Consumer-focused SPAC Northern Star Acquisition files for a $300 million IPO

Northern Star Acquisition, a blank check company formed by Joanna Coles and SPAC veteran Jonathan Ledecky targeting consumer-focused businesses, filed on Tuesday with the SEC to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering.

The New York, NY-based company plans to raise $300 million by offering 30 million units at $10. Each unit consists of one share of common stock and one-quarter of a warrant, exercisable at $11.50. At the proposed deal size, Northern Star Acquisition would command a market value of $375 million.

The company is led by CEO Joanna Coles, who is currently the Executive Producer of ABC Freeform's "The Bold Type" and previously served as Chief Content Officer of Hearst Magazine and Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, and President and COO Jonathan Ledecky, Chairman of Ironbound Partners and co-owner of the NHL's New York Islanders. Ledecky's previous SPACs include Pivotal Acquisition, which went public in January 2019 and completed its merger with KLDiscovery (KLDI; -20% from $10 offer price) in December 2019, and Pivotal Investment Corp II (PIC; +17%), which went public in July 2019 and recently announced a merger agreement with XL Fleet.

The company plans to target businesses primarily in the beauty, wellness, self-care, fashion, e-commerce, subscription, and digital-media space.

Northern Star Acquisition was founded in 2020 and plans to list on the NYSE but has not selected a ticker yet (RC ticker: NSU.RC). The SPAC filed confidentially on July 31, 2020. Citi is the sole bookrunner on the deal.