The Oakville, Ont.-based firm, which makes vegetarian ramen, will combine with special-purpose acquisition company Oxus Acquisition Corp. in a deal that values Borealis Foods at US$150 million and is expected to close in the third quarter of the year. (The Logic)

Talking point: Oxus raised about US$172 million in gross proceeds from a September 2021 initial public offering on the Nasdaq. The newly combined company will trade on the same exchange. Similarly to IPOs, SPACs struggled to maintain their momentum in 2022 as deals fell after a run-up in the previous two years. SPACs raise money from investors, list on an exchange and then typically have two years to make a deal (as Borealis is planning now) or return money to investors, who increasingly withdrew funds as public markets soured last year. As my colleague Catherine reported, Canadian firms that participated in the SPAC trend have found it difficult to close deals or are underperforming on the stock market.