Digital World Acquisition Corp. is attempting to extend the deadline for completing its merger with the Trump Media and Technology Group of former President Donald Trump.
Shares of DWAC dipped on Monday as investors pondered the delay and Trump’s multiple legal concerns.
Trump Media is likewise said to be in serious financial trouble.
The stock price of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, the business that seeks to take Trump Media and Technology Group public, fell on Monday as shareholders considered delaying the merger while the former president dealt with a slew of legal issues.
According to DWAC’s Monday filing, voting for a year-long postponement will begin on Tuesday. The current deadline for going public with Trump Media is September 8. DWAC has warned that if the deadline is not extended, it may be compelled to liquidate. A shareholder meeting is planned for September 6.
DWAC shares closed roughly 8% down at $25.32, down 16% this month and well below their 2022 peak of around $97.
DWAC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump Media and Technology Group owns Truth Social, which is apparently in financial trouble. Trump’s company would get access to billions of dollars in publicly traded stock markets if it merged with DWAC.
After being banned from Twitter for postings about the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol violence, the former president founded Truth Social to compete with the network. Hundreds of Trump supporters rushed the building that day in an attempt to prevent Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump is the subject of a criminal investigation into the suspected unlawful removal of sensitive and classified materials from the White House. Earlier this month, FBI agents raided the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate. The search was justified by an affidavit that stated there was “probable cause to suspect that evidence of obstruction will be located” at his residence.
Last week, DWAC warned that the former president’s fading popularity could jeopardise the accord. The US Patent and Trademark Office refused Trump Media’s trademark application for “TRUTHSOCIAL” earlier this month on the grounds that the title was confusingly similar to existing registered marks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department are both looking into the proposed merger of DWAC and Trump Media. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed Trump Media as part of their investigation into potentially illegal interactions between the SPAC and Trump Media employees.
The former president is the subject of several investigations, including one into suspected meddling in Georgia’s presidential election process and his role in the events of January 6, 2021.
