Following almost a month without any new S-1 registration statements, Iron Horse Acquisitions Corp. (NYSE:IRON) filed its S-1 yesterday afternoon for a $100 million IPO as the first SPAC to file for an IPO in November thus far.
The new company intends to focus on target companies within the media & entertainment industry with a primary focus on the United States. In particular, Iron Horse plans on identifying targets among content studios and film production, family entertainment, animation, music, gaming, e-sports, talent management, and talent-facing brands and businesses.
Iron Horse marks BTIG’s third SPAC to file to IPO this year following Israel Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:ISRL) and Whale Point (NASDAQ:WPA). BTIG has priced 4 IPOs in 2022 to-date, raising roughly $600 million in gross proceeds. EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. will be serving as the joint book-running manager.
Similar to most SPACs we’re seeing, Iron Horse has a timeline of 12 months to complete a business combination with an allowed auto extension of six months. It also features an overfunded trust to 101%, slightly lower than the average SPAC IPO in Q3’22 which held just 101.9% in trust. The SPAC’s units include one full warrant and has managed to not include any additional rights at this time.
Iron Horse’s team believes the COVID-19 pandemic helped catalyze a dramatic power shift in the media and entertainment industry and as a result, businesses in this industry are now in a position where capital and expertise are needed to achieve their full growth potential. The SPAC intends to leverage its skills, expertise and network within Hollywood and other international media and entertainment hubs to identify attractive target companies.
The TMT-focused SPAC is led by CEO Jose Antonio Bengochea, who is also currently the Founder and CEO of investment firm Bengochea Capital LLC. Bengochea Capital has been present at the Cannes Film Festival, among other film events, and is a registered media entity with the Recording Academy. Previously, Mr. Bengochea was a part of Sony’s Global Business Development team in Los Angeles.
The SPAC is chaired by Brian Turner, the former CFO of Coinstar Inc. Prior to Coinstar, he served as SVP of Operations, CFO and Treasurer of digital media and technology company Real Networks. Mr. Turner was formerly Chairman of the Board of Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS), a public company in the lidar space, and is now Chair of the Audit Committee for MVIS.
CFO Jane Waxman brings extensive experience in the film entertainment industry with a diverse background in operations and financial management. Throughout her 30-year tenure at 20th Century Fox, she served in a variety of roles within the finance organization. Most notably, as EVP, Deputy CFO she was responsible for driving strategic priorities, setting financial priorities, policies and procedures and controls for the global finance organization.
Ms. Waxman is joined by William Caragol as COO, who brings over thirty years of experience working with growth stage companies. In 2018, he founded and is the Managing Director of Quidem LLC, a corporate strategic and financial advisory firm. Since July 2021 he has been the CFO of Mainz Biomed N.V. (NASDAQ: MYNZ), a molecular genetics diagnostic company specializing in the early detection of cancer. Additionally, Mr. Caragol is the Chairman of the Board of Thermomedics, Inc., has served on the Board of Directors and is Chairman of the Audit Committee of Greenbox POS (NASDAQ: GBOX), and serves on the Board of Directors of Worksport Ltd. (NASDAQ: WKSP).
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