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Staff of Reuters Read for 2 minutes Francesco Trapani, CEO of Bulgari, attends the Reuters Global Luxury Summit in Paris on June 2, 2010. REUTERS/File Photo/John Schults Reuters – FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Francesco Trapani, an activist investor and former CEO of the Italian jewelry business Bulgari, has set up a shell company to invest in a European consumer goods company. VAM Investments SPAC is offering up to 225 million euros ($265 million) in shares, with an over-allotment option, and plans to list on Euronext Amsterdam on July 19, according to a bookrunner in charge of the sale. A SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) is a blank check corporation that generates money through an initial public offering (IPO) with the goal of merging with a private company, which subsequently goes public. SPACs offer private enterprises an alternative to typical IPOs for going public. Trapani, the chairman of VAM Investments SPAC, created activist hedge fund Bluebell in 2019, which was instrumental in forcing Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber to resign. Trapani led Bulgari for three decades until stepping down in 2014, three years after the company was acquired by LVMH. VAM Investments SPAC is led by Marco Piana, a former private equity manager, and Carlo di Biagio, the company’s chief financial officer. The sale is being organized by Citi, J.P. Morgan, Societe Generale, and UniCredit. (1 dollar = 0.8484 euros) Arno Schuetze contributed reporting, and David Clarke edited the piece./nRead More

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