NYSE says nuh-uh to broker-dealer SPAC

The New York Stock Exchange said late Wednesday it was going to delist the shares of the Kingswood Acquisition Corp., just days after the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, said it was going to merge with an aggregator of small to midsize broker-dealers, Wentworth Management Services.

According to the NYSE, the company, with the ticker KWAC, failed to meet listing standards requiring it to maintain an average market capitalization of at least $50 million, and an average market capitalization of its publicly held shares of at least $40 million for 30 days.

Trading in Kingswood Acquisition Corp. was suspended after 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, according to the company.

Kingswood has applied to list on the OTC Market Group and eventually trade its securities on the OTC Exchange.

"The delisting and transition to the OTC market was anticipated," a Kingswood spokesperson wrote in an email. "We fully expect to revert to listed company status on one of the major stock exchanges upon the closing of this deal."

The merged entities will operate under a new moniker, Binah Capital Group. Wentworth owns four broker-dealers, Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments Inc., Cabot Lodge Securities, World Equity Group Inc. and Broadstone Securities, which have a total of 1,900 affiliated brokers and financial advisers with close to $25 billion in assets under management.