The Shanghai-based company is in advanced talks to combine with special purpose acquisition company Aquila Acquisition Corp., the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.
An announcement may come as soon as in the coming days, according to the people. While deliberations are advanced, they could still be delayed or fall apart, the people said. Representatives for Aquila, CMBI and Zhaogang didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by phone and email. A deal would see the first Hong Kong-listed SPAC successfully identify a target for combination, leading to a so-called de-SPAC merger, since the city’s stock exchange announced blank-check company rules in 2021 in a bid to chase the $245 billion US fad that flared and fizzled in less than two years.Aquila, the Asian financial hub’s first SPAC, raised about HK$1 billion in an initial public offering in March 2022.