AeroFarms, Spring Valley mutually terminate merger agreement

Newark vertical farming company AeroFarms will no longer merge with special purpose acquisition company Spring Valley Acquisition Corp., the companies announced Oct. 14.

The termination of the merger agreement was mutually agreed upon and is effective immediately. Neither party will be required to pay a termination fee.

The merger plans were announced in March, when at the time AeroFarms co-founder and CEO David Rosenberg said he looked at it “as a start to the next phase of our journey at AeroFarms” and that he was “most excited by the resources this brings to the company.” At that time, investors had committed $125 million to a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, in support of the transaction; and the companies said the deal would provide approximately $317 million unrestricted cash to AeroFarms to fund future farm development.

In August, the companies announced that the deal needed more cash to move forward.

Shareholders at both companies approved the proposed merger on Aug. 30, but “the minimum cash requirement” for the agreement and merger plan “has not been satisfied,” an Aug. 30 statement said.

An announcement by Dallas-based Spring Valley on Oct. 14 said the SPAC “intends to continue to pursue the consummation of an initial business combination” by May 27, 2022, unless such date is extended in accordance with Spring Valley’s governing documents.

AeroFarms did not respond to a request for further comment by press time.