Topps goes public through a $ 1.3 billion SPAC deal

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Topps on Tuesday announced plans to merge with a specialty acquisition company, or SPAC, in a deal that values ​​Topps at $ 1.3 billion. The company will partner with a blank check firm called Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corporation II, MUDS or MUDS. Shares of MUDS hit the news by more than 15%.

The transaction also includes a so-called private investment in public equity (or PIPE) of $ 250 million.

Topps has been a listed company several times in the 83 years that he has been active. Most recently, the company was taken privately in 2007 by The Tornante Co., an investment company run by former Disney DIS CEO Michael Eisner, in a deal worth $ 385 million.

Demand (and prices) for baseball cards and other collectibles has been through the roof lately due to the 21st century spin on the business through the renewed popularity of NFTs.

Topps recently expanded its business to sell digital editions of its player cards, each with a unique NFT built on blockchain technology. This creates a scarcity value that makes them more attractive to collectors – and more valuable.

Topps is “well-positioned with a universally recognized brand to take advantage of the rapidly emerging collectible NFT market,” said Jason Mudrick, founder and chief investment officer of Mudrick Capital, in the release.

Eisner, who will remain Chairman of Topps once the SPAC merger is complete, added in the publication that “there is a strong emotional bond between the Topps brand and consumers of all ages.”

Topps has a “growing portfolio of strategic licensing partnerships” that will make it profitable, he said. The company owns the legendary Bazooka chewing gum brand, as well as the Ring Pop, Baby Bottle Pop, and Juicy Licorice candy and sour gel brands.

But given the current craze for collectibles, Topps’ core baseball cards business is the main draw.

Dapper Labs, a Canadian blockchain firm that developed the NBA Top Shot crypto-collectible company, recently raised more than $ 300 million from a group that includes basketball legend Michael Jordan and current star player Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. Brave, which also developed CryptoKitties, is now estimated at $ 2.6 billion, according to data from research firm CB Insights.

High net worth investors are increasingly betting on sports trading cards alongside more traditional assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate.

To that end, a 2000 autographed rookie card for football legend Tom Brady was sold at auction for nearly $ 2.3 million last week. That was a record price, breaking the previous all-time high of over $ 1.3 million set by another Brady vegetable chart just a few weeks earlier.

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