Daedalus Special Acquisition Corp. Liquidation Value

Daedalus Special Acquisition Corp. (DSAC) is a Cayman Islands blank check company incorporated August 7, 2025, with no operating business. Its balance sheet is structurally straightforward under a liquidation lens: virtually all assets are the grantor trust holding IPO proceeds, and the dominant liability is a contingent deferred underwriting commission payable only upon Business Combination consummation.

At March 31, 2026, total GAAP assets are $253.7M, of which $252.8M (99.6%) is non-current — essentially $252.8M in Trust Account funds (held in money market funds, classified Level 1) plus $48K in non-current prepaid. Outside the Trust, liquid assets total $908K: $774K cash and $134K current prepaid. Total GAAP liabilities are $8.9M, comprising $141K current operating payables and $8.75M deferred underwriting commission (non-current).

Under the liquidation lens, the Trust Account assets ($252.8M) receive a 100% haircut recovery as they are cash-equivalent money market funds. Outside-trust assets ($908K current, mostly cash at 100%) are also near full recovery. Total recoverable assets approximate $253.7M. Against this, liabilities at face value total $8.9M — $141K current payables and $8.75M deferred underwriting fee. The deferred underwriting fee is the critical liability: it is contingent on Business Combination completion under GAAP, but under a liquidation scenario it is contractually extinguished — the filing explicitly states this fee is payable 'solely in the event that the Company completes a Business Combination.' Under strict liquidation (no Business Combination), the $8.75M fee does not become due, and the Trust assets revert to public shareholders (25M Class A redeemable shares) and operational creditors get settled from outside-trust cash.

However, 25M Class A shares are classified as temporary equity at redemption value of $252.8M ($10.11/share), which effectively represents a senior claim on Trust assets ahead of permanent equity (Class B founders and private placement Class A holders). Post-settlement of all current liabilities ($141K) and redemption of Class A at $252.8M, residual equity for non-redeemable holders is deeply negative: permanent equity shows ($7.9M) accumulated deficit. The Sponsor and directors hold Class B (8.33M shares) and 685K non-redeemable Class A shares with effectively zero recovery in a Trust-liquidation scenario.

Compared to December 31, 2025: Trust assets increased $2.2M (interest accrual driving TemporaryEquityAccretionToRedemptionValue of $2.2M), outside-cash declined $297K from operating burn, the $77K over-allotment option liability was extinguished (option lapsed January 22, 2026), and 291,667 Class B shares were forfeited. No Working Capital Loans outstanding. Going concern disclosure is present. The filing does not separately XBRL-tag the $686K contingent stock-based compensation exposure related to director founder shares.