Damien Kantor
09/15/2021 8:05 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 09/15/2021 8:06 AM
Two co-founders of Mercado Libre,
Marcos Galperin and Hernán Kazah forged a new alliance
.
Today, the former is still at the helm of the most valuable Argentine company and the latter runs the Kaszek investment fund.
With those endorsements, they created a new company (MELI Kaszek Pioneer Corp), which
will go public on the Nasdaq in order to raise US $ 250 million
and go hunting technological unicorns in the region.
In reality, the operation is based on a well-known financial instrument, the SPAC, which consists of raising funds on the Wall Street stock market to buy startups with high growth potential. In a joint statement, both groups announced that this new company
will go public under the symbol "MEKA"
and that "it is structured as
a blank check company
whose purpose is to raise capital and then
search for a technology-based company in the digital ecosystem. of Latin America
".
Meli Kaszek Pioneer has already filed for registration with the SEC (the regulatory body of the North American stock market) to
carry out an initial public offering (IPO) with 25 million shares at US $ 10 each
, with which they hope to raise US $ 250 million. From then on, the company will search for new technological ventures with the intention of buying a part.
The company plans to target the acquisition of startups operating in high-growth business verticals, including
e-commerce, financial services, logistics, healthcare, education, business software, and entertainment
. "Our goal is to become the best strategic partner for a high-growth technology disruptor, led by its founders, forging a long-term relationship that enables it to fully leverage the diverse skill sets and businesses" of MELI Kaszek Pioneer partners.
The new firm will have Kazah himself and Pedro Arnt on its board (both will be CEO), and Angel Uribe, as Investment Director. In addition to a long list of special consultants, including Galperin, Nicolás Szekasy (Kaszek co-founder and managing partner), Stelleo Tolda (MELI President of Commerce), Osvaldo Giménez (MELI Fintech President) and Daniel Rabinovich (COO of MELI).
The SPAC, specialists say,
is an old financial instrument
, but one that is fashionable today among venture capitalists and the entrepreneurial technology ecosystem. It is an inverse stock exchange operation to the traditional ones, since it first goes public and then goes shopping. In this sense, the key is the support of their owners. In this case,
Mercado Libre and Kaszek
. The benefit for startups is
speeding up their IPO, a very complex process that takes years and is very expensive.
That path is the one recently taken by Satellogic, the startup focused on the business of selling satellite images, which last July
managed to raise US $ 100 million in investments from various funds in exchange for shares
, including Cantor Fitzgerald and Softbank, through a SPAC. In this way, Satellogic reached a valuation of US $ 850 million and in the coming days (through this alliance) it will be listed on the Nasdaq, as the panel that lists the most valuable technology companies in the world is known.
