Lynk Global merger on hold
January 2, 2024
By Chris Forrester
A proposed merger between Slam Corp, backed by former US professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and direct-to-smartphone operator Lynk Global, has hit a potential problem.
Slam is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) and which raised $575 million (€522.6m) back in November 2021 and intended to secure an investment opportunity.
Slam has now had to return $176 million to those initial investors who have chosen a refund rather than going ahead with the proposed merger.
A Slam letter sent on December 18th 2023 had notified investors of the merger plan with Lynk, but also requested an extension from the current February 2024 deadline to complete the investment and merger.
A Slam filing to the SEC on December 27th 2023 said that an initial extension request to January 25th 2024 to either conclude the merger or to return shareholder funds has been agreed.
However, the SEC notification said that this one-month extension can be further extended month-by-month to January 2025 without needing any further shareholder votes.
Slam states that the transaction with Lynk is expected to close in H2 2024 and that the agreed deal is still on track within that originally stated timeline.
Investors holding 87 per cent of the voting shares in Slam have agreed this initial extension request which prompted the refunds from some investors. After these repayments, Slam said it still has $98 million in the bank.
Lynk has said that a merger with Slam would create a business valued at around $800 million. Lynk currently has three small satellites in operation and has scheduled the launch of two more early in 2024 on a SpaceX ‘rideshare’ mission. Lynk claims it is already providing connectivity to five nations.
Lynk’s aim is to have 5,000 satellites in orbit and delivering direct-to-smartphone services globally.