LONDON (Reuters) – SPEAR Investments I, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is in advanced discussions to acquire QEV Technologies, a Spanish electric vehicle firm, at a valuation of 209 million euros ($234 million), the companies said on Thursday.
The deal will see QEV Technologies, which recently won a tender to operate a former Nissan manufacturing facility in Barcelona, merge into SPEAR Investments I and trade on the Amsterdam bourse.
It will come as a boost to the bruised SPAC market, after many acquisition vehicles launched in the dealmaking rush that followed the COVID-19 pandemic have been forced to return money to investors after struggling to find targets.
SPEAR Investment I, backed by corporate finance houses STJ Advisors and AZ Capital, listed in Amsterdam in late 2021. Last week, it extended a deadline to strike an acquisition to mid-August.
The planned merger will see QEV Technologies’ existing shareholder Inveready make a further investment in the company alongside new investors to help support its growth.
Spanish news outlet El Confidencial was first to report on the merger discussions.
($1 = 0.8929 euros)
(Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London; editing by Alexandra Hudson)
