Foundry Group files to launch $230M SPAC

BOULDER — The Foundry Group is seeking to raise $230 million for a special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, following two other high-profile moves in the region using the financial instrument.

According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday afternoon, Crucible Acquisition Corp. is seeking to raise the funds to help take a business in the cloud-based software industry public. It will be managed under a limited partnership controlled by The Foundry Group.

“We believe that through our relationship with Foundry Group, we will have access to a substantial population of potential targets for our initial business combination,” Crucible said in its filings.

It has yet to have any discussions with a potential merger partner, the filings said. Until then, it plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CRU.U”.

The filings also say it is not legally barred from merging with a company into which The Foundry Group has already invested. However, it said it would get an outside opinion from an independent investment bank before launching a combination.

SPACs are shell companies that are listed on public exchanges but don’t produce any revenues. They exist solely to be acquired by companies looking to go public outside of the normal procedures of an initial public offering and do not require the private company to release financial data or be bound to a quiet period.

These investment vehicles have been particularly popular in 2020, as low interest rates targeted by the Federal Reserve and broader stock market volatility have led some investors to move away from bonds and equities in search of alternative investments. SPACs have raised more than $70 billion so far this year, according to Bloomberg data.

Loveland’s Lightning eMotors announced two weeks ago that it will go public on the New York Stock Exchange via a SPAC acquisition that it believes will add $270 million in cash to the company’s books.

Just days later, the Boulder office of private equity firm The Gores Group said it would form a $300 million SPAC in the area with the intent to market it to companies looking to go public.

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