Group Nine Acquisition, a blank check company formed by Group Nine Media targeting the media industry, filed on Monday with the SEC to raise up to $200 million in an initial public offering.
The New York, NY-based company plans to raise $200 million by offering 20 million units at $10. Each unit will consist of one share of common stock and one-third of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the proposed deal size, Group Nine Acquisition will command a market value of $250 million.
The company is led by CEO and Chairman Ben Lerer, who was the co-founder and CEO of Thrillist prior to becoming the CEO of Group Nine Media. He is joined by CFO Sean Macnew, the CFO of Group Nine Media and previously POPSUGAR, and President and Director Brian Sugar, who is the President of Group Nine Media and former CEO of POPSUGAR.
Concurrent with its business combination, Group Nine Acquisition currently intends to combine with Group Nine Media, the parent company of its sponsor and the owner of digital media brands Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker, and POPSUGAR. The company will not, however, complete an initial business combination with only Group Nine Media and plans to target businesses in the digital media and adjacent industries, including the social media, e-commerce, events, and digital publishing and marketing sectors.
Group Nine Acquisition was founded in 2020 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol GNACU. The company filed confidentially on November 25, 2020. Barclays and CODE Advisors are the joint bookrunners on the deal.
