Melco Resorts & Entertainment Chairman Lawrence Ho is planning to launch a $150 million special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with the intention to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), according to a filing last week with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
The new SPAC, dubbed Black Spade Acquisition (BSAQU) could raise up to $172.5 million if the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full. The filing says the SPAC would focus on combining businesses in the “entertainment industry, with a focus on enabling technology, lifestyle brands, products, or services, and entertainment media.”
The filing notes a focus on China’s growing middle class, “with existing or future growth potential underpinned by the transformative consumption forces in Asia.”
The new company is set to be led by Co-CEO Dennis Tam, the president and CEO of Hong Kong-based Black Spade Capital and a former Melco International Group Finance Director, and Co-CEO Kester Ng, CEO of Hong Kong-based GRE Investment Advisors Ltd.
The blank check company was incorporated earlier this year.
