Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson at the New York Stock Exchange on October 28, 2019.
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- Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is working on listing a SPAC in Amsterdam, Sky News reported Friday.
- This would mark the first European SPAC for Branson who listed Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit in the US via blank-check firms.
- The European SPAC could be launched as early as this quarter.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is aiming to launch a special-purpose acquisition company in Europe, Sky News reported Friday, a move that would mark the billionaire’s first SPAC in that region and would add to his work with so-called blank-check companies.
Virgin Group is working with bankers on detailed plans to list a new SPAC in Amsterdam. The vehicle could be introduced as early as the first quarter of this year, the report said, citing unnamed sources.
One source said the SPAC would probably seek to raise an initial sum of around €200 million ($227 million) but final details haven’t bee set.
SPACs, also called blank-check firms, go public with the goal to merge with or acquire a private company. The process is seen as less costly than launching a company through a traditional IPO.
Sky News said the move may be interpreted as a snub to the London market. Virgin Group is based in the UK and British regulators have reformed listing rules to make it easier to pursue SPAC deals in the capital city.
Branson already has experience with SPACs as he’s brought two companies to the US stock market through such vehicles. Virgin Orbit shares began trading Thursday on Nasdaq after the space-satellite company went public through NextGen Acquisition Corp. II. His space tourism company Virgin Galactic went public in 2019 through venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital Hedosophia.
Branson on Friday declined to confirm or deny the report about the pending European SPAC.
“Not talking about it today. I love Amsterdam. I lived in a houseboat for a lot of my life. So maybe if I need a new houseboat maybe you’ll see me in Amsterdam sometime soon,” Branson said on CNBC during a remote interview.
Branson was to take part in ringing the bell on Nasdaq on Friday in New York to mark the launch of Virgin Orbit but couldn’t attend the ceremony after contracting COVID.
“I’m feeling great,” he told CNBC.
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