Melco’s Lawrence Ho to list SPAC in US$150 million IPO in New York

Name: SPACs: Everything you need to know about the finance world’s new big thing
Uploaded: 2021-06-30T08:00:12.000Z
Duration: 3 min 34 s
Description: SPACs: Everything you need to know about the finance world’s new big thing

The IPO amount could rise to US$172.5 million, if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full

Black Spade Acquisition will target business opportunities underpinned by consumption in Asia

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Ho, whose net worth was put at US$2 billion as of June 30 this year by Forbes, is the son of Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Peggy Sito

Published: 4:00pm, 30 Jun 2021Updated: 4:00pm, 30 Jun 2021

Lawrence Ho Yau-lung, the chairman and CEO of Macau casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment, is poised to list a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in New York.

The SPAC or blank-cheque company, Black Spade Acquisition, will raise up to US$150 million in an initial public offering, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission on Tuesday. This amount could rise to US$172.5 million, if the underwriters’ overallotment option is exercised in full.

The SPAC will target business opportunities underpinned by consumption forces in Asia, with a focus on enabling technology and lifestyle brands, products and services, and entertainment media.

“We believe China’s growing middle-class population of more than 350 million people, with its rapidly evolving consumption patterns and increasing spending power, will continue to shape multiple industries in Asia and across the globe,” the company said in its filing.

The SPAC, founded this year, joins the hottest trend in global capital markets of late. SPACs raised nearly US$94 billion globally in the first quarter, more than the US$81 billion raised in all of 2020 and more than the US$80 billion raised in the prior 15 years combined, according to data from Refinitiv. Since the beginning of April, however, blank-cheque companies have only raised about US$12 billion globally, according to Refinitiv.

03:34

SPACs: Everything you need to know about the finance world’s new big thing

Black Spade plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BSAQU. Citi was the sole bookrunner on the deal. It will be led by co-CEO and chairman Dennis Tam, who is also president and CEO of Black Spade Capital, Ho’s private investment firm.