A merger between Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula’s blank check company and a life insurance asset manager announced last year went forward Thursday but it was without most of the SPAC’s investors, creating the potential for cash flow issues.
Since Pegula’s East Resources Acquisition Corp. reached the initial agreement with Abacus Settlements LLC and Longevity Market Assets LLC in August, 92% of shareholders in the SPAC have cashed in on their stock – essentially taking their money back, according to a report from Bloomberg.
However, that volatility did not deter the company now known as Abacus Life Inc. from going forward with the deal. Orlando-based Abacus Life is now publicly listed on Nasdaq and was slated to receive up to $98 million of cash allowing the company to lower its cost of capital, scale its current portfolio and begin securing additional policies.
While special purpose acquisition companies, known as SPACs – formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering or to acquire or merge with an existing company – are fizzling after a hot few years, having Pegula as a deal partner is still enough to create momentum for Abacus Life, Jay Jackson, Abacus chief executive, told Bloomberg.
The merger was approved during a special meeting Thursday by the required number of remaining shareholders of East Resources. The vote also gave the remaining holders the opportunity to cash in their stock. The final vote tally will be disclosed within four days in a separate filing.
“Abacus’ leadership has built a leading business in the life settlement industry with a deep management team, each with decades of experience,” Pegula, East Resources’ CEO, chairman and president, said in a statement after the deal was initially reached. “We are very fortunate to have found such a great partner for the SPAC and more importantly for shareholders, a company that is a highly scalable, sector market leader,…
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