SPAC Called 5G Edge Wants to Go Public Under Ticker ‘ARK’
SPAC Called 5G Edge Wants to Go Public Under Ticker ‘ARK’
(Bloomberg) -- Blank-check companies appear to be getting creative to stick out in a market now hundreds deep.
One special purpose acquisition company, the New York-based 5G Edge Acquisition Corp., filed the paperwork to go public earlier this week seeking to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol “ARK”, strikingly similar to Cathie Wood’s popular ARK ETF tickers.
The company didn’t respond to a telephone call requesting comment.
Ticker confusion among investors is not new in the stock market. It’s existed for decades. But the recent rush into the market by inexperienced retail investors chasing quick gains has created some particularly memorable episodes of ticker confusion during the pandemic.
For instance, Signal Advance Inc., a tiny medical device company, surged more than 5,000% in the three trading days after Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk tweeted “Use Signal,” apparently referring to the encrypted messaging service. In another one, the popularity of Zoom Video Communications Inc. has resulted in brief surges in the shares of Zoom Technologies Inc., after traders confused its ticker symbol “ZOOM” with that of the video-conferencing company. Zoom Technologies, a Beijing-based maker of mobile phone components, later changed its ticker to “ZTNO”.
Wood’s Ark Investment Management pushed back when SPAC Ark Global Acquisition Corp., which has no affiliation to Wood nor her firm, began trading.
Cathie Wood’s representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
5G Edge touts its management team’s experience in technology, media and telecommunications businesses and may seek out potential businesses to merge with in that sector, including those in software, fixed and wireless communications but not exclusive to 5G-related businesses, the filing said. The company did not immediately respond to a telephone call requesting comment.
Some $717 million flowed into the $23 billion flagship Ark Innovation ETF, which trades under the ticker “ARKK” on Wednesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It and another Ark ETF added around $1 billion in a single day this week.
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