Blue Ocean Acquisition, which has a merger agreement with TNL Mediagene, said 4,415,265 Class A shares have been redeemed ahead of tomorrow’s scheduled vote on a deadline extension. The SPAC said that would leave 1,741,950 shares outstanding if no redemptions are reversed.
Blue Ocean wants approval to push its completion deadline to Dec. 7.
The SPAC said it needs more time to finalize its deal with TNL Mediagene, an Asian digital-media company. Announced last June, the transaction has a pre-money enterprise value of approximately $275 million.
If the merger is approved, the combined company intends to build TNL Mediagene’s presence in Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, delivering politically neutral content on news, business, technology, science, sports, food and lifestyles.
In addition to the SPAC’s cash in trust, the parties said they intend to raise a $35 million PIPE. At deal closing, TNL Mediagene expects to have $20 million in new cash after expenses but before paying down any debt.
The combined company intends to build TNL Mediagene’s presence in Japan, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, delivering politically neutral content on news, business, technology, science, sports, food and lifestyles. It will expand its brand portfolio of millennial- and Gen Z-targeted Chinese, Japanese and English digital products and widen the reach of its AI-driven analytics, advertising and marketing technology products.
The SPAC raised $165 million in a December 2021 IPO, but lost about 83% of its trust to redemptions ahead of a May 2023 deadline extension vote. Read more.
