Mubadala Capital’s SPAC’s IPO raises $200 million

Business Bureau, Gulf Today

Blue Whale Acquisition Corp I, a new special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) formed by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital, announced on Wednesday that it raised $200 million by offering 20 million units at $10 per unit.

The units of the new entity targeting media, entertainment, and tech will be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market in the US and trade under the ticker symbol “BWCAU” beginning on August 4, 2021.

The company is sponsored by Mubadala Capital, the asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company  (Mubadala), a leading global sovereign investor headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with more than $243 billion of assets under management. The Company was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses in the media, entertainment and technology industries. The Company is led by Maxime Franzetti, Head of Public Equities and SPACs at Mubadala Capital, Adib Mattar, Head of Private Equity at Mubadala Capital and Russ Pillar, Founder and Executive Chairman of Reigning Champs, the world’s largest NCAA-compliant path-to-college company for student-athletes, and Senior Advisor to Mubadala Capital.

Each unit offered for sale consists of one Class A ordinary share, and one-fourth of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share, for $10.00 per unit. In addition, MIC Capital Partners (Public) Parallel Cayman, LP, the direct parent of the sponsor, has agreed to enter into a forward purchase agreement that will provide for the purchase, at its discretion, of up to $50,000,000 forward purchase units, each consisting of one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase share, and one-fourth of one warrant to purchase one Class A ordinary share, or a forward purchase warrant, for $10.00 per unit, in a private placement to close substantially concurrently with the closing of the initial business combination. MIC Capital Partners (Public) Parallel Cayman, LP has also committed to purchase 2,000,000 units of the 20,000,000 public shares sold in this offering at the offering price of $10.00 per unit. When the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Company expects that the Class A ordinary shares and warrants will be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols “BWC” and “BWCAW”, respectively.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and BofA Securities are acting as book-running managers in the offering. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to 3,000,000 additional units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

The initial public offering is being made only by means of a prospectus.

Blue Whale Acquisition Corp I is a newly organized blank check company formed by an affiliate of Mubadala Capital. Mubadala Capital is the asset management subsidiary of Mubadala, a leading global sovereign investor headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

In addition to managing its own balance sheet investments, Mubadala Capital manages c. $9 billion in third-party capital vehicles on behalf of institutional investors in each of its business, including three private equity funds, two early stage venture funds, a public fund and a fund in Brazil focused on special situations.

Mubadala Capital is a differentiated and value-added investor that leverages both the Mubadala network and the relationships embedded within the investment team to source proprietary investment opportunities on a global basis. Mubadala Capital invests across a range of asset classes including private equity, public equity and venture capital. Each business employs a fundamentals-driven investment strategy, prioritizing capital preservation and long-term value creation.

Mubadala Capital has a long track record of successfully identifying category leaders suitable for investment, especially in media, entertainment, and premium content and services sectors. Representative transactions the firm has consummated in the recent past include EMI Music Publishing (acquired in 2012 and successfully exited in 2018, making Mubadala Capital one of the few institutional investors to successfully structure, purchase and exit a major music asset in the last decade), Endeavor (acquired in 2014), Reigning Champs (acquired in 2014), Imagine Entertainment (acquired in 2016), YES Network (acquired in 2019) and Looping Group (acquired in 2019). In total, these transactions and others in the media, entertainment and premium content and services sectors represent more than $1 billion of capital deployed.