(Reuters) -Admiral Acquisition, a blank-cheque firm co-founded by dealmaker Martin E. Franklin, raised $550 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, making it Britain’s largest stock market listing in more than a year.
Admiral said it would use the funds to acquire a company, without constraints around geography or industry.
Jefferies and UBS coordinated the share offering.
Blank-cheque firms, also known as special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), rose in popularity in 2020 and 2021, but have lost lustre since.
By merging with a cash-shell vehicle, businesses can become publicly traded without having to go through an IPO process themselves.
Franklin is known as a pioneer in the world of SPACs having launched several such vehicles, including J2 Acquisition, which raised $1.25 billion in a London IPO in 2017.
However, some blank-cheque companies have been forced to liquidate after struggling to find a suitable acquisition and being hit by investor redemptions.
Last year, only 20 SPACs were listed in Europe versus 45 in 2021, according to data provider Dealogic.
Admiral’s listing comes a day after French SPAC eureKING said it was in exclusive negotiations to acquire Skyepharma, a contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) in the healthcare space.
eureKING began trading on the Paris bourse a year ago after raising 150 million euros ($165 million) from investors.
($1 = 0.9084 euros)
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru and Andres Gonzalez and Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London, Editing by Savio D’Souza and Mark Potter)
