Digital World Acquisition Corp., the SPAC aiming to take former President Donald Trump’s media company public, adjourned its shareholder meeting by another three hours to allow voting to continue on delaying the merger.
The deadline for the merger is Thursday, and the vote could decide the fate of a $1.3 billion cash infusion from DWAC’s public offering and Trump Media and Technology Group’s potential listing on the stock market.
Trump Media owns Truth Social, which was founded by the former president after he was banned from Twitter following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Shares of DWAC were up 6% in afternoon trading.
Digital World previously warned that the vote’s failure could result in the SPAC’s liquidation. More recently, DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando said he intends to initiate a “built-in” extension with a $2.8 million injection from his company and DWAC sponsor ARC Global Investments II.
DWAC had been scheduled to announce the vote results on Tuesday, but Orlando adjourned its special meeting after just two minutes to provide more times for voting. Earlier in the day, Reuters had reported that DWAC had failed to garner the votes necessary for the extension, citing sources familiar with the matter.
DWAC needs 65% of shareholders to support the extension of the merger deadline. While 20% of those shares are held by Orlando through ARC Global Investments, he says the deal has attracted many retail investors. Orlando has been rallying those investors to vote on Truth Social.
Trump Media has denied reports of financial strife that alleged that the company owed over $1 million to a contractor. The former president has indicated that company may not need the cash infusion from the DWAC deal.
“In any event, I don’t need financing, ‘I’m really rich!’ Private company anyone???” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Saturday.
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