FLY HIGHER. Europe’s best-known incubator looks to have taken Samuel Beckett’s adage of “fail again; fail better”, famously co-opted by wannabe techies, to heart. Rocket Internet and serial entrepreneur boss Oliver Samwer may cash in on the mania for special purpose acquisition vehicles – only in the U.S. rather than Europe, according to a German media report. A move across the pond – where 248 SPACs listed last year, according to Dealogic data - is unsurprising given Rocket’s SPAC-like characteristics: it raised around 1.4 billion euros in 2014 at a price of 42.50 euros to invest in fast-growing startups. It nevertheless underwhelmed European investors: dismal share performance saw Samwer offer to buy out minorities and pull the plug on Rocket’s German stock market listing last September. In keeping with Beckett’s adage, however, Rocket has not yet succeeded even in this modest aim: Shares traded at 23.80 euros on Tuesday morning, a 28% premium to Rocket’s offer, implying holdouts are pushing for a higher price. (By Christopher Thomson)