Conservative Coffee Company Black Rifle Agrees to SPAC Merger

(Bloomberg) -- Black Rifle Coffee Co., a coffee company celebrated by conservatives for its strong support of the military and police, has agreed to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

The Salt Lake City-based company will merge with SilverBox Engaged Merger Corp I. in a deal valuing the combined company at $1.7 billion, including debt, according to a statement Tuesday.

The SPAC transaction will provide the company’s balance sheet with $225 million in cash, according to the statement. It doesn’t include a private placement in public equity, or PIPE, as is common with other SPAC deals. 

Investors including Engaged Capital, one of the principals behind the SPAC, has committed to provide $300 million in equity in a backstop agreement. 

Dubbed the “unofficial coffee of the MAGA universe” by the New York Times, Black Rifle Coffee was founded by Evan Hafer, a veteran deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

“From the time I was a one-man operation in my garage with nothing more than a 1-pound roaster, I wanted to use coffee as a means of bringing people together around the common idea of honoring those who serve this great nation,” he said in a statement. 

The company calls itself a “mission-driven” brand supporting veterans, active-duty military personnel and first responders. Some of the names of its products are Silencer Smooth Roast, Freedom Fuel Coffee Roast, Murdered Out Coffee Roast and Thin Blue Line, according to its website. 

William Blair & Co. and BDT & Co. were advisers to Black Rifle Coffee while Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG advised SilverBox Engaged. 

Read more: What to Do When Haters Come Gunning for Your Brand: Ben Schott (Opinion) 

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