Merger Termination

The parties in a statement said current unfavorable market conditions do not provide an optimal environment for the planned integration.

The deal with Plum was announced three months ago at an implied enterprise value of $705 million.

Terms had called for the target to receive the approximately $69 million of cash held in Mountain Crest’s trust account at deal announcement, although the SPAC's shareholders redeemed more than 92% of the trust on an extension vote last month.

The termination was by mutual agreement, the SPAC said, although no reason was given for abandoning the deal.

The termination was made under terms of the merger agreement that allowed the deal to be called off it it had not closed by Dec. 30, 2022, according to the filing, which did not state why the SPAC waited another 5 1/2 months before walking away from the deal.

Better World has two months remaining on its current deadline extension. The SPAC raised $126 million in an IPO 2 1/2 years ago, although redemptions following multiple extension votes have whittled the trust down to about $32 million.

The original deal terms called for Rana and Afinoz, another financial services company, to be merged with Fintech Ecosystem. Today's regulatory filing does not mention Afinoz nor whether that deal is impacted by the Rana termination.

While XPAC has until Aug. 3 to sign and seal a new deal, the SPAC said in the regulatory filing that the more likely outcome will be liqudation if shareholders approve.

Parabellum shareholders in December approved an extension until September to close the deal, although redemptions were heavy. The NYSE in February suspended trading in Parabellum stock because the SPAC had fallen below the minimum $40 million market cap to remain on the exchange. 

Redemptions on an extension vote in December erased more than 92% of Evo's trust, leaving the SPAC with less than $10 million.