Online grocery retailer Boxed to go public via $900 mln SPAC deal (updated)

Boxed

14/06/2021 14:36

(Adds background on SPAC funding)
    June 14 (Reuters) - Online bulk grocery retailer Boxed Inc
said on Monday it would go public through a merger with
blank-check firm Seven Oaks Acquisition Corp  SVOK.O , in a deal
valuing the equity of the combined firm at around $900 million. 
    The transaction is expected to provide Boxed with about $334
million in net cash proceeds, including a $120 million private
investment from investors such as Brigade Capital Management,
Avanda Investment Management and Onex Credit.
    The deal, which used a mix of stock and structured notes to
raise funds, highlights how SPAC sponsors are being creative in
finding funding sources to get a deal to the finish line amid a
slowdown in such funding across Wall Street.
    Markets are worried that SPACs have taken many companies
public at valuations that are too high, leading investors to
nurse losses after rallies reversed following a steep climb in
share prices after the deals were announced.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2N13S5
    SPACs are shell companies that raise funds through an IPO to
take a private company public through a merger at a later date.
    Founded in 2013, Boxed sells household products, groceries,
health supplies, and more in bulk quantities to households and
businesses, its website showed.
    Seven Oaks, a so-called special purpose acquisition company,
or SPAC, raised nearly $260 million through an initial public
offering (IPO) last year.    
    The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.
    Citi and PJ Solomon are serving as financial advisors to
Boxed, while Wells Fargo Securities, Nomura and JonesTrading
Institutional Services are acting as capital markets and
financial advisors to Seven Oaks.

 (Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru and Krystal Hu in New
York; Editing by Aditya Soni and Amy Caren Daniel)
 ((sohini.podder@thomsonreuters.com;))