Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is the latest to create a special acquisition company, which aims to raise up to $ 287.5 million through an initial public offering.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Kaepernick – the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who took a knee during the national anthem to protest systemic racism and hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016 – is the co-sponsor and co-sponsor. – Chairman of Mission Advancement Corp., in partnership with The Najafi Cos., a private equity firm.
Mission Advancement will focus on issues of racial justice and diversity, and aims to acquire a consumer company with an enterprise value of approximately $ 1 billion.
“The mission of the Najafi / Kaepernick partnership is to identify, acquire and promote a business with the goal of creating meaningful financial and social value,” the application said. “We believe that Mr. Kaepernick’s substantial business experience coupled with his long-term leadership in racial equality and equity issues will support our success in identifying a potential target business and adding transformational value to the combined entity. ”
According to the filing, Kaepernick has partnered with global brands such as Nike NKE,
Disney DIS,
Netflix NFLX,
AAPL from Apple,
Beats by Dre, Medium, Electronic Arts EA,
AMZN from Amazon,
Audible and Ben & Jerry’s in recent years.
As an indication of the company’s mission, the company’s board of directors is 100% black, indigenous and colored, and majority female. Directors include Google marketing manager Attica Jaques, former Apple president Omar Johnson and Birchbox co-founder and CEO Katia Beauchamp.
SPACs are blank check companies that have grown enormously in popularity in recent years. They are essentially empty companies looking for a company to acquire and disclose, in a faster process than a traditional IPO. So far this year, there are 131 SPACs that have collectively raised $ 39.9 billion, according to SPAC Research. That is about half the number of SPACs as in all of 2020.
23andMe Inc. said last week it will go public through a merger with a SPAC owned by Richard Branson, and hedge fund Elliott Management is reportedly considering establishing a SPAC.
Billionaire investor Sam Zell said on Tuesday that the SPAC craze reminds him of the late 1990s. “This is another rampant speculation, just like the dotcom boom,” he told CNBC in an interview.
While he said SPACs can be very effective, Zell said he is concerned that many are based on shaky financial fundamentals.