Global Consumer Acquisition Corp (GCAC), a blank cheque company backed by private equity veteran Rohan Ajila, and Gautham Pai, chairman of The Manipal Group, has raised $170 million as part of an initial public offering (IPO) this week.
The company, which listed on NASDAQ under the symbol ‘GACQU’ this week, is a special purpose vehicle for acquiring entities in the consumer sector with a focus on Asia and India.
“We intend to focus on global consumer companies with a significant Asia presence or a compelling Asia potential, especially India. This complements the expertise of our management team in cross-border mergers, business development and Asia or India expansion, said Ajila, co-chairman and chief executive officer, GCAC.
GCAC aims to acquire targets with enterprise value in the range of $500 million to $1 billion complemented by a series of tuck-in buyouts in similar or adjacent categories to further accelerate the growth of this platform.
The company declined to specify which companies they are in discussions with.
“The SPAC aims to get a deal done in the next 12 months” Ajila said.
The company added that the consumer industry provides a number of interesting acquisition opportunities that can be tapped into through its global private equity and operator network.
“Today every company is rethinking their business in terms of technology, supply chain and markets and this provides us specific opportunities” said Ajila.
Ajila has over 20 years of experience in investment management. Currently, he also serves as a managing partner at FIDES Business Partner, a private equity firm based in Zurich and was previously the managing partner of Capvent AG, a private equity and fund of funds investment house which has invested more than a billion dollars globally.
In March, Elevation Capital, earlier known as SAIF Partners, tied up with San-Francisco-headquartered Think Investments LLC to float a blank cheque company called Think Elevation Capital Growth Opportunity, focused on Indian technology companies looking to list in the US.
The Cayman Islands-based special purpose acquisition company is co-led by Ravi Adusumalli, founder and managing partner, Elevation Capital, and Shashin Shah, who is the founder and managing partner of Think Investments.
This article was first published on livemint.com