Former senior dealmakers at Bank of America Corp. and Carlyle Group Inc. are backing a special purpose acquisition company that’s seeking $300 million to acquire businesses in the consumer sector
Woody Boueiz, ex-head of sovereign wealth funds at Bank of America, and Nadim Barakat, previously a managing director at Carlyle, are backing Transformational CPG Acquisition Corp. through a newly-created investment firm, according to a filing Monday.
The blank-check firm will target companies with an enterprise value of more than $1.25 billion in the U.S. and Europe. It will focus on consumer sub-sectors including packaged foods, drinks and beauty and wellness, the filing shows.
Transformational CPG has picked senior executives from the consumer industry for its management team. It will be chaired by Charles Norris, chairman of $6.7 billion pet foods group Freshpet Inc. Daryl Brewster, formerly of Kraft Foods Inc. and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., will serve as chief executive officer.
The vehicle is the latest seeking to take advantage of the booming investor demand for SPACs that is drawing record numbers of industry moguls to market. More than $213 billion of SPAC IPOs have been announced globally in the last 12 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with Moelis & Co. CEO Ken Moelis and former Credit Suisse Group AG boss Tidjane Thiam among those from the world of finance backing new blank-check firms.
Boueiz left Bank of America last year after more than two decades, during which time he also led the U.S. lender’s corporate and investment bank in the Middle East and North Africa. He now serves as a senior adviser to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Barakat worked at Carlyle for more than seven years before leaving in 2019. Prior to Carlyle, he was chief investment officer of Credit Suisse’s customized fund investment group, which managed about $30 billion at the time.
Transformational CPG is offering 30 million units at $10 apiece, with each unit consisting of one share and a third of a redeemable warrant. It plans to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker “TCPGU,” according to Monday’s filing.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. are managing the IPO.
