Altman-Backed Nuclear Developer Receives SPAC Merger Approval

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(Bloomberg) — A Sam Altman-backed developer of advanced nuclear systems has won investor approval for an initial public offering in a blank-check deal, in rare positive news for the moribund SPAC market.

Oklo Inc., whose chairman is the CEO of OpenAI Inc., is expected to debut on the New York Stock Exchange in the coming days after clearing a final hurdle. By merging with AltC Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company backed by Altman and veteran dealmaker Michael Klein, Oklo was valued at $850 million when the deal was announced in July.

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AltC shares were volatile on Tuesday following the vote on the deal, falling to $14 after investors approved the merger, although they traded at a premium of more than 30% to around $10.41 the investors would have decided to redeem the shares when the merger was approved. The deal could net the company around $290 million based on the cash the SPAC had in its trust fund, although investors may have pulled money out of the pot when the merger was approved.

The stock had risen more than 40% this year before Tuesday’s vote as it drew attention from retail traders. A flurry of announcements coupled with Oklo executives promoting the company at conferences fueled a rally last month.

Read more: Altman-backed SPAC targeting nuclear company is up 22%

The company last month signed a non-binding letter of intent with Diamondback Energy Inc., the largest independent producer headquartered in Texas’ Permian Basin, to collaborate on a 20-year power purchase agreement. According to its website, Oklo is developing next-generation fission reactors to produce clean energy on a global scale.

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The company expects to build its first commercial high-performance reactor in the United States before the end of the decade, its website shows.

Nuclear fusion startups have been backed by major players including Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Palantir Technologies Inc. co-founder Peter Thiel. According to a July press release, Altman invested in Oklo in 2015 and became chairman of the board because he believed the company was “the best-positioned player to advance the commercialization of advanced fission energy solutions.”

Along with Oklo, another blank check should gain the support of its shareholders on Tuesday. Screaming Eagle Acquisition Corp. — the SPAC chaired by former Hollywood executive Harry Sloan — had scheduled a shareholder vote for Tuesday morning to approve its deal to acquire Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.’s studio business. to go public in a merger valuing it at $4.6 billion in debt. The pair would join more than 35 SPAC mergers closing on U.S. exchanges this year.

Blank check return

The impending closing of the Oklo merger would be the fifth successful de-SPAC for Klein, which had to close two blank-check companies last year after a deal failed to close. The veteran investment banker returned to Churchill Capital Corp. last week. IX, which has raised $287.5 million, returns to the blank-check arena for the first time in nearly three years.

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For Sloan’s Screaming Eagle, the deal to take a content provider with an extensive portfolio of franchise titles public, including The Hunger Games, John Wick and The Twilight Saga, would be the eighth SPAC merger led by its Eagle Equity Partners is supported, data from SPAC Research shows.

SPACs have largely fallen out of favor after a boom turned bust in 2020 and 2021, with dozens of companies filing for bankruptcy while others were acquired at knockdown prices. More than a fifth of the nearly 500 SPAC deals closed since 2019 are trading below $1 each, a drop of more than 90%.

However, there has been a modest revival in the last three months with some series sponsors returning. Over the past year, blank checks backed by Klein, Nabors Industries Ltd., Mistral Capital Management LLC and SPAC series sponsor Eric Rosenfeld have raised millions as they wait for attractive deals to take private companies public.

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