Digital entertainment SPAC Ascendant Digital II withdraws $300 million IPO

Ascendant Digital Acquisition II, a blank check company targeting digital media and entertainment, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering on Thursday. It had filed in March 2021 to raise $300 million by offering 30 million units at $10, with each unit containing one share of common stock and one-third of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50.

The company was set to be led by CEO and Director Mark Gerhard, the co-founder, CEO, and CTO of AI tech and gaming studio Disruptional (fka PlayFusion); COO and Director Riaan Hodgson, the CFO and COO of Beauty Labs International; and President and Director David Gomberg, the co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Disruptional. The company planned to target the "Attention Economy," which it defined as the various converging sectors within interactive entertainment, film and television, music, print and digital books, e-sports, live events, and other forms of consumer entertainment and enabling services and technologies.

The group's first SPAC completed its merger in July 2021 with MarketWise (MKTW; -41% from IPO), while its other SPAC, Ascendant Digital Acquisition III (ACDI.U), raised $261 million in a November 2021 IPO and is still searching for a target.

Ascendant Digital Acquisition II was founded in 2021 and planned to list on the NYSE but had not selected a symbol (RC ticker: ADIIU.RC). Goldman Sachs was set to be the sole bookrunner on the deal.