This week, the team behind IVEST Consumer Partners, which has a portfolio that includes Spence Diamonds and M&M Food Markets, priced the initial public offering (IPO) for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) set to invest in tech-enabled consumer companies.
Dubbed Swiftmerge Acquisition Corp., the blank cheque company began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on the morning of December 15. The SPAC is looking to raise $200 million by offering 20 million units at a price of $10 USD per share.
Swiftmerge is being led by the team at Vancouver-based IVEST, with its board of directors and advisors a mix of Canadian tech companies, consumer goods experts, and notable global brand leaders. Board members include Brett Conrad the founder of California hedge fund Longboard Capital Advisors, who also served as president of Lululemon USA from 2003 to 2006 after his brother founded the company; and Sarah Boatman of quantum computing company Photonic is also on the board. Boatman has also held roles at Microsoft Studios in Vancouver and Electronic Arts.
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Hootsuite co-founder Dario Meli, who has since created Quietly Media, also sits on Swiftmerge’s board of advisors alongside Praveen Varshney, a venture capitalist and philanthropist along with being the co-founder and director of Mogo. Other advisors boast backgrounds that include Saks Inc., Claire’s, and Lord and Taylor.
IVEST was founded in 2013 as a consumer-focused private equity group with a thesis to invest in companies looking for liquidity and a partner “to help steward their companies through the next phase of growth.” Its investments include M&M Food Markets, Spence Diamonds, Dan Dee International, and Animal Adventure.
With the SPAC, the IVEST team appears to want to take advantage of the recent boom in digital transformation. The company intends to pursue consumer companies that are utilizing “technology and the internet to evolve the way that consumers interact with the market.”
The offering is expected to close on December 17, and remains subject to customary closing conditions.