SPACs

SPACs and electric cars drive hype feedback loop

23 Feb 2021

Ex-Citi exec Michael Klein has struck the largest ever blank-cheque merger with a deal valuing Lucid Motors at $24 bln. Investors already think it’s worth more than double that. Lucid is a decent bet on battery power but its absurd multiple outstrips all rivals, including Tesla.

Viewsroom: Breakingviews’ new SPAC needs a name

18 Feb 2021

Blank check mania has crossed the Atlantic, bringing with it hopes of riches for well-connected financiers, underwriters, startup founders and ordinary investors. The U.S. example, though, offers some warning signs, our columnists suggest, as they ponder a vehicle of their own.

Dyal deal hits pothole dug by uneven SPAC spoils

17 Feb 2021

The asset manager’s merger-and-go-public transaction is under legal threat from Sixth Street, an investment firm in which Dyal owns a stake and which claims it can block the tie-up. The real root of the rancor may be who wins financially in such deals and who doesn’t.

Parental anxiety complex births $1.4 bln SPAC deal

16 Feb 2021

Baby monitor firm Owlet is listing through a blank check firm with a valuation that puts a high price on parental paranoia. Baby spending is rising, and Owlet promises to be the “digital nursery of tomorrow.” But its projections are as unrealistic as new parents’ expectations.

Ex-UniCredit CEO rides first class on SPAC train

15 Feb 2021

Jean-Pierre Mustier teamed up with tycoon Bernard Arnault and fund manager Tikehau to launch a blank-cheque vehicle searching for financial services deals. He’s betting European investors will join the SPAC craze. The support of Europe’s richest man offers a good entry ticket.

Capital Calls: Disney+, SPAC romance

12 Feb 2021

Concise views on global finance in the Covid-19 era: The entertainment giant’s streaming growth comes at a cost; blank-check companies are trashing all records in 2021.

Corona Capital: Peloton, Star SPAC, Italian bank

5 Feb 2021

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Peloton needs to keep pedaling faster to keep up its subscriber pace; baseball’s Alex Rodriguez is jumping in the special purpose acquisition company game; and Intesa Sanpaolo makes good on M&A.

Outer space may be best place for SPAC craze

3 Feb 2021

Rocket-making startup Astra is launching into public markets at a $2.1 bln valuation through a blank check company. So-called SPACs are a frothy frontier, but they’re well suited to businesses that rely on long-term future projections. A bet on the space industry fits the bill.

Tilman Fertitta takes liberty with SPAC menu

2 Feb 2021

The Texas billionaire is selling his casino and steak combo to a blank-check company. That’s after he used one of his own SPACs to buy his online-gaming unit, and another to acquire a food-delivery service that was later sued. If a SPAC serves it up, Fertitta is ordering.

Buyout shops make SPACs pass-the-parcel besties

25 Jan 2021

Blackstone is selling benefits service provider Alight to a blank-check firm for $5.4 bln, a second such transaction in two months. The market for private equity firms offloading companies to SPACs increased sixfold in 2020. In frothy conditions, deals won't always be sensible.

Tishman unlocks key to sweet SPAC deal with Latch

25 Jan 2021

The real estate giant is taking the smart-lock maker public through its blank-check company, whose shares leapt some 70%. Latch gets a strategic partner and fresh capital to meet pandemic-spurred demand for modernizing buildings. Investors reap the benefits. It’s a textbook SPAC.

Perella Weinberg deal boosts SPAC credibility

21 Jan 2021

A $977 million price tag for the M&A advisory shop values it lower than peers based on reasonable growth assumptions. It's a sensible figure for a real business in a competitive market. Perella's choice to go public by selling to a blank-check company looks well advised.

Look out Europe: a SPAC craze is around the corner

29 Dec 2020

Such listings have been big in America but rare across the pond, where they have a bad rap. But a dearth of typical IPOs will keep investors keen. French rainmakers Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse have broken the ice. Andrea Orcel, Ivan Glasenberg and others should take note.

Puppy SPAC may bite investors in the backside

17 Dec 2020

Barkbox, a pooch products purveyor, is going public with a blank-check company valuing it at $1.6 bln. It’s smart to pounce on the opportunity created by booms in pet goods, subscriptions and SPACs. But Chewy, the 800-lbs Great Dane in the room, guards the market like Cerberus.

Chopper deal, like SPACs, is for aspiring moguls

15 Dec 2020

Blade, which helicopters the wannabe 1% to the Hamptons, is being bought by a blank check firm and kettle of plutocrats for $825 mln. The price assumes sales grow 16 times in four years, brassy considering 2020’s slump. Blade dreams big like the vehicle it’s riding to go public.

Hong Kong SPAC deal reeks of desperation

11 Dec 2020

Marquee names from Joseph Perella to Shaquille O’Neal have lent some legitimacy to the recent spate of shell companies. One near its expiry date trying to buy parts of scandal-ridden financial outfit Convoy strips away the veneer. It’s a good reminder to be wary of such M&A.

Weedmaps deal marks a high point of the SPAC boom

10 Dec 2020

The business operates on the cleaner side of the cannabis trade, running a dealer review site and offering software to the pot industry. Business is booming. And legal complexities ironically give it some protection. They also make it a better candidate for a SPAC than an IPO.

Blackstone’s SPAC foray puts price on convenience

7 Dec 2020

Payments company Paysafe is merging with a listed acquisition vehicle, while owners Blackstone and CVC halve their stake and extract $2.3 bln of cash. The cost to them is that they’ll leave roughly 15% on the table. Even so, it’s easy to see why SPACs tick private equity’s boxes.

Fund firm merger-SPAC deal has hairy outline

4 Dec 2020

Dyal Capital, which buys stakes in asset managers, and Owl Rock, a direct lender, may merge and go public through a blank-check vehicle. It’s a complex triangular plan even without the parties' circular relationships. One question is whether there’s a sensible idea at the center.

Regulatory loophole lets SPAC outlooks fly for now

1 Dec 2020

Some firms listing shares via blank check vehicles do so with ambitious projections. That may be partly because an SEC technicality offers legal protection. Public disclosures are sufficient to give investors fair warning. But the advantage over traditional IPOs may not last.