Tony Hayward, the former CEO of the British oil and gas group BP (BP Plc), wants to bring his investment fund to the stock exchange in Amsterdam. The IPO of the company Energy Transition Partners will raise an amount of 175 million euros. An official IPO announcement is likely to be made next week.
Hayward’s Stock Exchange Fund is a so-called SPAC (Special purpose acquisition company). That is an investment company that is listed without any activities. The only purpose of a SPAC is to take over other companies, so that they do not have to worry about the administration that comes with an ordinary IPO.
Hayward’s Investment Fund – who resigned as CEO of BP in 2010 in the aftermath of the oil spill on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico-would like to focus on companies operating with batteries and electric driving.
The market for SPACs has grown significantly recently, especially in Amsterdam. Earlier this year, Bernard Arnault, the richest man in France and founder of the luxury company LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), came to Amsterdam with his scholarship fund Pegasus. That fund is worth hundreds of millions of euros.
Following Arnault and Hayward, more SPACs would like to come to Amsterdam. It is reported that the companies are owned by British tech entrepreneur Michael Tobin, former CEO Martin Blessing of Commerzbank and Dieter Wemmer, former financial director of the German insurer Allianz.
The construction of the ’empty’ Stock Exchange Companies is regularly criticised. According to critics, the companies pose more risks for investors, because it is less clear where they invest their money in. Critics also denounce the lucrative business model for the founders of a space.
