ETtech Evening Briefing on Feb 19, 2021: SPACs explained, govt squeezes social media

Good night,

Immediately, we take a better have a look at particular function acquisition corporations (SPACs) and why, after years within the wilderness, they’ve grow to be extra fashionable in recent times, attracting big-name buyers.

In the meantime, after its weeks-long combat with Twitter over the removing of sure accounts and tweets associated to the farmers’ protest in Delhi, the federal government is planning to tweak its data know-how guidelines to drive social media platforms to take down ‘illegal’ content material inside 36 hours. Beneath the present guidelines, Twitter and others have 72 hours to take action.

1. SPACs are again. However what are they?

At present, one of many hottest developments amongst dealmakers within the Silicon Valley is the SPAC, brief for Particular Function Acquisition Firm.

These funding automobiles, which have been round for many years within the West, have emerged as a well-liked various to the normal IPO, or preliminary public providing, for a number of personal startups. About 300 SPACs had been looking for offers with about $90 billion in money as of final month, with extra automobiles popping up at a livid tempo,
according to the Wall Street Journal.

SPACs
raised a record $82 billion through IPOs last year and have raised about $38.3 billion to this point in 2021, as in comparison with $19.8 billion by conventional IPOs, in keeping with information from Dealogic.

What’s an SPAC? SPACs, generally referred to as ‘clean cheque’ corporations, are shell corporations created with the only real intention of merging with a personal enterprise. These companies record on the inventory exchanges with none actual enterprise and lift cash from buyers. They then usually purchase personal companies and assist them go public rapidly with out the effort of a conventional IPO. A SPAC has two years to discover a firm to accumulate or it should return the funds to buyers.

Professionals: Elevating cash from a SPAC is simpler than doing so by means of a conventional IPO for the reason that SPAC has already raised cash by means of an IPO. This implies the corporate in query solely has to barter with a single entity, versus 1000’s of particular person buyers.

This additionally makes the method of fundraising so much sooner than by means of an IPO. And SPACs aren’t topic to shifts available in the market like IPOs are.

Cons: It’s usually costlier for an organization to lift cash by means of a SPAC than an IPO. And buyers’ cash, which may sit in a SPAC belief ready for an appropriate goal for as much as two years, might be put to higher use elsewhere.

Reuters

Chamath Palihapitiya, a former Fb govt and founding father of enterprise capital agency Social Capital, is extensively thought-about to be
the king of SPACs. He has sponsored six such corporations, raised a complete of $4.34 billion, and bought companies throughout a number of sectors together with area journey, medical health insurance, monetary providers and actual property. Earlier this week, Palihapitiya’s SPAC group Social Capital Hedosophia
filed for seven new SPACs.

SPACs and Indian companies

• In 2015, Videocon d2h was listed on the Nasdaq by means of a reverse merger with a blank-cheque automobile Silver Eagle Acquisition Corp.
• In 2016, Yatra began buying and selling on the Nasdaq after a $218 million reverse merger with Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corp, a US-based SPAC.
• SoftBank-backed on-line grocery Grofers is reportedly eyeing the SPAC route whereas former Star and Disney India chairman Uday Shankar and James Murdoch’s funding firm Lupa Programs are weighing SPAC plans to accumulate an Asian media agency.

2. Govt squeeze on social media

Getty Pictures

Social media platforms in India could quickly be required to take down ‘illegal’ content material in 36 hours, as towards the present 72 hours, on the request of the federal government or on court docket orders,
The Times of India reported.

In accordance with the proposed amendments to Data Know-how (Intermediaries Tips) Guidelines, 2011, the federal government needs social media corporations to behave extra rapidly on requests to take away such content material.

There’s extra: The brand new guidelines may additionally make it obligatory for platforms with greater than 50 lakh customers in India to arrange an workplace within the nation and appoint a nodal officer to liaise with law-enforcement companies. The amended guidelines additionally search to deploy automated instruments to proactively determine and take away illegal content material.

Why it issues: Earlier this month, when the federal government requested Twitter to droop accounts that it claimed had been behind the violence in Delhi on Republic Day, the corporate
wrote in a blog post that it might not take motion on “accounts that consist of stories media entities, journalists, activists, and politicians. To take action, we imagine, would violate their basic proper to free expression below Indian regulation.”

Tweet of the Day

Outdated: developed world and creating worldNew: declining world and ascending world

— balajis.com (@balajis) 1613713818000

3. ETtech Offers Digest

This week in
ETtech Deals Digest, India’s largest edtech startups continued to buy smaller rivals, fintech startups bagged the most important funding rounds, and a brand new fundraising route has opened for Indian startups.

Additionally, Tata Group has signed a $1.2 billion deal to purchase BigBasket, which might see India’s largest on-line grocery record on the bourses in 24-36 months time.

ETtech

4. Elon Musk says Bitcoin much less dumb than money

Elon Musk has referred to as Tesla’s Bitcoin
bet an “adventurous enough” investment for the corporate. This got here after Binance Holdings CEO Changpeng Zhao referred to as out the world’s richest man for tweeting about Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that actually
began as a joke.

@enterprise Tesla’s motion isn’t straight reflective of my opinion. Having some Bitcoin, which is just a much less dumb… https://t.co/fTCzXHyyPK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 1613703662000

The story to this point: A rising variety of Musk’s latest tweets have
fuelled buying frenzies in shares and cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, Tesla
acquired $1.5 billion price of Bitcoin. The electrical carmaker had stated it expects to start accepting Bitcoin as a type of cost for its merchandise within the close to future.

5. A $30-billion alternative in 5G

Indian IT providers companies
are set to faucet into a possible $30-billion world alternative over the subsequent 5 years as 5G rollouts start globally.

Why it issues: Creating 5G options is predicted to be the subsequent large space for IT providers companies after cloud computing, permitting them to broaden the scope of labor with current purchasers and work with enterprises in industries which have historically not been large spenders on IT.

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