Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick has formed a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is seeking to raise $250 million in an IPO.
The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback disclosed in a regulatory filing that his blank-check vehicle, Mission Advancement, intends to acquire a company at “the intersection of consumer and impact.”
Kaepernick, who hasn’t played professional football since 2016, has become a social activist, vocalizing his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The athlete, who is forming the SPAC with private equity firm Najafi Cos, will serve as the company’s co-chair alongside Jahm Najafi, who will also be CEO of Mission Advancement. Directors include Attica Jaques, Google’s head of global brand consumer marketing, and Katia Beauchamp, co-founder and CEO of Birchbox.
News of Kaepernick’s SPAC comes as Shaquille O’Neal’s Forest Road Acquisition Corp. announced a merger with Beachbody Co. Group in a deal valuing the fitness-and-nutrition business at $3 billion. Meanwhile, former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez said in a regulatory filing that he is raising $500 million for a SPAC called Slam Corp. targeting a company in the “sports, media and entertainment, technology, and health and wellness industries.”
The SPAC frenzy shows no signs of slowing down this year, after gaining momentum in 2020. So far in 2021, SPACs have raised more than $38 billion through 128 IPOs, according to SPAC Research.
