Entertainment firm Falcon’s Beyond has agreed to go public through a merger with blank-check vehicle in a deal valuing the combined entity at about $1 billion, including debt, the companies said on Tuesday.
The deal with Fast Acquisition Corp. II is expected to fetch up to $282 million in gross proceeds, assuming no redemptions, including a private placement of $60 million from Falcon’s existing investor Katmandu Collections LLLP.
Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), once Wall Street’s hottest trend when they peaked during 2020 and early 2021, currently find themselves facing regulatory hurdles and investor distrust amid volatile capital markets and poor share performance of popular firms.
On Monday, billionaire investor William Ackman, who had raised $4 billion in the biggest-ever SPAC, told investors he would be returning the sum after failing to find a suitable target company to take public through a merger.
After the deal closes, Falcon’s Beyond, which boasts of Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and Marvel among its list of clients and IP collaborators, is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ‘FBYD’.
SPACs are publicly listed companies raised with the intention of merging with a private company, which goes public through the merger and is seen as an alternative to an IPO.
Source: Reuters.com