SPAC buying Trump Media discloses another SEC subpoena

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Source: Market Watch

Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. DWAC, -13.43% tumbled 8.2% in premarket trading Monday, after the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is buying the company behind Donald Trump's Truth Social said it received another subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to the acquisition. The SPAC said the subpoena seeks additional information on "communications regarding and due diligence of of potential targets other than TMTG" [Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.] and relationships between Digital World and certain advisors, shareholders, as well as certain forward-looking information about TMTG. The company said order of the examination of the registration statement "could materially delay, materially impede or prevent the consummation of the business combination." Digital World are previously disclosed in May a subpoena from the SEC seeking documents and information regarding several things, including meetings of the board of directors, the evaluation of potential acquisition targets including TMTG, communications relating to TMTG and payments made to certain advisors. The stock has plunged 38.6% over the past three months through Friday, while the S&P 500 SPX, -3.89% has declined 7.2%.

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/m/f24e095b-3fa6-3908-837f-caa98caa1940/digital-world-stock-tumbles.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. SEC issued order of examination and further subpoena seeking additional info

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[getagrip_already]

2. this whole thing reaks of dark money being funneled to him.....

Probably from foreign interests.

That seems to be the angle the doj is looking at. Where did the money come from and who are the investors.....

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. SPAC deals are inherently somewhat sketchy

This deal stinks

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. I pulled the disclosure from the SEC database

This is from Digital World Acquisition's latest SEC filing https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1849635/000119312522172206/d355466d425.htm

Item 8.01.
Other Events.

As previously disclosed in Digital World’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2022 and other filings with the SEC, Digital World received a document request and subpoena from the SEC seeking various documents and information regarding, among other things, meetings of Digital World board of directors; communications with and the evaluation of potential targets, including TMTG; communications relating to TMTG; agreements with and payments made to certain advisors; investors, including investor meetings and agreements; the appointment of certain of Digital World’s officers and directors; policies and procedures relating to trading; and documents sufficient to identify banking, telephone, and email addresses. The SEC also recently issued an order of examination pursuant to Section 8(e) of the Securities Act, with respect to the Registration Statement relating to the Business Combination, and a further subpoena in support thereof. This subpoena seeks additional documents and information with respect to, among other things, communications regarding and due diligence of potential targets other than TMTG, relationships between and among Digital World (and/or certain of Digital World’s officers and directors) and other entities (including ARC Global Investments II LLC (the “Sponsor”) and certain advisors, including Digital World’s underwriter and financial advisor in its initial public offering), the holders of ownership interests in the Sponsor, certain elements of the transaction history for equity in the Sponsor, and certain forward-looking information about TMTG referenced in the Registration Statement. Any resolution of the investigation could result in the imposition of significant penalties, injunctions, prohibitions on the conduct of Digital World’s business, damage to its reputation and other sanctions against Digital World. In addition, the Section 8(e) order of examination of the Registration Statement can be expected to delay effectiveness of the Registration Statement, which could materially delay, materially impede, or prevent the consummation of the Business Combination.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. SPACs are in my view indicative of more rampant speculation

They're like a holding company, conglomerate, venture capital, vulture capitalist, private equity hedge fund all rolled into one. They will vacuum future growth of the economy into private hands. It's a sign that it is now widely known that 9/10 of the capital gains and corporate revenue winds up on the balance sheets of the few dozen largest companies in the world. The general public is being left out.

[paleotn]

6. Do these people ever stop grifting?

Are they capable of anything else?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Government expands investigation into Trump's social network deal

This is a serious investigation

Link to tweet

https://www.axios.com/2022/06/13/government-expands-investigation-trump-social-network-deal

Federal securities regulators have expanded their investigation into the planned merger between a blank check acquisition company and former President Trump's social media business, known as Truth Social, according to a Monday morning filing with the SEC.

Why it matters: Truth Social's financial prospects are heavily reliant on investment tied to the merger, which may never come to pass.

Backstory: The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating communications between the blank check company, called Digital World Acquisition Corp., and Trump. Of particular interest would be if the two sides negotiated prior to DWAC going public, which would have been illegal.

What's new: DWAC previously disclosed that it was under investigation, but on Monday said that regulators are seeking "additional documents and information."

This includes communications regarding DWAC's due diligence of companies other than Trump's, if it occurred, relationships between DWAC and other entities (including its IPO underwriter E.F. Hutton), certain forward-looking statements and "certain elements of the transaction history for equity."

[purr-rat beauty]

8. Nobody could have predicted THIS!

the writing was on the wall before trump grabbed his crayons

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. Trump media venture faces new questions, expanding investigation

This investigation will be fun to watch

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-media-venture-faces-new-questions-expanding-investigation-rcna33511

Last fall, Donald Trump and his team launched the Trump Media & Technology Group, which appeared to have bold, multimedia ambitions: It said it intended to compete with both Twitter and Netflix. To that end, the operation even hired a high-profile CEO: Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, despite his lack of media experience, announced he’d resign to lead the nascent company.

It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. As regular readers know, the Twitter-like Truth Social app was plagued by technical difficulties and missed deadlines. Some top executives’ resignations made matters worse.....

As we discussed late last year, the Republican ended up working with a dubious Chinese operation, all of which apparently drew the interest of investigators at the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which typically investigates things like insider trading.

This scrutiny appears to be intensifying. Axios reported yesterday:

Federal securities regulators have expanded their investigation into the planned merger between a blank check acquisition company and former President Trump’s social media business, known as Truth Social, according to a Monday morning filing with the SEC.... The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating communications between the blank check company, called Digital World Acquisition Corp., and Trump. Of particular interest would be if the two sides negotiated prior to DWAC going public, which would have been illegal.