London Spac Mayflower Acquisition Raises $500 Million Dollars Targets Multibillion Pound Deal

A recently launched London-listed special purpose acquisition company has raised 500 million dollars in a bid to target a multibillion pound acquisition. Mayflower Acquisition, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and founded by three veteran City dealmakers, Sir Jeremy Isaacs, Roger Nagioff and Noam Gottesman, began trading on Friday with support from a board that includes hedge fund veteran Lord Fink.

The founders and their affiliates have committed 75 million dollars of their own capital, signalling their confidence in securing a transaction within the stated target range of 2 billion to 5 billion dollars. The company will search for acquisition opportunities across a broad international landscape and sectors. Mayflower’s leadership views the current market environment, characterised by subdued liquidity in venture capital and private equity, as advantageous for acquiring assets from pressured sellers.

The company’s focus includes unlocking so-called stalled exits, which often involve long-held private equity assets, large family-owned businesses lacking a clear succession route, and venture-backed companies unable to access flotation through the limited IPO window. Mayflower notes that challenging monetisation options, especially beyond the technology and healthcare sectors, create fertile ground for such transactions.

Mayflower’s board features prominent names in finance. Lord Fink, former head of the Man Group and reputed Conservative peer, joins as a non-executive director. The founders have extensive industry experience; Gottesman, a British-American hedge fund entrepreneur, previously co-founded GLG and was behind the Spac that acquired Iglo, the frozen foods group responsible for Birds Eye, for 2.6 billion euro in 2015. Isaacs and Nagioff, both 61, are former Lehman Brothers executives who later established JRJ Group, investing extensively in financial services and commodity trading platforms.

If Mayflower fails to complete an acquisition within two years, the board will consider winding up the vehicle or extending the deadline by one year, in keeping with industry practice. The listing process was managed by Jefferies, and unconditional share dealings are scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

This move reflects the lasting appeal of blank cheque vehicles as alternative routes to the public markets. Although the heyday of Spac fundraising during the pandemic saw more than 240 billion dollars raised globally, half of those companies returned cash to investors. Several high-profile Spac deals unravelled, including those involving WeWork, Cazoo, and Virgin Orbit. Nevertheless, the experience and backing behind Mayflower Acquisition place it in a strong position to complete a major transaction in the coming years.