A closure without a happy ending: there is no valid “prey” on which to invest the resources collected. This is the parable of the Spac launched a couple of years ago by the former CEO of Unicredit, Jean Pierre Mustierwith prominent financiers such as billionaire Bernard Arnault (the king of the Scrooges thanks to Lvmh) and the ex Bank Of America, Diego From George as well as French asset manager Tikehau Capital. The SPAC is a sort of blank cheque: it raises the capital by listing itself before having identified its target company, then proceeds with the acquisition and then the merger of the assets. At the end of the process, the acquired company finds itself listed through the SPAC itself.
A process which in this case will not see the end of the process: Pegasus Europe (this is the name chosen by Mustier&Co.) will propose to the shareholders, on the occasion of the annual meeting on 2 May, the liquidation of the company.
Pegasus had raised around €500 million and was targeting a partnership with a financial services company with strong growth potential. Many of these companies are now facing deadlines to complete deals. And in many cases they don’t make it: According to the Financial Times, investors in these vehicles in the United States have received back tens of billions of capital in recent times.
Pegasus shareholders will receive around 10 euros per share – equal to the IPO price – or slightly less.
According to the reconstruction of the London City newspaper, the goal was to take advantage of the consolidation phase among European financial startups, which have experienced significant growth also thanks to the period of low interest rates which made a lot of capital available. However, a mature target would have been lacking, while the rise in the cost of money is complicating the Fintech scenario in general. Pegasus supporters would also have made between five and ten offers, without however reaching an agreement on the price.
They fared better in the other initiative launched, Pegasus Entrepreneurs, which signed an agreement last May to acquire the Banijay business of the French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit: it is the company that produces MasterChef.