Online car seller Shift will shut down and file for bankruptcy, marking the death of yet another SPAC

Online used car seller Shift is shutting down.
Online used car seller Shift is shutting down.
Sebastian Kahnert/picture alliance via Getty Images

Online used car seller Shift Technologies will file for bankruptcy and shut down its business, the company said Friday. 

Shift, based in San Francisco, will fund the wind down process by liquidating its inventory. Its two physical locations in California and its website are no longer operational, according to a statement.

“This was not the outcome we had expected or hoped to achieve,” Chief Executive Officer Ayman Moussa said in the statement. “This decision follows months of trying to raise capital and restructure the balance sheet to allow the Company to operate unencumbered in this challenging environment.”

Shift went public by merging with a blank-check company, Insurance Acquisition Corp., in 2020. It’s just the latest in a growing list of ex-SPACs to founder as the blank-check boom fizzles. 

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