New blank check company files for $200m IPO, led by same team behind SPAC that took Anghami public – Music Business Worldwide

Earlier this year, Prominent Middle East and North Africa-focused music streaming company Anghami made history as it listed on the NASDAQ.

Anghami listed via a merger with a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Vistas Media Acquisition Company (VMAC).

The music streaming company entered into a merger agreement with VMAC in March 2021 to do so, valuing Anghami, at the time at $220 million.

Prior to the merger, VMAC’s Chairman and CEO was Jacob Cherian, who now serves as Co-CEO and a director of Anghami.

According to a registration statement filed with the SEC last month, Cherian is also the CEO of a new blank-check company called Vistas Acquisition Company II Inc, which is aiming to raise up to $200 million in an IPO.

According to the registration statement, this new Cherian-led SPAC plans to offer 20,000,000 units at $10 per share and has applied to have its units listed on NASDAQ under the symbol VACXU.

Vistas Acquisition Company II Inc’s sponsor is Vistas Acquisition Sponsor II, owned by Singapore-based investment company Vistas Media Capital, which has offices across Singapore, India, the UAE, the US and Canada.

While it hasn’t yet selected a business combination target, the company says that it plans to pursue companies in the Consumer Technology and Media and Entertainment sectors, and hasn’t specifically ruled out combining with a music company.

The company also plans to focus on key markets such as India, USA, Canada, UK and the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region.

Within the consumer technology space, Vistas Acquisition Company II says that it intends to focus on potential business targets in the “high-growth sectors globally (with a primary focus on the Asia Pacific, European and Middle Eastern regions), including logistics and supply chain, education technology, financial technology, e-Commerce, and digital marketplaces”.

Meanwhile, within the Media and Entertainment space, the SEC filing notes that Vistas Media is a media and technology company “with a global footprint across the ecosystem of media and entertainment”.

Therefore, adds the filing, it “is constantly evaluating new investment opportunities to further strengthen the value chain across geographies within the M&E space, including content, film, visual effects facilities, animation, streaming, augmented and virtual reality, music, digital media, gaming and e-sports and blockchain technology enabled new media firms”.

“Our sourcing process will leverage the extensive global networks of our team, built over the last several decades, which we believe should provide us with a number of attractive business combination targets.”

Vistas Acquisition Company II

Vistas Acquisition Company II says that it intends “to focus specifically on companies that are positioned to benefit directly from the growth of media technology and digitally available content”.

States the filing: “We will leverage the substantial proprietary deal sourcing, investing and operating expertise of our management team, directors and strategic advisors, including their relationships with leading business leaders and entrepreneurs.

“Our sourcing process will leverage the extensive global networks of our team, built over the last several decades, which we believe should provide us with a number of attractive business combination targets.”

Vistas Acquisition Company II’s prospectus notes that its team’s ‘Past Blank Check Experience Vistas Media Acquisition Company merger with Anghami, which became “the first Arab technology company to be listed on NASDAQ”.

According to the prospectus filed last month, Vistas Acquisition Company II’s  CEO Jacob Cherian is a former CEO of three NASDAQ-listed SPACs, each of which has already completed a business combination.

The filing adds that Cherian “brings deep capital markets, M&A, public/private equity, and management consulting expertise”.

Cherian’s experience includes a stint at JP Morgan & Co. as an associate, at KPMG LLP, as a Director, and at Computer Sciences Corp., as a Partner.

Anghami wasn’t the only company to merge with a SPAC in recent months..

In July, France-born Spotify rival Deezer became a publicly-listed company, seven years after the plug was pulled on its previous attempt at an IPO.

The music streaming service made its official stock market debut on the Euronext Paris in July after combining its business with I2PO, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) based in France.

Last month also saw FaZe Clan go public on the NASDAQ via SPAC merger.Music Business Worldwide