(Bloomberg) — The special-purpose acquisition company backed by Martin Blessing, a former chief executive officer of Commerzbank AG, will merge with Dutch digital entertainment company Azerion Holding BV.
The deal between Blessing’s SPAC, called EFIC1, values Azerion at about 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion), the two companies said in a statement Monday that confirms an earlier Bloomberg report. The company will rename as Azerion Group NV and start trading on the Amsterdam stock exchange in February.
“EFIC1 was formed with the intention of combining with a fast growing, profitable and tech-enabled European champion which could benefit from our team’s experience, expertise and a public market listing,” Blessing said in the release. “Having worked extensively with Azerion’s management over the last six months, we believe we have found exactly the asset we were looking for.”
Blessing set up EFIC1 earlier this year as the wave of blank-check companies started to reach Europe after a boom in the U.S. Several other European high-profile bankers have started SPACs, including ex-Credit Suisse Group AG CEO Tidjane Thiam and ex-Deutsche Bank AG investment banking head Garth Ritchie.
Read More: Ex-Commerzbank CEO’s Fintech SPAC Falls in Amsterdam Debut
Azerion makes money from placing ads in online games, many of which it produces itself. Led by Co-CEOs Attila Aytekin and Umut Akpinar, it had 195 million euros in revenue last year, according to its latest annual report. The company is targeting top line of 355 million euros this year and of 450 million euros next year.
“Azerion has experienced significant growth since its inception in 2014, and we have been looking for effective ways to build on this growth whilst consolidating our leading position in the markets we operate in,” Aytekin said in the release. “This business combination, and the subsequent listing of Azerion, will not only give us access to the capital markets but will also help us raise our profile amongst our customer and partner groups and talented workforce globally.”
(Updates with company confirmation to add quotes in third and sixth paragraph)
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