Iron Horse Acquisitions Corp.a blank check company targeting the media and entertainment industry, has closed its IPO, raising $69 million.
The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) proposed 6.9 million units at the price of $10 each. These included 800 000 units proposed by the company to cover over-allocations, according to a press release dated December 29.
Iron Horse, led by Founder and CEO José A. Bengochea, aims to identify and merge with a company in the media and entertainment landscape. Their focus areas include production studios, celebrity-backed content creators, talent consumer products, gaming, fantasy sports, music rights aggregators, music licensors, labels international music companies, K-POP, AI, social media marketers, talent management and talent services. and more, the company said in the press release.
Bengochea is the founder and CEO of Bengochea Capital LLCan investment company founded in 2020 and a media entity registered with the Recording Academy for the 2023 Grammy Awards. Before founding Bengochea Capital, he was part of Sonyof the Global Business Development team in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2020.
The offering was led by the sole bookrunner EF Hutton LLCwith Brookline Capital Markets acting as co-manager. Iron Horse shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “IROHU” on December 27.
Each unit consists of one common share, one full warrant, and a right to receive one-fifth of one common share after the SPAC merges with a chosen company. According to a prospectus filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of the company's common stock at a price of $11.50, following a merger , but no later than five years after the merger.
“Our team has demonstrated extensive experience in successful acquisitions, value creation and value enhancement in the media and entertainment sector and has access to globally exclusive opportunities that can be leveraged to generate value.
Acquisitions of iron horses
The units are expected to eventually trade separately, with the common shares trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “IROH”, the warrants under “IROHW” and the rights under “IROHR”.
Iron Horse's management team also includes Bill Caragol, COO, Jane Waxman, CFO (former executive vice president and deputy CFO of 20th Century Fox), President Brian Turner, and independent directors Ken Hertz (who, among other things, served as Vice President, Music – Business and Legal Affairs at The Walt Disney Company), Scott Morris, And Lisa Harrington.
“We believe our team has desirable attributes for potential targets in the M&E space. Our team is a multicultural, multi-ethnic mix of seasoned public company executives, Hollywood insiders, media operators, media investors and individuals with extensive experience in public markets and M&A,” Iron Horse said in its report. prospectus.
“Our team has demonstrated extensive experience in successful acquisitions, value creation and value enhancement in the media and entertainment sector and has access to globally exclusive opportunities that can be leveraged to generate value. Our team's exclusive connections include touchpoints with, for example, celebrity-owned studios and brands, family entertainment media, animation, talent management and music, including direct relationships with many celebrities.
The music SPAC landscape has seen some notable mergers in recent years, paving the way for Iron Horse's potential foray.
Almost two years ago, Spotifythe rival of in France Deezer merged with blank check company become a company listed on Euronext Paris, giving it a company valuation of approximately 1.075 billion euros (1.19 billion US dollars).
Alliance Entertainment, an American distributor and wholesaler of music, movies, video games, electronics, arcades and collectibles, last year merged with a blank check company Acquisition of Adaraby valuing it $480 million.
Most recently, in December, a Singapore-based technology company FENIX360 agreed to be acquired by a US-based blank check company DUET Acquisition Corp. The transaction, which values FENIX360 at $610 millionis expected to be completed in the first half of 2024.
However, not all music-focused SPACs have been successful. The Music Acquisition Company (TMAC), former president of Geffen Records Neil Jacobsonthe blank check company, filed with liquidate more than a year ago, the board of directors believing that the SPAC was “very unlikely” to complete a business combination before its target date.
In December 2022, Media Freedom Acquisition company, spear by the media giant Media FreedomAlso extinct its business after being unable to complete mergers with potential targets, despite evaluating “more than 140” target companies.
Last October, Iron Horse itself withdrew plans for a 100 million dollars Initial Public Offering. The company said the withdrawal was due to “a confluence of changes in market conditions, changes in the proposed offering terms and changes in the company's financial statements” since its initial IPO filing with the SEC.Music Business Worldwide