Germany is about to get its first SPAC:
German SPAC says to start trading on July 18
Thu Jul 3, 2008 8:45am BST
AMSTERDAM, July 3 (Reuters) - Shares in Germany1, the first special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) focused on Germany, Austria and Switzerland, are expected to start trading in Amsterdam on July 18, bookrunner Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday.
The company is aiming to raise 275 million euros ($434.1 million) in an offering of shares and warrants which will be used to fund acquisitions of operating businesses with main operations in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
The shares would start trading on July 18 on an "as-if-and-when-issued" basis, Deutsche Bank said in a advertisement in Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad.
The offering would consist of 27.5 million units at a price of 10 euros each and an over-allotment option of 2.5 million units. The units and the underlying shares and warrants would be listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
Each unit is made up of one share and one warrant, each warrant entitling the holder to buy one share in Germany1 for 7.50 euros.
A SPAC is a shell organisation that raises money in an initial public offering (IPO) to acquire another business. The business then becomes publicly traded through the SPAC shell after shareholders approve the deal.
SPACs are rare in Europe but accounted for a quarter of U.S. domestic IPO activity in 2007, with 60 offerings raising more than $12 billion. (Reporting by Niclas Mika, Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Paul Bolding)
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