(Reuters) – A blank check acquisition company backed by veteran investor Bill Foley is nearing an agreement to acquire Alight Solutions LLC, the US benefits provider owned by buyout company Blackstone Group Inc, publicly available at a valuation of $ 7.3 billion including debt, people familiar with the issue said Sunday.
The deal illustrates how Alight has become an attractive investment target during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking advantage of the outsourcing of workforce functions by many companies looking to cut costs to preserve capital.
The transaction calls on Alight to merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp, and could be announced as soon as possible, the sources said, asking for anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.
Blackstone declined to comment, while Alight and Foley Trasimene did not respond to requests for comment.
Buyout firms have traditionally cashed in their investments by selling or disclosing companies directly. The potential deal for Alight underscores how Blackstone sees SPACs as a viable alternative.
Based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Alight provides cloud-based benefits and employee benefits to companies, including 70% of the Fortune 100, which serves 188 countries, according to its website.
It was acquired by Blackstone from insurance broker Aon Plc in 2017, in a deal that valued it at $ 4.8 billion.
Blackstone aimed for an initial public offering of $ 800 million two years ago, but stopped the effort amid concerns that it would not meet the terms it was seeking.
Foley Trasimene raised $ 900 million in an IPO in May last year to merge with a private company. Like all SPACs, it didn’t tell investors in advance what that company would be.
The deal is the second involving Blackstone and a Foley SPAC in recent weeks. The private equity firm and its colleague CVC Capital Partners announced last month that they would merge the Paysafe Group with Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II in a transaction that valued the payment processor at $ 9 billion.
Reporting by David French in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis