890 5th Avenue Partners’ stockholders approved the business combination with digital media company BuzzFeed. However, without mentioning redemptions, the SPAC said only $16.2 million remains in its trust account.
The SPAC raised $287.5 million in a January IPO, so redemptions would have to be in the vicinity of 94%.
890 5th Avenue said in a news release that another $150 million in convertible notes would also go toward closing the deal, providing a total of $166.2 million. That’s about 62% less than the $438 million in proceeds expected when the deal was announced in June.
Even as shareholders were voting yesterday, employees of Buzzfeed’s news media division walked off the job in a virtual strike.
The redemptions drag the deal value down from its original $1.5 billion, which already was below the $1.7 billion mark BuzzFeed got from VC firms in 2016.
The SPAC said the deal is still expected to close today. Read more.
