Helios Invest Partners plans to list in U.S. via $1 billion SPAC deal

Onyx Acquisition Co I

18/01/2023 21:57

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Helios Investment
Partners plans to merge with Onyx Acquisition Co I  ONYX.O  in a
deal valued at nearly $1 billion, including debt, the
blank-check firm said on Wednesday.
    Founded in 2004, the Africa-focused firm manages $3.6
billion of funds. Helios acquired a 60% stake in major oil
company Oando's downstream business along with Vitol in 2016.
    The deal, expected to close in the second half of next year,
will create a publicly listed energy transition infrastructure
platform, Helios Energy Transition Infrastructure (HETI),
focused on the development of natural gas and low-carbon energy
infrastructure businesses and assets in Africa.
    Helios is pushing ahead with its listing plans at a time few
are. Rampant inflation, aggressive interest rake hikes and the
fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war led investors to shun
speculative investments like special purpose acquisition
companies (SPACs).
    A record number of companies opted for SPACs over
traditional initial public offerings in 2021. But regulatory
concerns and heightened scrutiny seems to have cooled down Wall
Street's hottest investment trend, with majority of SPACs
trading below their offering prices.
    Still energy companies fared better, with Greenfire
Resources Inc, X-energy and NET Power filing to go public in the
last few months.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N32W2CY  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3342UN  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N335306
    A SPAC typically sells shares at $10 apiece, puts the cash
in a trust account, and then searches for a company to buy. Its
shareholders can choose to redeem their shares in return for
cash. 
 (Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju
Samuel)
 ((Mehnaz.Yasmin@thomsonreuters.com;))