| | | Financier James Graf plans three more SPACs following mostly successful Velodyne deal
SPAC financier James Graf plans to launch IPOs on at least three more special purpose acquisition companies, reportedly aiming to raise some $675M fresh off of what’s been a major success so far for his Graf Acquisition Corp. I. Despite a pullback Tuesday, that SPAC, now known as Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ: VLDR), has more than doubled since a 2018 IPO.Graf has filed an S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise as much as $258.8M for Graf Acquisition Corp. II through an initial public offering.The company said in the filing that it also that it also plans IPOs for a Graf Acquisition Corp. III and Graf Acquisition Corp. IV, but has not yet filed S-1s for those SPACs, according to the SEC’s database. However, Bloomberg cited unnamed sources as saying Graf plans to raise $225 million for Graf Acquisition Corp. III and $300 million for Graf Acquisition Corp. IV.Graf wrote in Graf Acquisition Corp. II’s S-1 that all three SPACs will have the same sponsor, board and management team, “differentiated only by size.” The firm wrote that it intends to hunt for acquisition targets “that may provide significant opportunities for attractive investor returns” by tapping into the expertise of Graf, who’s been involved with SPACs since 2011.
While Graf and his team wrote that all three SPACs could target companies any industry, they said they plan to primarily focus on areas like mobility, technology, transportation, new energy software, business real estate services, or financial/data services.
Graf Acquisition Corp. II’s S-1 indicated that SPAC is offering 22.5M investment units at $10 apiece. Each unit consists of one Class A share and 0.33 warrants to buy a second share at $11.50 in the future.
Graf and his team will also grant underwriters the option to buy as many as 3.375M additional units for any overallotments. All told, the IPO will raise $258.75M if underwriters exercise all overallotments.
The SPAC’s sponsor also plans to invest $7.87M for 5.24M warrants (or $8.54M to acquire 5.69M warrants if underwriters exercise all allotments) at $1.50 apiece. Each warrant will entitle Graf and his team to buy one Class A share in the future at $11.50.
Plans call for the SPAC’s units to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “GTOOU.” The shares and warrants will also later trade separately under the tickers “GTOO” and “GTOOWS.”
The latest filing comes some eight months after Graf Acquisition Corp. I agreed to acquire automotive-tech firm Velodyne Lidar at a $1.8B valuation.
Velodyne makes an automotive technology called “lidar,” which is somewhat similar to radar and will likely prove key to developing self-driving cars. The company currently has deals with Volkswagen and Ford (NYSE: F) for its technology.
The Veoldyne acquisition closed in September, and VLDR has shot up to as high as $30.81 intraday since then. That’s more than 200% above Graf Acquisition Corp. I’s 2018 IPO price.
However, VLDR’s shares were down more than 7% early Tuesday afternoon on word that Ford has sold off its stake in the company. Ford invested $75M in Velodyne in 2016, but later put $1B into rival firm Argo AI and seems to be focusing more on that company’s lidar technology.
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