July 12 (Reuters) - Hydrogen energy firm Huture said on

Tuesday it has agreed to go public in the U.S. through a merger

with a blank-check firm Aquaron Acquisition Corp ( AQU ) in a

deal that would value the combined company at $1 billion.

The SPAC market has soured over the last two years due to

poor financial performance and a regulatory crackdown by the

U.S. securities regulator.

In past year, high profile SPAC investors William Ackman and

Chamath Palihapitiya have said they will return money to

shareholders after they failed to find suitable merger targets.

Huture is a China-based hydrogen-powered vehicle

manufacturing company founded in 2020. It plans to trade on the

Nasdaq following the merger, which is expected to be completed

later this year.

The current shareholders of Huture will retain a majority in

the combined company.