TPG-backed SPACs pull in $800M as frenzy continues

Plenty of private equity firms have helped drive this year’s boom in special-purpose acquisition companies. And at TPG Capital, a single SPAC isn’t enough.

A pair of SPACs backed by the firm priced IPOs on Tuesday and began trading Wednesday, with TPG Pace Tech Opportunities raising $450 million and TPG Pace Beneficial Finance bringing in $350 million. The former blank-check company will hunt for a target in the tech sector, while the latter will aim to combine with a company that boasts strong environmental, social and corporate governance policies.

The vehicles aren’t TPG’s first foray into the world of SPACs: A blank-check company called TPG Pace Holdings raised more than $450 million in a 2017 IPO and completed a reverse merger two years later with Accel Entertainment, an operator of slot machines and other gaming equipment.

Even beyond TPG, private equity’s interest in SPACs shows no signs of abating. Last week alone, a vehicle sponsored by Apollo Global Management raised $750 million in a blank-check IPO, and a healthcare-focused SPAC sponsored by Bain Capital filed for a $125 million listing. Across the whole US SPAC market, blank-check companies have raised more than $43 billion through 126 IPOs so far this year, according to PitchBook data.

Source: PitchBook

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