Staff of Reuters ReadSlideshowSlideshowSlideshowSlideshowSlideshow ( 2 images ) (Refiles to eliminate an unnecessary word from the headline) PARIS, France (Reuters) – On Wednesday, the holding businesses of Francois Pinault’s family and banker Matthieu Pigasse announced the formation of I2PO, a SPAC aimed at raising an initial 250 million euros ($294.50 million) and targeting the entertainment industry. Iris Knobloch, I2PO’s chairman and chief executive who began her career at WarnerMedia, will lead the SPAC. A Special Purpose Acquisition Company, or SPAC, is a shell company with no operational activity whose stocks are issued on the stock market for a limited time with the goal of executing one or more acquisitions in a certain area. The Pinault family will be represented on the board of I2PO, the first European SPAC dedicated to the entertainment and leisure industries, by Francois Henri Pinault, Francois Pinault’s son. The original private investment of 250 million euros was part of a listing on Euronext Paris, according to I2PO, and may be increased to 300 million euros. Francois Pinault, whose Artemis family holding firm owns Kering, invested in another SPAC founded by former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam in March. Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, Kering’s primary competitor, created a SPAC with former Unicredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier in February to focus on the European financial services sector. (1 dollar = 0.8489 euros) Richard Lough and Louise Heavens edited the piece./n
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