President Trump’s media company said it is in discussions to spin off businesses, including social-media platform Truth Social, into a new publicly traded company following the close of its previously announced merger with TAE Technologies.
In a potential transaction, shares of the newly formed company would be distributed to Trump Media and Technology shareholders of record prior to the closing of the TAE merger, the companies said Friday.
The newly formed company would then merge with Texas Ventures Acquisition III, a special purpose acquisition company.
A potential spinoff comes after Trump Media in December agreed to merge with fusion-energy company TAE in a deal valued at $6 billion. The merger aims to capitalize on the artificial-intelligence boom’s insatiable appetite for power.
The tie-up is a big bet on a commercially unproven technology that has the U.S. government at its back, The Wall Street Journal previously reported. The Trump administration has unveiled many programs aimed at boosting technologies like nuclear fusion to meet surging demand, as AI’s power needs have become a pressing economic issue.
TAE—whose backers include Alphabet, Chevron and Goldman Sachs—is one of the oldest and most prominent companies working in the relatively nascent field of commercial nuclear fusion.
Discussions about the potential spinoff of businesses including Truth Social are ongoing, and no definitive agreements have been reached, the companies said. Any transaction would be subject to approvals, and there can be no assurance a deal will result from the talks.
Shares of Trump Media ticked up 1.6%, to $11.15, in premarket trading. Through Thursday’s close, the stock has lost more than half its value over the past year.
Write to Connor Hart at Connor.Hart@wsj.com