AvePoint Inc, a data management firm backed by investment firm Sixth Street, will be taken public via a merger with blank-check company Apex Technology Acquisition Corp, in a deal valued at $2 billion, the companies said.
AvePoint, the largest data management solutions provider for the Microsoft cloud, will be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “AVPT”.
AvePoint expects to generate about $148 million in total revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 2020, an increase of about 26% from a year earlier.
Apex is led by former Oracle finance boss Jeff Epstein and former Goldman Sachs head of technology, investment banking Brad Koenig. Epstein will join AvePoint’s board as a director and Koenig will join the board as an observer.
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a shell company that uses IPO proceeds to buy another company, typically within two years, in a merger that will take the acquired company public. Investors are not notified in advance on what company the SPAC will buy.
SPACs have emerged as a popular IPO alternative for companies this year, providing a path to going public with less regulatory scrutiny.
The combined company will get $140 million in proceeds from a group of institutional investors, according to the statement.
Sixth Street, which led a $200 million growth equity investment in AvePoint in 2019, will continue as a shareholder in the combined company.
Evercore Group is acting as financial advisor to AvePoint, while William Blair & Company is acting as a financial advisor to Apex.
Source: Reuters.com