Digital World CEO urges Donald Trump to press shareholders to vote on merger extension

Head of blank-check acquisition firm urges Donald Trump and Trump Media to promote upcoming vote to extend merger

Patrick Orlando, the head of the blank-check acquisition firm that has agreed to take Donald Trump's social media company public, on Friday urged Donald Trump and Trump Media boss Devin Nunes to promote an upcoming vote to extend the merger deadline.

The shell company, Digital World Acquisition Corp, earlier this month failed to secure enough shareholder support for a one-year extension to complete the deal.

The deadline has been pushed back to Oct. 10 in an effort to get more shareholders to vote.

"@realDonaldTrump @DevinNunes let's get the vote awareness up," Orlando wrote on a Truth Social post with attached information about the shareholder vote.

TMTG and Digital World did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Digital World, a special purpose acquisition company, in October last year agreed to take Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) public. TMTG operates the Truth Social app co-founded by the former US president after he was banned from Twitter.

The transaction has been on ice amid civil and criminal probes into the circumstances around the deal. Digital World had been hoping that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is reviewing its disclosures on the deal, would have given its blessing by now.

The company is also facing an uphill task as individual investors, which comprise about 90% of its shareholder base, are not as accustomed to voting their shares.