Gett cancels SPAC merger due to sanctions on Russia

Gett CEO Dave Waiser Photo: Gett
Gett CEO Dave Waiser Photo: Gett

The Israeli taxi hailing and delivery app has also announced that it is withdrawing from the Russian market.

Israeli taxi hailing and delivery app Gett and Rosecliff Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RCLFU) have announced the cancelation of their SPAC merger, probably because several Russian funds under sanctions are among the investors. One of them is Sberbank, one of the first two Russian banks on which the US imposed sanctions. Another high profile Russian investor in Gett is Baring Vostok, a major private equity fund.

Gett also announced that it is withdrawing from the Russian transportation and delivery market, which accounted for 14% of its direct gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Gett agreed a SPAC merger with Rosecliff last November at a company valuation of $1 billion, in which it was due to raise $283 million. Gett explained the cancelation of the SPAC merger as due to market volatility.

Gett founder and CEO Dave Waiser said, "After careful consideration and review, we felt that exiting the Russian market was the correct thing to do.I want to thank Rosecliff’s SPAC team and Mike Murphy, in particular, for their professional and committed support during this journey. I wish its experienced and driven team continued success."

He added: "Without SPAC-related costs in 2022 and considering our strong operational performance; we anticipate an accelerated path to company profitability already in the third quarter of 2022, a full year earlier than originally planned. Continuously, we remain focused on disrupting the $100 billion ground transportation management (GTM) category globally."

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 11, 2022.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.

Gett CEO Dave Waiser Photo: Gett
Gett CEO Dave Waiser Photo: Gett
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