Simon Property Group Forms $300M SPAC
The largest U.S. mall owner is joining the blank check company craze.
Simon Property Group has formed a special purpose acquisition company with a target value of $300M, according to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. The filing stipulates that the new SPAC, called Simon Property Group Acquisition Holdings Inc., doesn't have a target company. The SPAC could raise up to $345M if its underwriter, Goldman Sachs, exercises an option to purchase an additional 4.5 million shares.
SPG Chairman and CEO David Simon will serve as chairman of the new company, and SPG Senior Vice President of Corporate Investments Eli Simon will serve as its CEO. The 33-year-old Eli Simon joined SPG in 2019 from his position as head of North American lodging for Och-Ziff Capital Management and Och-Ziff Real Estate.
In the filing, SPG stated that its SPAC "will seek to target an innovative business with the potential to disrupt various aspects of the retail industry and make a transformative impact on in-person and/or online experiences."
Among the categories of business SPG Acquisition Holdings said it could target are health and wellness, food and beverage retail, distribution, coworking, entertainment, sports, esports, hospitality, e-commerce or traditional retail brands. The blank check company expects to list on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the name SPGS.U.
Simon is the latest real estate giant to launch its own blank check company, following CBRE and Tishman Speyer, which plans to use its SPAC to take proptech company Latch public at a $1.5B valuation.
