Sports & Health Tech Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company backed by professional golfer Tiger Woods, asked to withdraw its registration for an IPO filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. — Reuters
NEW YORK: Sports & Health Tech Acquisition Corp, the blank-cheque firm backed by professional golfer Tiger Woods, has dropped its plans for a US$150mil (RM655.1mil) initial public offering (IPO).
The special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) asked to withdraw its registration for an IPO filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The firm said last year it was planning to seek a merger target in the sports or health tech sectors with an enterprise value of US$600mil (RM2.62bil) to US$1bil ( RM4.37bil).
The SPAC was set to be led by Andrew White, who is chairman of LeAD Sports Ltd, a sports and health technology business with Christopher Hubman slated to fill the role of finance chief.
Hubman has been the chief financial officer of Tiger Woods Ventures since 2000.
The Woods-backed venture’s management team boasted athletes including tennis star Caroline Wozniacki and former National Basketball Association player David Lee in the January 2022 filing.
The once-hot blank-cheque industry has withered after a crackdown by regulators soured investor sentiment toward the market.
It’s been a painful fallout for an industry that attracted legions of retail investors for projects tied to celebrities, politicians and athletes at the height of its mania before fizzling.
The SPAC market’s choppy performance has driven the most-seasoned sponsors to pull the plug on offerings, including those backed by industry titan Alec Gores, while others with ties to former athletes like Colin Kaepernick, the former National Football League quarterback-turned activist, are throwing in the towel.
Shares of SPACs that completed deals have mostly fizzled with the De-SPAC Index down 67% in the past year. — Bloomberg
