Turkish Ride Hailing SPAC Marti Technologies Slumps on Debut
- Marti completed a merger with Galata Acquisition on Monday
- Deal was completed despite challenging environment for SPACs
A customer uses the Marti app to hire an electric rental bike in Istanbul.
Photographer: Erhan Demirtas/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Shares in Marti Technologies Inc., the first Turkish entity to list in New York via a merger with a blank-check company, slumped on their first day of trading, showing that appetite for deals involving special purpose acquisition companies remains lackluster.
The stock sank to $5.53 on its debut, a 49% drop from the price the SPAC closed at on Monday after the merger was completed with the $147.5 million Galata Acquisition Corp. vehicle, giving the combined company an enterprise value of $549 million. The stock has now dropped 62% in the past two sessions to reverse a rally after the SPAC won investor approval last week.