Emma-Victoria Farr

LONDON (Reuters) – France’s richest man Bernard Arnault and former UniCredit head Jean Pierre Mustier will publicly list a second blank cheque vehicle in Amsterdam, raising 200 million euros ($226 million), the bookrunners on the deal said.

In May, they raised half a million euros through their SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), Pegasus Acquire Europe B.V. They are currently looking for targets to acquire in the financial industry.

The same backers also announced Tuesday that they will list another vehicle, Pegasus Entrepreneurial Acquiring Company Europe in Amsterdam.

A group of entrepreneurs list SPACs on the stock exchange. They use the funds to target private companies, thereby enabling the target company to be listed without having to go through the lengthy process of becoming a public stock exchange.

Mustier works with Diego De Giorgi, a former Bank of America (NYSE) banker and Pierre Cuilleret, an entrepreneur and investor in the launch of the 200m euro listing.

Amsterdam has seen several SPACs list, which could boost the Dutch capital’s reputation as a financial hub. After updating its rules, London only has one major SPAC host in 2021.

Pegasus is backed by institutional sponsors Tikehau Capital and Financière Agache and by sponsors De Giorgi, Cuilleret and Mustier. Bookrunners for the deal were Citi, Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas.

($1 = 0.8860 euros)