Italy's REVO SPAC aims to raise funds for insurance deals
(Reuters) — Two known Italian business executives said on Monday they would list a €200 million ($243 million) special purpose acquisition company in Milan by the end of May to target opportunities in the insurance sector.
A SPAC is a shell company that raises money in an initial public offering to merge with a privately held company, that then becomes publicly traded as a result.
REVO SPAC was formed by Alberto Minali, the former CEO of Italian insurer Cattolica, and Claudio Costamagna, former chairman of Italian state lender CDP, and joins a wave of similar listings on Wall Street and more recently in Europe.
“We are confident that we can make a business combination by the end of the year. ... We have already identified a series of targets,” Mr. Costamagna said in an online press conference, adding the SPAC would be listed on the AIM market on Milan’s bourse.
The Milan Stock Exchange saw a SPAC boom between 2017 and 2018, with 18 listings.
However, Italian blank-check companies lost their appeal after some of them failed to agree on or finalize tie-ups or when their stocks lost value after the deals were struck. The last to be listed in Milan was in February 2019.
Vittoria Assicurazioni, Fondazione Cariverona and Scor Reinsurance Group already subscribed REVO’s IPO as cornerstone investors for €15 million each, Mr. Minali said.
The books will open on Tuesday, Mr. Costamagna added.
Equita, Intesa Sanpaolo and UBS are acting as bookrunners on the deal.
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