GS Goldman Sachs Group Inc

By Maria Armental 

David Cote, the former longtime chief executive of Honeywell International Inc., is leading a company backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that is trying to raise some $600 million to pursue industrial deals.

Blank-check companies, also known as special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are listed companies with no assets that raise money from investors for acquisitions and have become a popular tool among well-known executives, particularly in the oil patch.

Mr. Cote led a turnaround of Honeywell in his 14 years as CEO, building a record of disciplined, well-executed deals that helped expand the industrial conglomerate's product line.

"We believe Mr. Cote's industry experience and operating capabilities, paired with Goldman Sachs' unique sourcing infrastructure and experience investing in public and private markets, will make us a partner of choice for potential business combination targets," GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. said Friday in a securities filing.

The company said it has yet to have substantive discussions with any acquisition target and could pursue a deal in any business or industry, according to the filing.

GS Acquisition plans to sell 60 million units, or 69 million units including those subject to the underwriters' overallotment option, at $10 each. The company said it intends to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The SPAC is Goldman's first as a sponsor, though it has taken a dozen or so public on behalf of clients over the years. It will sit inside Goldman's asset-management arm, which oversees $1.4 trillion on behalf of pension funds, insurance companies and other big money managers.

Goldman has been looking for new ways to gather assets as traditional active investing has fallen out of favor with investors. In the last few years Goldman has raised money for a dedicated small-business loan fund and launched its first passive fund.

Ranaan Agus, who ran Goldman's feared proprietary trading desk before the financial crisis and is now an executive in its asset-management arm, will be a director of the new vehicle, according to the filing. The company expects the board would ultimately have five directors.

The formation of GS Acquisition serves as the latest example of activity in the SPAC space. The Wall Street Journal reported in December there had been almost $14 billion worth of new listed shares in blank-check companies for the year to date, a record, outstripping 2007's $12.3 billion global issuance.

Separately, LF Capital Acquisition Corp., another blank-check company, also filed for an initial public offering on Friday. LF Capital Acquisition, whose management team includes former BNP Paribas SA chairman Baudouin Prot, said it would target a "business in the commercial banking and financial technology industries." LF Capital also said in a securities filing that it had yet to initiate substantive discussions with prospective targets.

Liz Hoffman contributed to this article.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 18, 2018 20:19 ET (00:19 GMT)

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