Portage Fintech Acquisition Corporation (PFTA) Postpones Extension Vote Following Sponsor Change

Portage Fintech Acquisition Corporation (NASDAQ:PFTA) announced in a filing this morning that it has postponed its special shareholder meeting two days to 10 am ET July 21 from July 19.

Shareholders are to consider giving Portage Fintech a one-year transaction deadline extension, pushing the SPAC’s out to July 31, 2024 in exchange for no new contribution to its trust. Investors may also be still be getting acquainted with the SPAC’s new management team.

On July 11, Portage Fintech sold an undisclosed portion of its promote shares and private placement warrants to Perception Capital Partners and announced all of its existing officers would resign. Under Perception’s sponsorship, Portage Fintech will now be led by private equity veterans CEO Rick Gaenzle, CFO Corey Campbell and Co-Presidents Tao Tan and Jim Sheridan.

Gaenzle, Sheridan and Campbell serve in these same roles at Perception Capital II (NASDAQ:PCCT), which announced a $203 million combination in January with emissions-tracking hardware producer Spectaire. This group also includes Board ties to de-SPACs Innoviz (NASDAQ:INVZ) and The Metals Company (NASDAQ:TMC) in the lidar and rare earth mining spaces, respectively.

This augurs a likely shift in strategy away from Portage’s initial focus on combining with a wealth management or consumer payments firm to a new approach looking more tightly at ESG investments.

For now, Portage Fintech has about $268.9 million in its trust and it last closed at $10.39, just above its pro rata trust value of $10.38. Investors will now have until 5 pm ET, July 19 to decide if they prefer to redeem or hop on board with the new team.