Admiral Acquisition Ltd (LSE:ADMR) has been welcomed as London's largest stock market listing of the year, as the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) began trading today after raising US$550mln (£435mln) to buy one or more businesses.
It has been founded by London-born, US-based dealmaker Sir Martin E. Franklin, known for a series of SPAC deals on both sides of the Atlantic in the noughties, including London-listed Justice Holdings (later bought by Burger King) and J2 Acquisition, which became APi Group and moved to New York.
The 'blank-cheque' firm, where Franklin's sons Robert and Michael, also co-founders of his Mariposa Capital family office, said its prospective target business "will not be limited to a particular industry or geographic region".
Two years on from the SPAC boom of early 2021, the time of SPAC companies was thought to be all but over after a number of notable failures, including Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, which failed to consummate a deal and was forced to return US$4bn to shareholders last year, and last month's winding up of Pegasus Europe, the SPAC backed by LVMH founder Bernard Arnault.
Admiral Acquisition's IPO has seen the British Virgin Islands-registered company sell 53.95mln ordinary shares at $10 apiece, each with a matching warrant that gives investors the right to buy additional shares at US$11.50.
It is the 13th IPO in London so far in 2023, following 45 last year, when the Square Mile endured a 90% decline in fundraising compared to the previous year.