Iris Knobloch, the former president of France, Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland at AT&T’s WarnerMedia, is launching a €250 million ($300 million) European special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with Artemis, the investment firm backed by French businessman François-Henri Pinault, the husband of Salma Hayek.
The SPAC, called I2PO, will focus on investing in entertainment and leisure industry companies and list on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, the partners said on Wednesday.
SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, are takeover vehicles that go public to acquire privately held companies in an alternative to a traditional initial public offering (IPO). SPACs activity has reached new heights over the past year, including in the entertainment industry. The likes of DAZN chairman and former Disney top executive Kevin Mayer and Dish boss Charlie Ergen have launched SPACs, among others.
And French media conglomerate Vivendi recently struck a deal to sell a 10 percent stake in Universal Music Group to a SPAC set up by Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square. As investor money has poured in, an increasing number of SPACs have been targeting the media, entertainment, gaming, sports and related sectors. Among the other sector companies that have turned to blank check firms to raise cash are the likes of streaming service CuriosityStream and Playboy Enterprises.
