The blank-check company trying to take Donald Trump’s social media company public is facing difficulties getting shareholders to approve an extension of the deal’s deadline. Two short sellers previously raised doubts about the merger agreement, which was signed almost a year ago.
On Tuesday, Digital World Acquisition Corporation adjourned a special meeting to give shareholders more time to approve an extension of the deadline for the company’s merger with Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the former U.S. president’s Truth Social app.
Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) headed by ex-investment banker Patrick Orlando, needs 65% of its shareholders to agree to the extension. Failure to do so could lead to the vehicle’s liquidation. This would prevent Trump’s social media company from accessing the $1.3 billion cash raised by the SPAC to fund the deal.
Digital World shares fell 11.4% Tuesday and were down another 6% in pre-market trading Wednesday amid worries investors will not give the nod at the rescheduled meeting Thursday.
When the merger was announced in October last year, the SPAC’s stock skyrocketed, prompting Iceberg Research to take a short bet. Iceberg said at the time that the deal was plagued by legal and financial issues likely to cause pain for shareholders. Digital World has yet to obtain regulatory approval for the contract, which raises doubts over its terms.
Earlier this year in April, Kerrisdale Capital Management emerged with a report predicting the SPAC would collapse due to regulatory hurdles. The short outfit cited “materially false and misleading ” statements in the merger documents.
Despite these problems, Digital World’s stock is still trading above its windup price of around $10 per share, closing at $22.13 Tuesday.