Hambro Perks launches first London SPAC under new listing regime

By Emma-Victoria Farr

(Reuters) -British investment firm Hambro Perks said on Tuesday it was planning to list a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on the London stock exchange, the first so-called “blank cheque” listing on the bourse since new rules came into force in August.

The SPAC vehicle, dubbed Hambro Perks Acquisition Company (HPAC), aims to raise up to 150 million pounds ($201 million) through the listing and will focus on “high-performing” technology companies.

The SPAC, led by CEO Dominic Perks, said it would consider a business combination with targets valued at 800 million pounds or more.

SPACs are investment vehicles that raise money on stock markets to buy private businesses, providing an easy route for the target to gain a listing without going through the rigorous process of a traditional initial public offering (IPO).

Over $125 billion of SPACs have listed in the United States in 2021 so far, an unprecedented boom. Europe has only played host to handful of these vehicles, most of them in Amsterdam.

London has lagged behind in the SPAC stakes, with no listings to date, though authorities changed rules to bring them more in line with the United States to try to attract some of them to the British bourse.

“We have chosen to list in London because it’s the technology capital of Europe,” Perks said.

Citi is the sole global coordinator on the listing.

($1 = 0.7480 pounds)

(Reporting by Emma-Victoria FarrAdditional reporting by Abhinav RamnarayanEditing by Pamela Barbaglia and Mark Potter)