SPAC IPO bankers raised a total of $410 million – as expected – with the pricing of these three deals on Monday night, June 17, 2024. All three SPAC IPOs were set to make their trading debuts today on the NASDAQ. (Editor’s Note: This column, published early today, Tuesday, June 18, 2024, has been updated periodically with news of each SPAC IPO’s trading debut.) Here are the pricing details:
*Lionheart Holdings (CUBWU) raised $200.0 million – 20.0 million units at $10.00 each – with Cantor as the sole book-runner. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant.
*Melar Acquisition Corp. I (MACIU) raised $150.0 million – 15,0 million units at $10.00 each – with Cohen & Company Capital Markets and Seaport Global Securities as the joint book-runners. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one-half of a warrant.
*Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. (FSHPU) raised $60.0 million – 6.0 million units at $10.00 each – with Lucid Capital Markets as the sole book-runner. Each unit consists of one ordinary share and one right to receive one-tenth (1/10) of an ordinary share upon the consummation of an initial business combination.
Worth noting: Lionheart Holdings changed its proposed NASDAQ symbol to “CUBWU” from the original “CUBBU” – according to an S-1/A filing on June 7, 2024.
All three SPAC IPOs were priced in sync with the terms in their prospectuses.
They have one more thing in common: Each of these SPACs is incorporated in the Cayman Islands, their SEC filings show.
At pricing, Lionheart Holdings became the fourth SPAC IPO priced so far in June 2024 and the 13th SPAC IPO priced for the year to date, while Melar Acquisition Corp. I became the fifth SPAC IPO priced in June 2024 and the 14th SPAC IPO priced so far in 2024. Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. – at pricing – became the sixth SPAC IPO priced in June 2024 so far and the 15th SPAC IPO priced in 2024 for the year to date.
Lionheart Holdings of Miami
Ophir Sternberg, the founder and CEO of Lionheart Capital LLC of Miami, is the founding director of Lionheart Holdings. He is also the CEO, president and chairman of the board of Lionheart Holdings. Sternberg has over 30 years of experience acquiring, developing, repositioning and investing in all segments of the real estate industry, including office, industrial, retail, hospitality, ultra-luxury residential condominiums and land acquisitions, the prospectus says.
Lionheart Holdings says it may pursue an initial business combination in any business or industry.
Shares of Lionheart Holdings opened at $10.01 – up 1 cent – in their NASDAQ debut at 11:03 a.m. EDT today on volume of about 2.61 million shares.
Lionheart Holdings’ stock closed at $10.01 – ending its first day of NASDAQ trading right where it started – on volume of 15,701,959 shares.
Melar Acquisition I of New York
Melar Acquisition Corp. I, based in New York, intends “to search for target companies in retail finance, specialty finance or financial technology, which we view as the emerging finance sector,” the SPAC says in its IPO prospectus.
Shares of Melar Acquisition I opened at $10.02 – up 2 cents – at 10:31 a.m. EDT today – Tuesday, June 18, 2024 – on volume of about 1.11 million shares on the NASDAQ.
Melar Acquisition I’s stock ended flat at $10.00 – even with its IPO price – on its first day of NASDAQ trading on volume of 11,883,818 shares.
Gautam Ivatury is the CEO of Melar Acquisition I. He is also the co-founder and managing partner of ALMA Sustainable Finance, a debt investment firm.
Its SEC filings show that Melar Acquisition I is a family affair:
*Edward Lifshitz, a former partner at EisnerAmper, is the chief financial officer (CFO).
*His son, Eric Lifshitz, the founder of Melar Capital Group, a real estate advisory and investment firm, is the chief operating officer (COO).
Flag Ship Acquisition & China
Flag Ship Acquisition Corp., based in New York, says its management team’s experience in Asia – decades of involvement in M&A and operating companies there – should be beneficial in its search for an acquisition or business combination target, the prospectus says. This SPAC will focus on target companies with a connection to the Asian market.
“We will primarily seek to acquire one or more growth businesses with a total enterprise value of between $200 million and $400 million,” Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. says in the prospectus.
Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. says its “executive officers’ and directors’ ties to China mean that we are more likely to acquire a company based in China in an initial business combination,” according to the prospectus. (Please see the “Risk Factors” section of the prospectus.)
However, the SPAC makes it clear that there is a line on the accounting side that it will not cross.
“We will not consider or undertake an initial business combination with any target company the financial statements of which are audited by an accounting firm that the United States Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”) is unable to inspect for two consecutive years,” the prospectus says.
Matthew Chen, a U.S. citizen, is the CEO and chairman of Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. Chen is also the managing director of Darong Hechuang (Guangdong) International Investment Corp. Earlier in his career, he was the global head of the credit derivative market making platform at J.P. Morgan’s London branch from 2011 to January 2018. Chen controls the SPAC’s sponsor, Whale Management Corp. The sponsor, however, “has substantial ties with non-U.S. persons,” the prospectus says.
Shares of Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. rose 5 cents to open at $10.05 in their NASDAQ debut today at 11:41 a.m. EDT on Thursday. Volume at the opening trade was 512,022 shares.
Flag Ship Acquisition Corp.’s stock ended Tuesday’s regular session – its first day of NASDAQ trading – at $10.00, even with its IPO price, on volume of 4,089,605 shares.
On its way to going public, Flag Ship Acquisition Corp. cut the size of its SPAC IPO to 6.0 million units – down from 10.0 million units initially – and kept the IPO price at $10.00 per unit – according to an S-1/A filing in mid-December 2022.
(For more information about these companies, please check the IPO Calendar and the individual IPO Profiles found on our website: IPOScoop.com )
Note: Never trade on proposed symbols. They have been known to change and you might buy something on the OTC Bulletin Board.
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