Some Miracle SPAC Deals Succeed, Some in De-Listing Danger (NLX, CIO, ARR, BPW, TLB, UEI)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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We have been given some exclusive coverage on the recent developments in special purpose acquisition companies and blank check companies from SPACupdate .com this morning.  There have been key developments in Overture Acquisition Co. (AMEX: NLX), Asia Special Situation Acquisition Co. (AMEX: CIO), ARMOUR Residential REIT Inc. (ARR), BPW Acquisition Co. (AMEX: BPW), The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB), and Ultimate Escapes (AMEX: UEI).  We have details on each below.

Overture Acquisition Co. (AMEX: NLX) will have its deal vote today to bring public subsidiary of Jefferson National Life Insurance Company in Bermuda. The SPAC was said to be having difficulty completing buybacks, but it announced yesterday it has teamed up with hedge fund Victory Park Capital Advisors in a campaign to buy out votes against its merger. SPACupdate.com predicts this merger will be completed at the last second; warrants for Overture doubled yesterday on the news of Victory Park’s involvement.

Asia Special Situation Acquisition Co. (AMEX: CIO) completed its last-second merger to become a reinsurer and owner of several investment firms last week with the help of Victory Park Capital Advisors, taking its warrants from the bargain bin and catapulting their value. Since then, the company’s shares have traded down nearly 20%, however.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Inc. (ARR) was de-listed from the AMEX after attempting to appeal the exchange’s initial ruling. In 2009, the exchange told ARMOUR it had too few shareholders—as it warned several companies brought public via SPAC. ARMOUR was brought public via Enterprise Acquisition Co.; that SPAC was helped past the finish line (as several blank checks were last year) by Victory Park. The company has applied to have its shares traded on NASDAQ.

BPW Acquisition Co. (AMEX: BPW) will have its vote date on Feb. 24 for its common shareholders who will decide whether or not the SPAC provides ailing retailer The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB). Its warrant vote is expected to be held separately from the common vote; SPACupdate .com is carrying exclusive news on the SPAC’s warrant vote.

Ultimate Escapes (AMEX: UEI) might not remain on the AMEX for so long. The resort operator brought public via Secure America Acquisition Co. (and, again, helped to the finish line by Victory Park) was rapped with a second de-listing threat from the exchange recently. Several other SPACs were given de-listing threats by the AMEX in 2009; it remains to see how several of those will play out.

With more merger votes coming soon, SPACupdate .com will continue to monitor blank checks and their ongoing deal situations.

Brought exclusively by SPACUpdate .com.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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