(Bloomberg) -- Serial blank-check company dealmaker Betsy Cohen has found her seventh target, a technology provider for financial services companies.
FTAC Athena Acquisition Corp. has agreed to merge with New York-based Pico in a deal that will give the combined company an equity value of $1.75 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, is also raising $200 million of equity to support the Pico transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Investors in that private investment in public equity, or PIPE, include Golden Gate Capital and Wellington Management, the people said.
A deal could be announced as soon as Wednesday, they added.
Cohen, the SPAC’s chairman, has made a fortune taking financial technology companies public through her series of blank-check companies. That includes a merger announced in March that valued a combination with online trading platform eToro Group Ltd. at $10.4 billion, as well as a deal with investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners, which began trading in June.
With six earlier transactions, she is one of the most active dealmakers in SPACs, which surged in 2020 and continue to provide companies an alternative to initial public offerings for becoming publicly traded.
Eagle Equity Partners, led by former chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Harry Sloan, Jeff Sagansky and Eli Baker, has announced seven deals including its most recent, Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp.’s $17.5 billion merger with Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.
Market Data
Pico provides market data and analytics to financial services companies including banks, exchanges, hedge funds and other financial technology providers. Its other services include cloud infrastructure.
The company’s clients, according to its website, include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., as well as Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, which is also a competitor in some of its business functions.
FTAC Athena Acquisition raised $250 million in its IPO in February. The vehicle focused on finding targets in technology or financial technology, according to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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