May 23 (Reuters) - Virtual reality startup Immersed and

special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Maquia Capital

Acquisition Corporation ( MAQC ) said on Thursday they had

mutually ended their $150 million merger deal.

The deal, which would have taken Immersed public, was

unveiled in August last year and is one of several casualties in

the SPAC market, which has fallen out of favor in recent years

after attracting attention during the pandemic era.

SPACs are listed pools of capital with no business

operations except hunting for a private company to merge with.

Maquia will continue searching for a target, it said.