Refile: Pinault and Pigasse join forces on entertainment-focused SPAC

Seojin Automotive

14/07/2021 10:26

(Refiles to remove extraneous word in headline)
    PARIS, July 14 (Reuters) - The holding companies of French
business billionaire Francois Pinault's family and banker
Matthieu Pigasse announced on Wednesday the creation of I2PO, a
SPAC aiming to raise an initial 250 million euros ($294.50
million) and target the entertainment industry.
    The SPAC will be led by Iris Knobloch, I2PO's chairman and
chief executive who built her career at WarnerMedia.
    A SPAC, or Special Purpose Acquisition Company, is a shell
company with no operational activity whose securities are issued
on the stock market for a limited time with the aim of making
one or more acquisitions in a particular sector.
    Francois Henri Pinault, the son of Francois Pinault, will
represent the Pinault family on the board of I2PO, the first
European SPAC dedicated to the entertainment and leisure
sectors.
    I2PO said the initial 250 million euro private placement was
part of a listing on Euronext Paris, and could be increased to
300 million euros.
    Francois Pinault, whose family holding company Artemis
controls luxury group Kering  PRTP.PA , invested in March in
another SPAC set up by former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam. 
    In February, Bernard Arnault, the boss of LVMH  LVMH.PA  -
Kering's main rival - launched a SPAC with former Unicredit
chief executive Jean-Pierre Mustier focusing on the European
financial services sector.    

($1 = 0.8489 euros)

 (Editing by Richard Lough and Louise Heavens)
 ((Email: richard.lough@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +33 1 80 98 12
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