Hambro Perks Spac to wind down after abrupt departure of boss

The first special purpose acquisition company to list in London under the government’s new rules will cease operations and return funds to investors, following the abrupt departure of a key executive and its failure to merge with a target business.

Hambro Perks Acquisition Company announced in November 2021 its intention to float in London. It raised roughly £150mn to be used to combine with a fast-growing private European tech business, targeting a £2bn deal including debt. The deadline for a deal was November 30 this year.

However, on Monday, HPAC said it would be wound up, after earlier this year ending deal talks with drug developer Istesso.

“Given the current market conditions, we have concluded that there is little likelihood of achieving a successful business combination within our permitted timeframe,” said Anthony Salz, chair of HPAC and a former senior partner at law firm Freshfields.

The announcement follows the news this month that Dominic Perks, who had served as chief executive of the Spac and was co-founder and chief of venture capital firm Hambro Perks, resigned from both companies.

One investor told the Financial Times that they were surprised no further explanation was given other than that Perks offered his resignation with immediate effect.

Perks played a significant role at the investment group that he started in 2013 and which still bears his name, serving as its chair and public face.

HPAC’s decision to wind down comes against the backdrop of a turbulent market for such vehicles.

Spacs, which raise cash by listing on a stock market before looking for a private company to merge with, took off in the US in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. But many did not find businesses to buy and are now having to return funds as they hit deadlines for acquiring target companies.

The biggest Spac, or blank-cheque, company in Europe, backed by LVMH founder Bernard Arnault and former UniCredit chief Jean Pierre Mustier, said earlier this month it would be wound up after failing to find a target in the financial services sector.

The Hambro Perks Spac was the first to be launched on the London Stock Exchange with a structure reflecting the Financial Conduct Authority’s new rules that came into force about two years ago, designed to help the local market compete with Wall Street.

Such vehicles have been able to float in London before but were constrained by rules that made overseas markets more attractive to potential investors.