Dubai-based investment bank Shuaa Capital is liquidating its Nasdaq-listed $100 million special purpose acquisition company, amid uncertain market conditions.
The company’s board has approved the liquidation of the Spac vehicle set up last year, Shuaa said in a regulatory filing on Monday, to the Dubai Financial Market, where its shares are traded.
Shuaa has decided “not to proceed further with finding a target entity considering current market conditions”, it said.
Shuaa Partners Acquisition Corp I was listed on Nasdaq in March last year.
The first of three planned Spac vehicles by Shuaa, it was launched following the investment bank’s participation in the Anghami transaction that involved the listing of the music streaming company in New York through a Spac merger.
Shuaa Spac was looking to acquire technology and tech-enabled financial services growth businesses based in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region, the company said at the time.
A Spac is a vehicle with no commercial operations and is formed with the intention of raising funds through an initial public offering and then acquiring an existing company.
Spacs have lighter disclosure requirements than IPOs and have been increasingly used over the past two years to take fast-growing companies public quickly.
However, slowing global growth and mounting geopolitical tensions have given rise to uncertainty in global equity markets that has dented the appetite for Spac deals.
In the UAE, ADC Acquisition Corporation, a Spac set up by Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ and private investment firm Chimera Investments, has seen more success.
ADC agreed to acquire Abu Dhabi-based United Printing and Publishing, in what was the region's first Spac merger deal, the company said in a filing to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in September.
UPP received Dh1.1 billion ($299 million) of new cash from ADC under the deal, which valued UPP at Dh600 million, ADC said at the time.
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Points to remember
- Debate the issue, don't attack the person
- Build the relationship and dialogue by seeking to find common ground
- Express passion for the issue but be aware of when you're losing control or when there's anger. If there is, pause and take some time out.
- Listen actively without interrupting
- Avoid assumptions, seek understanding, ask questions
