(Bloomberg) -- French telecommunications billionaire Xavier Niel is planning to raise capital through a blank-check firm, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Niel and his partners are setting up a new vehicle to target acquisitions in the European consumer sector, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. They may announce plans as soon as the next few weeks for a listing in France, though the timing could slip into 2021, the people said.

Deutsche Bank AG is leading preparations for the special purpose acquisition company, which aims to seek targets with an environmental, social and governance focus, one of the people said. Societe Generale SA is also working on the deal, according to the person.

No final decisions have been made, and details of the potential listing could change, the people said. A spokesperson for Deutsche Bank declined to comment, while representatives for Niel and Societe Generale didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Niel, 53, founded French carrier Iliad SA and is its largest shareholder. He has a net worth of about $7.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In 2016, Niel teamed up with investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and businessman Pierre-Antoine Capton to raise 250 million euros ($300 million) for a special purpose acquisition company known as Mediawan SA. The next year, the company completed its merger with Groupe AB in what it described at the time as “the first successful SPAC precedent in France.”

Magnates across industries have increasingly turned to SPACs as a way to quickly raise capital for dealmaking. This year, a record $64 billion has been raised in the U.S. for such vehicles, compared with just $786 million across three deals in Western Europe.

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