Trump’s SPAC Deal Reaches Back to ’80s With EF Hutton as Adviser
Trump’s SPAC Deal Reaches Back to ’80s With EF Hutton as Adviser
(Bloomberg) -- The deal to take former President Donald Trump’s media firm public relies on a storied name from decades ago.
A firm that revived the EF Hutton brand, known for television commercials in the 1970s and ’80s touting its sage advice, is acting as the sole financial and capital-markets adviser to Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company that agreed to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group, according to a statement Wednesday. In June, investment bank Kingswood Capital Markets rebranded as EF Hutton.
The SPAC deal is meant to build a “rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley,” according to the statement.
EF Hutton gained renown with television commercials that featured the tag line, “When EF Hutton talks, people listen.” The firm was embroiled in a bogus-deposit scandal in the mid-’80s that precipitated its eventual sale.
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