After months of controversy, Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) shareholders finally extended the deadline to merge their white check company with former President Trump’s media company on Tuesday.
Delay move The alliance between the two companies required 65% shareholder approval, and that was finally completed on Tuesday after months of lobbying from DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando.
The company now has some much-needed headroom, as the vote gave the DWAC Board of Directors the right, without another proxy vote, to delay any merger until the 8th. September 2023.
DWAC stock spiked as soon as the news broke.
The announcement, made by Orlando during a shareholder meeting on Tuesday, comes just days after twin events increased market interest in the company and its troubled efforts. in association with Trump Communications & Technology Corporation (TMTG).
First, Trump announced he was running for president again, and then on Saturday, his Twitter account was reinstated following the results of a poll posted by new owner Elon Musk. The president was permanently banned from the social media platform days after helping incite a riot attack on Capitol Hill in January 2021.
Trump said that he no interest in going back to Twitter and will remain on his own company’s social media platform, Truth Social, but the temptation returns to Twitter – where he has nearly 88 million followers compared to about 4.6 million on Truth Social – is very high. If Trump reverses course and keeps tweeting, it might undermining the business model your media company.
When asked about Musk’s poll and the decision to reinstate Trump during a pre-meeting Q&A session, Orlando said it was an indication “of Mr. Trump’s popularity”. [Trump] is.” Regarding the competitive scene between Truth Social and Twitter, he said, “I think there’s a lot of competition in that scene.”
Story 13 months
Tuesday’s news is just the latest chapter in DWAC’s push to delay the merger. Shareholders have been asked to assemble six times before — on September 6, September 8 (three times), October 10, and November 3 — to vote on the merger at joint meetings. further delayed as Orlando scrambled to get 65% of shareholders voting to approve the plan to delay the merger to 2023.
During Tuesday’s Q&A with the Edge IPO ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, Orlando also reflected on recent months: “It’s been a really tough process when you have so many shareholders like us,” he said. he said. “Retail shareholders often don’t feel they need to get involved,” he added, but they have been diligent in communicating with shareholders, often through an “old-school process” to get them to vote. .
DWAC previously said in stock records that defeat in this vote means it is likely to be “forced into liquidation.”
The company is still under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into whether Trump’s company and DWAC illegally negotiated prior to going public, putting the actual merger on hold until when the investigation is resolved.
In addition to his promises to keep his account on Truth Social, Trump also hinted that he is considering canceling the merger altogether and self-funding his media company, once written in a post, “I don’t need finance, ‘I’m really rich!’ Is there anyone in the private company???”
DWAC began selling stock for the first time more than 13 months ago with shareholders, many of whom are political supporters of Trump, seeing the stock trade between highs of more than $100. /share and as low as $15/share at other times. At a pointDWAC stock soars more than 800% in the midst of a massive two-day buying spree when social media interest in the company peaked.
Ines is a senior stock market reporter. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre.
Ben Werschkul is a reporter for Yahoo Finance in Washington. Follow him on Twitter at @benwerschkul
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