Hong Kong’s richest, Li Ka-shing, becomes the latest to join the blank-cheque boom with the planned listing of a special purpose acquisition company seeking around $400 million.
Li Ka-shing’s SPAC will aim to raise around $400 million, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources, though the exact terms have yet to be finalized.
Li’s SPAC could file registration documents with U.S. regulators as early as this week, the report added.
SPAC Boom in Asia
SPACs raised $71.2 billion in 2020 alone, a whopping five-fold year-on-year surge, according to data from Refinitiv. Although Asia has been a limited contributor thus far, Goldman Sachs estimates that it and other non-U.S. markets are set to raise $300 billion of M&A capital from such vehicles in the coming two years.
Even Li’s younger son, Richard Li, has already raised about $900 million through two U.S.-listed SPACs with billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel and is now reportedly considering setting up a third SPAC.
