth, the firm’s finance chief, subsequently resigned and gave Liu the role as of Jan. 8.
For firms that have gone public through blank-check mergers, the median stock has wiped out more than 70% of its value. Of the roughly 400 de-SPACs that currently trade, 74 are worth less than $1 while a growing number have either gone bankrupt or agreed to be taken out at fire sale prices.
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