Digital World Acquisition in a preliminary proxy proposes another extension on its pending merger with Trump Media and Technology Group, this time from September 2023 up to Sept. 8 2024 in three-month increments.
The current extension was approved by shareholders back in November. Before and since, the deal has hit almost every conceivable pothole in the road leading to a public listing:
Digital World shares surged, then plunged after Trump Media announced — then missed — its app launch date.
A former executive at Trump Media filed a whistleblower complaint last year, predicting the former president’s fledgling media company would go bankrupt.
Federal investigators are looking into allegations the SPAC and Trump Media held merger discussions before Digital World launched its IPO — a move that would be illegal.
Investigators are also said to be looking at unusual trading activity in the SPAC’s warrants just before deal announcement.
Digital World’s founder and former CEO Patrick Orlando was fired from his chief executive duties in March, although he remains on the board.
And the SPAC’s shares have gone on a rollercoaster ride virtually every time the former president makes the news in any significant way.
It is not clear whether investigations into the deal by the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors in Manhattan will be completed in advance of the current deadline. The SEC must still approve the merger.
Some PIPE investors have already bailed out of the deal after originally committing $1 billion in private equity. PIPE investors yanked $138.5 million off the table in September 2022, after the merger failed to close that month as the deal was originally presented.
Digital World raised $250 million in a September 2021 IPO. The deal with Trump’s company was announced about seven weeks later. Read more.
