New Listed Vehicle for Corporate Takeover

Introduction to Project Mayflower

A group of senior City figures are currently negotiating to raise hundreds of millions of pounds for a new listed vehicle to be used in a major corporate takeover. The vehicle, codenamed Project Mayflower, is a London Stock Exchange-listed buyout company.

Founders and Investors

JRJ Group, co-founded by former Lehman Brothers executives, is in talks with investors about forming the company. TOMS Capital, founded by former hedge fund manager Noam Gottesman, is also involved in the new company. Initial discussions with institutional investors about backing the vehicle have already begun, with talks expected to accelerate in the coming weeks given signs of strong demand.

Fundraising and Acquisition Targets

The group is reportedly seeking an initial fundraising of around $500 million, with numerous acquisition targets across multiple industries likely to be explored. In particular, they are expected to focus on bid targets valued between $2 billion and $5 billion. The investment bank Jefferies is involved in the IPO.

Reasons for Choosing London

A source said the founders chose London for the so-called cash shells because of its investor-friendly structure. The launch of the vehicle comes at a time when the poor environment for initial public offerings (IPOs) in London coincides with pressure on asset owners such as private equity firms to generate liquidity from their portfolios.

Market Opportunities

This combination of factors has created “a generational opportunity to purchase assets at attractive prices,” the source added. Mayflower’s founders are expected to invest significant amounts of their own money in the company to ensure alignment with outside investors.

Founders’ Background

Because they left Lehman before its 2008 collapse deepened the global financial crisis, Mr. Isaacs and Mr. Nagioff have found financial success through JRJ. The company was a major shareholder in Marex, a commodities broker that listed in New York last year at a valuation of over $1.3 billion.

Recent Market Trends

There have been slight signs of revival in the London stock market over the past two weeks, with challenger bank Shawbrook Group making a strong debut this week. Cash shells, or special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), enjoyed a multi-year boom in the US, financing takeovers of companies such as Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and electric vehicle makers such as Lucid and Nikola.

Conclusion

A number of new SPACs have emerged in recent months as there are signs of renewed investor interest in these vehicles. None of those involved in the plan could be reached for comment Saturday.