Upcoming SPAC listings are on life support
Hedge funds are cashing in as “desperate” SPACs hemorrhage investments: Special purpose acquisition companies are having to turn to hedge funds to help close their mergers as investors pull funds at increasing rates, the Financial Times reports. More regulatory scrutiny, poor performances, and scandals have dimmed investors’ appetite for the unorthodox investment vehicles, leading SPAC managers to look to hedge funds for short-term, loan-like arrangements in a “desperate” bid to fill finance gaps. The hedge funds’ capital is returned to them as soon as the SPAC transaction closes, in an expensive and short term arrangement that leaves newly public companies with depleted coffers. M&A lawyers characterized the transactions as “toxic,” while one SPAC sponsor described hedge funds who engage in the practice as “ambulance chasers.”
From the Gulf:
- Gulf fintech major Tabby raises USD 54 mn round: Emirati buy-now-pay-later provider Tabby has raised USD 54 mn in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital India and Saudi VC firm STV, bringing its total funds raised so far to USD 180 mn, Bloomberg reports. Tabby was once the “most funded” fintech in the region, before MNT-Halan blew past the milestone with a blockbuster USD 120 mn funding round late last year.
- Selling Neom in New York: Execs at the Saudi crown prince’s USD 500 bn city of the future will gauge investment appetite on Wall Street at an April meeting in New York. (Bloomberg)
- Saudi Arabia will greenlight single-stock futures trading in the second quarter of this year, Tadawul Stock Exchange CEO Khalid Al-Hussan told Bloomberg TV. The Saudi bourse will initially choose 10 liquid companies for futures trading, Al-Hussan said, with more to follow depending on investor demand. The move aims to boost liquidity by further liberalizing the exchange and luring foreign investors.
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EGX30 |
10,701 |
-3.6% (YTD: -10.4%) |
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USD (CBE) |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
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USD at CIB |
Buy 15.66 |
Sell 15.76 |
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Interest rates CBE |
8.25% deposit |
9.25% lending |
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Tadawul |
12,808 |
0.0% (YTD: +13.5%) |
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ADX |
9,672 |
-0.1% (YTD: +14.0%) |
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DFM |
3,419 |
-0.9% (YTD: +7.0%) |
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S&P 500 |
4,201 |
-3.0% (YTD: -11.9%) |
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FTSE 100 |
6,959 |
-0.4% (YTD: -5.8%) |
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Brent crude |
USD 124.40 |
+5.3% |
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Natural gas (Nymex) |
USD 4.83 |
-3.7% |
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Gold |
USD 1,996 |
+1.5% |
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BTC |
USD 38,226 |
-2.3% (as of midnight) |
THE CLOSING BELL-
The EGX30 fell 3.6% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.49 bn (36.7% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 10.4% YTD.
In the green: Abu Qir Fertilizers (+0.9%), Cleopatra Hospital (+0.9%) and Mopco (+0.5%).
In the red: CIB (-7.2%), Rameda (-7.0%) and MM Group (-6.7%).