Blank-Check Firm Capitol Acquisition II Holds IPO

A special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC), or as they are sometimes called, a blank-check company, held an initial public offering (IPO) this morning. Capitol Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: CLACU) offered 18 million units at a per unit price of $10. In its press release announcing the IPO, Capitol Acquisition said it boosted its original plan to issue 15 million units due to investor demand.

The company first filed for an IPO in January of 2012, but the IPO has taken this long to complete, likely because market conditions did not support an offering until now.

Capitol Acquisition said in its S-1 filing that it will not limit its search for a potential acquisition to any particular industry or region and that it does not have any specific target in mind at this time. That is why it is called a blank-check company.

Each unit sold in today’s IPO consists of one share of common stock and one-half of one warrant. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at a price of $11.50 a share. The warrants are exercisable on the later of 30 days after Capitol Acquisition buys its first company or 12 months after the IPO. Warrants expire five years after the company’s first acquisition, when the warrants are redeemed or when the company is liquidated, whichever is earlier.

The underwriters of the offering are Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, and they have been granted an overallotment option of 2.25 million units.

Shares have not yet begun to trade.