Sixth Street-backed AvePoint to list via $2 bln merger with blank-check co
23/11/2020 12:36
Nov 23 (Reuters) - AvePoint Inc, a data management firm
backed by investment firm Sixth Street, will be taken public via
a merger with blank-check company Apex Technology Acquisition
Corp APXT.O , in a deal valued at $2 billion, the companies
said.
AvePoint, the largest data management solutions provider for
the Microsoft cloud, will be listed on the Nasdaq under the
ticker symbol "AVPT". urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw734cDja
AvePoint expects to generate about $148 million in total
revenue for the year ending Dec. 31, 2020, an increase of about
26% from a year earlier.
Apex is led by former Oracle ORCL.N finance boss Jeff
Epstein and former Goldman Sachs GS.N head of technology,
investment banking Brad Koenig. Epstein will join AvePoint's
board as a director and Koenig will join the board as an
observer.
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a shell
company that uses IPO proceeds to buy another company, typically
within two years, in a merger that will take the acquired
company public. Investors are not notified in advance on what
company the SPAC will buy.
SPACs have emerged as a popular IPO alternative for
companies this year, providing a path to going public with less
regulatory scrutiny.
The combined company will get $140 million in proceeds from
a group of institutional investors, according to the statement.
Sixth Street, which led a $200 million growth equity
investment in AvePoint in 2019, will continue as a shareholder
in the combined company.
Evercore Group is acting as financial advisor to AvePoint,
while William Blair & Company is acting as a financial advisor
to Apex.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by
Shailesh Kuber)
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