What will the biggest ever blank-check company acquire?
That’ll be a topic of endless fascination in coming months after hedge funder Bill Ackman raised the largest ever blank-check company on Tuesday, with $4 billion in capital for Pershing Square Tontine Holdings. It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
A quick refresher: So-called blank-check companies, or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, are effectively holding companies that find a business over the course of two years or so and take it public via merger. Rather than betting on the financials of a company itself, investors are, in a way, betting that the founders of the SPAC have the investing acumen to identify an attractive target.
More importantly in this case, the amount that blank-check companies raise is a fraction of the full value of the company they take public—a major reason to keep track of the tontine. At $4 billion, there are only so many possible acquirees.
So who will the tontine buy? In a Bloomberg TV interview Wednesday, Ackman gave some hints. He said the company’s target universe likely includes about 150 private companies valued at over $10 billion, with the top third clearing his quality threshold. He ruled out so-called pure technology companies that are speculative, a category in which he puts Alphabet’s self-driving car unit, Waymo.
“Basically, we’re in a unicorn mating dance and we want to marry a very attractive unicorn on the other side that meets our characteristics,” he told Bloomberg TV. While the company does not have to be currently profitable, he says, “We’re looking for a simple, predictable free cash flow-generative company, very high barriers to entry with minimal exposure to…extrinsic risks we can’t control.”
Ackman’s raise comes as Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky confirmed the company was approached about a merger with a so-called blank-check company, though Chesky added, “We’re looking at everything.” (When asked about Airbnb, Ackman said, “We would certainly take a look at Airbnb. I’ve always admired the business.”) Another venture-backed startup, Hims, which provides healthcare products for men, is also reportedly considering going public via a SPAC in a deal that could value it at over $1 billion.
All in all, it’s been a bang-up year for SPACs. Some 48 have raised $18.6 billion so far this year, vastly eclipsing the total figure of $13.6 billion raised in all of 2019, according to SPACInsider. And they haven’t rested on their laurels.
That said, a SPAC isn’t guaranteed to find an acquiree.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: lucinda.shen@fortune.com
VENTURE DEALS
- Investors led by General Atlantic and Sequoia are in early talks to acquire a majority stake in TikTok from Beijing-based ByteDance, per reports. Read more.
- Encoded Therapeutics, a South San Francisco-based precision gene therapy company, raised $135 million in Series D funding. GV led the round and was joined by investors including Matrix Capital Management, ARCH Venture Partners, Illumina Ventures, RTW Investments, Boxer Capital, Nolan Capital, HBM Genomics, Menlo Ventures, Meritech Capital, Farallon Capital Management, and Softbank Vision Fund 2.
- AB Tasty, a New York-based customer experience company, raised $40 million in funding. Credit Mutuel Innovation led the round and was joined by investors including Korelya Capital, Omnes, Partech and XAnge. Read more.
- Wave.tv, a sports media startup, raised $32 million in equity and debt funding during its Series A. CoVenture and GPS Partners led the round. Read more.
- Sidecar Health, a Los Angeles-based digital health company for consumers to shop around for services, raised $20 million. Cathay Innovation led the round and was joined by investors including Comcast Ventures, Kauffman Fellows and Anne Wojcicki (co-founder and CEO of 23andMe).
- Sea Machines Robotics, a Boston-based developer of autonomous systems for ocean-going vessels and workboats, raised $15 million. Investors included Huntington Ingalls Industries.
- CalypsoAI, a Washington, D.C.-based cybersecurity provider for artificial intelligence, raised $13 million in Series A funding. Paladin Capital Group led the round and was joined by investors including Frontline Ventures, 8VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, and Pallas Ventures.
- OrthoFX, a San Francisco-based orthodontic and teeth straightening service, raised $13 million in funding. Signalfire led the round.
- Shelf Engine, a Seattle-based firm for stocking store shelves for supermarkets and groceries, raised $12 million. Initialized and GGV led the round and were joined by Foundation Capital, Bain Capital, 1984 and Correlation Ventures. Read more.
- StuffThatWorks, a Tel Aviv-based patient community platform, raised $9 million in seed funding. Investors included Bessemer Venture Partners, 83North, and Ofek Ventures.
- Kudo, a New York-based multilingual web conferencing platform, raised $6 million in seed funding. Felicis Ventures' Niki Pezeshki led the round and was joined by investors including Global Founders Group, ID8 Investments and Advancit Capital.
- The Helper Bees, an Austin-based home care company, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Silverton Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Austin Impact Capital, and Techstars.
- Safehub, a San Francisco-based platform for building earthquake damage information, raised $5 million in seed funding. Fusion Fund and Ubiquity Ventures co-led the round and were Bolt, Promus Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, Maschmeyer Group Ventures, and Team Builder Ventures.
- Grid Raster, a Mountainview, Calif.-based provider of cloud-based platforms that powers AR/VR/MR experiences, raised $2.5 million in funding. Blackhorn Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including MaC Venture Capital and Exfinity Venture Partners.
- Quorum, a Dublin-based mobile chat startup, raised $2 million in seed funding. Adjacent and LocalGlobe led the round and were joined by investors including Amaranthine and Y Combinator.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Sumeru Equity Partners invested $100 million in Ceros, a New York-bsed cloud-based design platform.
- KPS Capital Partners agreed to acquire AM General, a South Bend, In.-based maker of specialized vehicles for military and commercial customers, from an affiliate of MacAndrews & Forbes. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- GHK Capital Partners acquired Hasa, a California-based manufacturer and distributor of water treatment chemicals. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Digital Colony delivered a bid for bankrupt Brazilian carrier Oi SA’s mobile unit, per Reuters. Financial terms weren't disclosed. Read more.
OTHERS
- Nvidia is reportedly interested in SoftBank Group's chip company Arm Holdings, per Bloomberg. Read more.
IPOS
- Vasta Platform, a Brazilian K-12 school curriculum provider, plans to raise $306 million in an offering of 18.6 million shares priced between $15.50 to $17.50. Cogna backs the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “VSTA.” Read more.
- Nurix Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based developer of targeted protein modulation drugs, plans to raise $193 million in an offering of 11 million shares priced between $17 to $18. Foresite Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Bain Capital Life Sciences, Boxer Capital (Tavistock Group), EcoR1 Capital, Redmile Group, Wellington Management Company, The Column Group and Third Rock Ventures.
- Annexon, a South San Francisco, Calif.-based clinical-stage company developing therapies for classical complement-mediated disorders, plans to raise $194 million in an offering of 12.5 million shares priced between $15 to $16. Redmile Group led the round and was joined by investors including BlackRock, Deerfield Management Company, Eventide Asset Management, Farallon Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors and Logos Capital.
- Montrose Environmental Group, ae Irvine, Calif.-based provider of environmental assessment, raised $150 million in an offering of 10 million shares priced at $15.It posted revenue of $233.9 million in 2019 and a loss of $23.6 million. Oaktree (17.2% pre-offering), CTEH Holdings (8.7%) and Yukon Environmental (8.4%) back the firm. It plans to list on the NYSE as “MEG.” Read more.
- Inozyme Pharma, a Boston-based biotech, plans to raise $104 million in an offering of 6.5 million shares priced at $16. Longitude Ventures Partners (14.3% pre-offering), Novo Holdings (14.3%), and NEA (14.3%) back the firm. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “INZY.” Read more.
PEOPLE
- Trinity Hunt Partners promoted John Martin to senior associate.