Law firm Paul Hastings is providing outside counsel to the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) linked to former US President Donald Trump’s media enterprise, as it navigates regulatory approval for its proposed merger, according to recent securities filings. The company in question is Miami-based Digital World Acquisition Corp. Ellenoff Grossman & Schole is also providing counsel to Digital World alongside Paul Hastings.
The work being done by Paul Hastings, according to someone familiar with the case, strictly pertains to the transaction and associated affairs of Digital World, and no other parties linked to the deal or Trump-related entities are involved. The same source added that Paul Hastings was retained by Digital World prior to the company filing an amended S-4 registration statement in November last year.
Digital World has been striving for over two years to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., a company based in Sarasota, Florida that operates the Trump’s Truth Social media platform. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) raised questions about the deal and scrutinized the agreement. However, a settlement over securities fraud claims that happened last year cleared one major obstacle that was causing a delay in the merger.
Following the approval of the registration statement for the proposed merger, shares of Digital World saw a 16% rise on Thursday. Both Paul Hastings and Ellenoff Grossman have history and experience in the SPAC transactional field and have benefitted from the boom in SPAC transactional work in recent years.
Brad Bondi, the global co-chair of litigation and white-collar investigations at Paul Hastings, is named in securities filings as an advisor to Digital World along with corporate partner Brandon Bortner and two other corporate and capital markets lawyers, Gil Savir and Maria Larsen. Bondi joined Paul Hastings last year from Cahill Gordon & Reindel.
Brad Bondi is the brother of Pam Bondi who used to be Florida’s attorney general and is known to be a consistent supporter of Trump. Pam Bondi was selected in November last year to lead the Florida chapter of the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump think tank. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has been representing Trump Media & Technology for over two years. Scott Glabe, a former Trump administration staffer and ex-partner at Husch Blackwell, is now the general counsel for Trump Media & Technology.
The full Bloomberg Law report contains additional information and particulars related to this ongoing case.