Carpenter and Mancini's SPAC RMG Acquisition VII withdraws $725 million IPO

RMG Acquisition VII, the seventh blank check company formed by Riverside's James Carpenter and former Carlyle executive Robert Mancini, withdrew its plans for an initial public offering on Tuesday. It had filed to raise $725 million by offering 72.5 million units at $10, with each unit containing one share of common stock and one-fifth of a warrant. 

The company was set to be led by Executive Chairman James Carpenter, founder and CEO of Riverside Management Group, and CEO and Director Robert Mancini, a former Managing Director with The Carlyle Group and co-head of its power investment business. While the company had not selected a specific target industry or geography, it intended to capitalize on the ability of the management team to identify, acquire, and operate businesses across a broad range of sectors with enterprise values between $4.0 billion and $8.0 billion.

Management has backed several SPACs, two of which have completed combinations: RMG Acquisition, which completed its merger with EV battery maker Romeo Power (RMO; -69% from $10 offer price) in December 2020; and RMG Acquisition II, which completed its merger with ReNew Energy Global (RNW; -31%) in August 2021.

The New York, NY-based company was founded in 2021 and had planned to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol RMGGU. BofA Securities and Barclays were set to be the joint bookrunners on the deal.