Capstar Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. (CPSR.U), filed for a $200 million IPO this morning, and while Capstar Partners, a PE firm based in Austin Texas is the sponsor, PIMCO, the global investment management firm is part of the sponsor group as well. Additionally, Capstar Special Purpose Acquisition Corp., will be led by R. Steven Hicks, as Chairman, CEO & CFO.
Mr. Hicks founded Capstar Partners, a private investment firm focusing on small and middle market buyouts, real estate development, and public investing in the media and broadcasting, healthcare services and e-commerce industries. However, prior to forming the PE fund, in 1996, Mr. Hicks founded Capstar Broadcasting Corporation, which became the nation’s largest radio station holding company by 1998 with 350 radio stations. Mr. Hicks will be joined by Rodrigo de la Torre, as Lead Director, having previously been the Head of Finance and Strategy for Taco Bell Global since April 2019 and previously served as Global Director of Finance and Head of M&A at Pizza Hut International from March 2016 to April 2019.
As for PIMCO, they will have a Director’s seat with Jamie Weinstein, who is currently managing director, portfolio manager and head of special situations at PIMCO, focusing on PIMCO’s opportunistic and alternative strategies within corporate credit. Furthermore, PIMCO’s Dan Degtyar, will be a Special Advisor to CPSR.U, and is currently an Executive Vice President, portfolio manager and senior analyst for PIMCO’s Global Credit Opportunity Strategy, where he focuses on credit relative value opportunities and special situations.
Having the PIMCO name on board is a nice bonus for this SPAC and will surely help with marketing. However, the terms shouldn’t give them much trouble anyway. It’s a nice fit for a first time team at 100% in trust, 24 months, and 1/2 warrant. Interestingly, they didn’t try for 1/3 warrant, especially given the PIMCO name and quality of underwriters aboard (Citigroup, UBS, BTIG). But a 1/2 warrant makes more sense and means this deal should generate a good amount of demand.
Look for this SPAC to price ahead of the July 4th holiday week.
At the SPAC of Dawn Tucked into the bill that provides $95 billion in funding to American allies passed by the House this weekend is another measure that is likely to have far more impact on at least one pending deal in SPAC world. It would appear that the timing was fortuitous for TikTok rival...
With the passage this weekend of $95 billion in funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan by the House of Representatives, some focus has gone back towards the defense sector, which has generally had a good year as a whole. But, SPACs have not been as active in defense, despite the fact that companies in the...
At the SPAC of Dawn As April’s sleepy month for SPAC news continues, there is only one special meeting on the docket to consider a SPAC deal approval, that being today’s vote on Pegasus Digital Mobility‘s (NYSE:PGSS) combination with equipment manufacturer Schmid. Three more SPACs are facing extension votes this week, including Pyrophyte (NYSE:PHYT), whose...
Terms Tracker for the Week Ending April 19, 2024 Welcome to our weekly column where we discuss the findings from our IPO terms tracker based on the previous week’s pricings. Passover and school spring break starts next week, which most likely means a slowdown in SPAC filing activity. Although Churchill IX is now rumored to...
Despite a week of general pull-backs in the market, fintech firm Ibotta (NYSE:IBTA) nonetheless took the dive and had a good week debuting via a traditional IPO in the choppy waters. The company, which provides app-based consumer cashback discounts on purchases, priced its IPO at $88, above its proposed range of $76 to $84, and...