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Barry Sternlicht's SPAC Jaws Acquisition increases unit offering by 25% ahead of $500 million IPO

May 8, 2020
JWS.U

Jaws Acquisition, a blank check company led by Starwood Capital founder Barry Sternlicht, raised the proposed deal size for its upcoming IPO on Friday.

The Miami Beach, FL-based company now plans to raise $500 million by offering 50 million units at $10. The company previously planned to offer 40 million units at the same price. Each unit consists of one share and one third of a redeemable warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the revised deal size, Jaws Acquisition will raise 25% more in proceeds than previously anticipated to command a market cap of $625 million.

The company is led by Chairman Barry Sternlicht, the founder and CEO of Starwood Capital, and CEO Joseph Dowling, who is currently the CEO of Brown University's endowment. The company has not specified an industry, but will not target an industry that is competitive with Starwood Capital which includes real estate, lodging, oil and gas and energy infrastructure.

Jaws Acquisition was founded in 2019 and plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol JWS.U. Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Citi are the joint bookrunners on the deal, the latter two having joined the deal in its most recent filing.