Blank-Check Firm Jupiter Said to Pause IPO Amid Red-Hot Market
Blank-Check Firm Jupiter Said to Pause IPO Amid Red-Hot Market
(Bloomberg) -- In a sign that investors may be hitting peak-SPAC, one blank-check firm has hit the pause button on going public.
Jupiter Acquisition Corp., led by former Sunglass Hut International Inc. Chief Executive Officer James Hauslein, has postponed a $230 million initial public offering it had planned to price Sept. 10, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The glut of special purpose acquisition companies hitting the market has SPAC investors being choosier and cutting smaller checks, causing the delay, the people said. Jupiter Acquisition’s offering could relaunch, the people said.
Representatives for Jupiter Acquisition declined to comment, as did Nomura Holdings Inc., its lead underwriter.
SPACs raise money from public investors for an acquisition they haven’t identified yet. They usually have about two years to use the money or they have to give it back. The vehicles have become trendy during the downturn as market turmoil spurs private companies to find a smooth way to go public. Big-name financiers are also increasingly using them to put money to work.
Some $3.2 billion of blank-check deals priced this week during the busiest year on record for SPACs, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A total 94 blank-check companies went public in the U.S. so far this year raising over $36 billion, more than the past decade combined.
Jupiter Acquisition planned to focus on targets in the consumer, technology, media and telecommunication sectors, according a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Hauslein had set up another SPAC called Atlas Acquisition Holdings Corp. that liquidated in 2010 after terminating a merger with Select Staffing, a temporary worker provider, according to statements at the time.
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