Lawrence Ho files for a SPAC listing in HK

Caroline Zheng and Bloomberg

Black Spade Asia Acquisition, which is co-promoted by billionaire Lawrence Ho Yau-lung's private investment firm Black Spade Capital, filed to list in Hong Kong yesterday as a special purpose acquisition company.

Its other promoter is BOCHK Asset Management, a subsidiary of the state-owned commercial bank BOCHK (2388).

Ho is the chief executive of Melco International Development (0200) and Melco Resorts & Entertainment, the casino operator.

The SPAC intends to target companies in Greater China that are related to the entertainment, lifestyle and healthcare industry, with UBS being the sole sponsor for the proposed offering.

Black Spade Capital had its first SPAC, Black Spade Acquisition, listed in the US in July last year, which raised US$169 million (HK$1.32 billion).

This came after Aquila Acquisition (7836), Hong Kong's first SPAC, closed 3.2 percent lower at HK$9.68 on its debut on Friday after a session marked by only a few trades.

The China Merchants Bank-backed SPAC had raised HK$1 billion after offering about 100 million Class A shares at HK$10 apiece as well as 50.03 million warrants.

It said it will focus on companies in new-economy sectors like green energy and life sciences.

Transactions with blank-check companies in Hong Kong are restricted to professional investors, and there are only 29 approved SPAC exchange firms allowed to trade them, says the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing website.

"The appetite of promoters hinges on how the current remaining application cases come out and whether the first de-SPAC transaction would be successfully completed within three years," Andy Wong, IPO leader at SW Hong Kong, said before Aquila's debut.

A total of 11 SPACs have so far submitted listing applications since the exchange allowed blacnk-check firms to list staring this year.