IX Acquisition prices IPO at $200M

There's another new special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in town.

IX Acquisition, led by digital infrastructure veterans Guy Willner, Karen Bach and Noah Aptekar, listed on Nasdaq today.

After raising $200 million through an IPO, the blank check company says it's looking for merger opportunities with firms in the TMT and ICT industries, "specifically the telecommunications infrastructure, internet and technology and digital services sectors operating in Europe and emerging markets."

In a recent interview, Aptekar, a former finance manager at SpaceX and now CFO at IX Acquisition, said part of the strategy was to focus on companies operating outside the US but doing the majority of their business in US dollars. He said that this was "quite common among both data center businesses and cell tower companies."

Guy Willner and Karen Bach both have extensive experience in running DC operations. The resume of Willner, executive chairman at IX Acquisition, includes co-founder and chairman of DC operators IXcellerate and IXAfrica, as well as founder and former CEO of IXEurope.

The previous roles of Karen Bach, the SPAC's CEO, include CFO at IXEurope, EDS France and General Motors.

Not unusual for a SPAC, Aptekar anticipates raising an additional round of equity in the form of a PIPE (private investment in public equity) at the time of merger with a target company.

Number crunching

The IX Acquisition IPO comprises 20 million units priced at $10.00 per unit. Each unit consists of one share of Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one share of Class A ordinary shares at a price of $11.50 per share. The offering is expected to close on October 12.

IX Acquisition has the potential to raise a further $30 million through an over-allotment option comprising an additional 3 million shares.

Cantor Fitzgerald is sole bookrunner for the IPO, while Odeon Capital Group is acting as the lead manager for the offering.

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— Ken Wieland, contributing editor, special to Light Reading