Bernard Arnault: the richest man in Europe is joining the SPAC craze

Bernard Arnault: the richest man in Europe is joining the SPAC craze

by
Arnault’s investment holding company, Financière Agache, is joining forces with French asset manager Tikehau Capital and two high-profile European bankers to launch a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that will seek business in Europe’s financial services sector .

Tikehau Capital said in a statement on Monday that potential targets include asset management platforms, fintech firms, insurance services and diversified financial services companies. The focus will be on “scalable platforms that offer great potential for profit growth,” he added, indicating that this will be the first of several SPACs he plans to launch.

Jean-Pierre Mustier, the former CEO of Italian bank UniCredit (UNCFF)and Diego De Giorgi, former head of global investment bank at Bank of America (BAC) Merrill Lynch, will be the company’s operating partners, said Tikehau Capital.
As GameStop fails, an important part of the market gets even hotter
SPACs, or “blank check” companies, raise capital through an IPO to buy existing companies. They were once an obscure part of the market, but have exploded in popularity. Last year, 229 SPACs in the United States raised $ 76 billion, up from just $ 13 billion in 2019, according to Goldman Sachs. A flood of new records this year – including former San Francisco 49ers defender Colin Kaepernick and Rocket Internet co-founder Oliver Samwer – indicates that the pace is not slowing down.
Although European stock exchanges have missed the boom so far, there are early signs that the market is starting to take off in the region.

Tikehau Capital gave no details on the amount its SPAC plans to raise, saying only that the four sponsors plan to collectively invest at least 10% of that amount. Arnault has a net worth of $ 114 billion, making him the fourth richest person in the world and the richest individual in Europe, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

SPAC will hold the IPO in Amsterdam, the latest in a winning streak for the Dutch stock exchange. Euronext Amsterdam is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the changes that mean that EU financial institutions cannot trade European shares on UK stock exchanges after Brexit.

– Julia Horowitz contributed reportingg.

.Source