By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON (Reuters) -Digital World Acquisition Corp, the blank-check acquisition firm that agreed to merge with former U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media company, on Thursday postponed its meeting by three hours to try and find more votes to secure enough shareholder support for a 12-month extension.
Digital World had until today to complete a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which operates the Truth Social app, or give back hundreds of millions it raised in an initial public offering last year.
Patrick Orlando, chief executive of Digital World, said at the virtual meeting the company was giving itself more time to count votes. The meeting will begin at 3 p.m. Eastern time (1900 GMT).
This marks the second delay. The company first held a meeting on Tuesday but failed to reach its goal and postponed until Thursday. At least 65% of shareholders have to approve for the one year extension for it to be permitted.
The transaction has been on ice amid civil and criminal probes into the circumstances around the deal. Digital World had been hoping the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is reviewing its disclosures on the deal, would have given its blessing by now.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Chris Reese)
