City tycoons plot cash shell float to fund $5bn takeover deal

A radical of elder City figures is successful talks to rise hundreds of millions of pounds for a caller listed conveyance that would beryllium utilized to people a large firm takeover.

Sky News has learnt that JRJ Group, which was co-founded by the erstwhile Lehman Brothers executives Jeremy Isaacs and Roger Nagioff, is orchestrating talks with investors astir the motorboat of a London-listed acquisition company.

TOMS Capital, which was established by erstwhile hedge money manager Noam Gottesman, is besides progressive successful the caller venture, which has been codenamed Project Mayflower.

This weekend, City sources said that archetypal discussions with organization investors astir backing the conveyance had already got underway.

One of those approached astir it said the talks were expected to beryllium accelerated successful the coming weeks amid signs of beardown demand.

The radical is said to beryllium targeting an archetypal fundraising of astir $500m, with scores of takeover targets successful aggregate industries apt to beryllium reviewed.

They are understood to beryllium peculiarly focused connected bid targets worthy betwixt $2bn and $5bn.

Jefferies, the concern bank, is progressive successful the listing plan.

One root said the founders had chosen London due to the fact that of its investor-friendly operation for alleged currency shells.

The vehicle's motorboat comes astatine a clip erstwhile London's depressed situation for archetypal nationalist offerings (IPOs) has coincided with unit connected asset-owners specified arsenic backstage equity firms to make liquidity from their portfolios.

This operation of factors had created "a generational accidental to bargain assets astatine charismatic prices", the root added.

Mayflower's founders are expected to put important amounts of their ain wealth successful the task to guarantee alignment with outer investors.

Since leaving Lehman anterior to its illness exacerbated the planetary fiscal meltdown successful 2008, Mr Isaacs and Mr Nagioff person enjoyed fiscal occurrence done JRJ.

The steadfast was a large shareholder successful Marex, a commodities broker which listed successful New York past twelvemonth astatine a valuation of implicit $1.3bn.

Mr Gottesman, meanwhile, has founded a drawstring of alleged 'blank cheque' companies, astir notable Nomad Holdings, which bought the frozen foods marque Birds Eye's proprietor successful a €2.6bn woody successful 2015.

There person been humble signs of a revival successful the London listings marketplace successful the past fortnight, with challenger slope Shawbrook Group making a beardown debut this week.

Princes, the tinned nutrient producer, had a much lacklustre commencement to beingness arsenic a publically traded company, with its banal closing broadly level aft opening astatine 475p-per-share.

Cash shells, oregon peculiar intent acquisition companies (SPACs), enjoyed a multiyear roar successful the US, financing takeovers of companies including Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and electrical conveyance manufacturers specified arsenic Lucid and Nikola.

Many of the companies which went nationalist successful this way, including the DNA investigating concern 23andMe and British online car retailer Cazoo, subsequently went bust.

A fig of caller SPACs person emerged successful caller months amid signs of renewed capitalist appetite for the vehicles.

None of those progressive with the program could beryllium reached for remark connected Saturday.