Yahoo Finance Stable Road Wins Critical Shareholder Vote to Save Momentus Merger
Stable Road Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SRAC) narrowly secured enough votes to avoid being dissolved and will have more time to finalize the regulatory process in its merger with Momentus, a space-industry startup that provides last-mile services such as moving satellites.
The SPAC had 66.2% of shareholders vote in support of the extension, which sets the vote to approve the deal on August 13, Stable Road said Thursday. That satisfied the requirement of 65% support from shareholders.
The news comes nine days after IPO Edge and The Palm Beach Hedge Fund Association hosted an hour-long fireside chat with Momentus CEO Dawn Harms, Momentus CTO Rob Schwarz, and Stable Road Acquisition Corp. Chairman and CEO Brian Kabot to discuss the transaction and offer tips on how to vote. The entire video and the associated slide deck are available here on IPO Edge.
Momentus faced difficulty securing the vote because a very high percentage of its shareholders are individual retail investors who are unaccustomed to voting. Institutions have people who manage shareholder votes but many smaller investors simply haven’t spent the time to vote – putting the deal at risk.
Any shareholder – large or small – who owned SRAC shares on March 22 was allowed to vote. The fireside chat was designed to educate shareholders about how to vote by using their brokers’ websites or reaching out to Morrow Sodali, the SPAC’s proxy solicitor.
There are several indications that the deal is well supported. One is the commitment from PIPE investors, who have pledged to investing $175 million. Those investors include private equity funds, family offices and top tier public institutional investors. Leading independent voting advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended stockholders vote for the extension.
The business also looks very promising, with a growing pipeline of $2 billion in deals currently under negotiation. The company has partnered with key players in the space industry, including Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Made in Space – though it intends to be compatible with any spacecraft.
Contact IPO Edge:
John Jannarone, Editor-in-Chief
Twitter: @ipoedge
