Jan 31, 2007, Victory Acquisition Corp : Another Blank Check IPO, With A Good Story --- Like it or not, this is one to watch just because of the American Apparel tie. by Jon C. Ogg
247wallst.com
( see *** below and NOTE that ...Victory Acquisition could compete directly with Endeavor.... )
From blogger IPO section:
247wallst.com
Also writes about :
3SBio IPO: Chinese Biotech Success;
IPO Alert: National CineMedia Sets IPO Terms ;
Does Trident Resources' IPO Withdrawal Kill a Sector? ;
HFF Holdings IPO Posted by Bill of tradingipos.com ;
Cramer's Playbook on the Switch & Data IPO
*** NOTE that ...Victory Acquisition could compete directly with Endeavor....
The IPO gets edgy
What's trendy on Wall Street? Shell "companies" that go public with no business plan other than to buy an existing brand with shareholders' money, says Fortune's Jennifer Reingold.
NOTE that ...Victory Acquisition could compete directly with Endeavor....
money.cnn.com
SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company :
..."an entity that has gone public for the sole purpose of buying another company in the future.......SPACs are essentially shell companies....
...Today's SPAC boom harkens back to the flurry of "blank check" companies that sprang up in the 1980s. ...But..... Investors have a lot more protection with SPACs, which must hold almost all the money in escrow until a deal is done....
...87 SPACs have begun trading in the U.S. since the end of 2003, buying some well-known companies like smoothie purveyor Jamba Juice. Last year alone, 40 SPACs worth $3.4 billion were announced, up from $484 million two years earlier....
...SPACs go public with little more to show investors than a management team and an agreement that the money raised will be used to fund an acquisition in a particular sector, such as retail, or in an emerging market...
Endeavor's president, Jonathan Ledecky, is familiar with unusual financing vehicles:
..." he founded U.S. Office Products, the once-hot roll-up that went bankrupt in 2001 (long after Ledecky cashed out). Boldfaced names on the board include Kerry Kennedy, Bobby's daughter, and Edward Mathias, a managing director at the Carlyle Group."...
On Jan. 31 the same group that formed Endeavor formed Victory:
..."formed a new $250 million SPAC, Victory Acquisition, underwritten by Citi. The filing notes that it could compete directly with Endeavor. And as with Endeavor, once Victory goes public it will pay a Ledecky "affiliate" $7,500 monthly to run its Manhattan office."...
Hedge funds are drawn to these investments:
..."SPACs typically must announce a deal within 18 months of their IPOs or return the money raised, with interest, hedgies see them as safe places to park cash while potentially profiting from the price fluctuations between a deal's announcement and its close - a sort of arbitrage play. That may be why Steven Cohen's $12 billion hedge fund SAC Capital snapped up 8.7 percent of Endeavor's stock when the deal was announced."...
Even if investors are SPAC-happy, not all regulators are:
..."So far only the American Stock Exchange lists SPACs, and many bankers and lawyers say the SEC is deliberately taking its time vetting deals, hoping to slow down the pace of offerings. SPACs are probably best left to those, like Charney, who like to live life on the edge. "...
Endeavor Acquisition (AMEX: EDA)
finance.yahoo.com
Endeavor Acquisition
endeavoracq.com
..."is a blank check company recently formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or similar business combination with an entity that has an operating business. Our efforts in identifying a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular industry, although we intend to focus on service businesses in one of the following segments:
• Business services
• Marketing services
• Financial services
• Consumer services
• Health Care services
• Distribution services"... |
