In addition to their collectible cards, fans will soon be able to trade shares in Topps companies.
The company said on Tuesday that it will become a publicly traded company this year by partnering with a blank check company, or SPAC, a special-purpose acquisition company.
Topps, for those who haven’t opened the exchange card shoe box in the attic in a while, has expanded a lot since its Bazooka gum days and is investing in digital sales, apps, cryptocurrency and even NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.
His subject expanded to, among other things, comics, professional wrestling, Formula 1 and cinema.
Topps Co. said on Tuesday that it will merge with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp., which will make a $ 250 million investment.
Topps was purchased in 2007 by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, through his company, The Tornante Co. Eisner, who will occupy his position at Topps as chairman of the board.
“The strong emotional connection between the Topps brand and consumers of all ages is truly critical and, when combined with our growing portfolio of strategic licensing partnerships, creates a profitable business model with significant competitive advantages,” said Eisner in a statement. prepared on Tuesday.
Michael Brandstaedter, CEO of Topps, will lead the company.
The companies chose to go public through SPACs at a record pace last year. A SPAC is usually a group of investors that come together and look for acquisition targets. They can accelerate the process of going public for companies because the capital for that has already been established. The initial investment of these larger investors, usually a portion, is converted into publicly traded shares available to anyone.
Unlike many companies that went public through a SPAC last year, Topps is an iconic brand and its sales are growing. The 80-year-old company had sales of $ 567 million last year.
The deal is expected to close this year and Topps will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “TOPP”.