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If the plan materializes, Rosewood will join a growing list of travel and hospitality firms using special-purpose acquisition companies. Rosewood clearly sees luxury pandemic opportunities to build its portfolio.

Hong Kong’s luxury Rosewood Hotel Group, a unit of property developer New World Development , plans to file for a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listing, two people with knowledge of the matter said, adding to the recent rush for such deals.

Rosewood, run by Sonia Cheng, the granddaughter of family-run NWD founder Yu-tung Cheng, has enlisted Credit Suisse and UBS to lead the U.S. SPAC listing, which targets the consumer sector, the people told Reuters.

Read Skift’s Explainer on SPACs: What Exactly Are ‘SPACs’? Why They Will Matter in Travel This Year

Typically, a SPAC, a blank-cheque company that raises money through initial public offerings (IPOs) and merges with firms by enticing them with shorter listing timelines, will issue shares at $10 apiece.

One of the sources said that Rosewood’s SPAC listing could aim to raise about $400 million.

The hotel group, which manages one of Hong Kong’s most prominent hotels located in the city’s Victoria Harbour in the tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui, did not immediately respond to a query for comment. Credit Suisse and UBS declined to comment.

The sources declined to be named as the information is confidential.

Watch Skift’s Interview With Rosewood Hotel Group CEO

Rosewood’s SPAC deal, if it materializes, will join a growing list of such transactions involving Asian issuers, who are lured by the SPAC IPO’s easier execution and lucrative returns once the SPACs merge with target companies.

Adrian Cheng, Sonia’s brother and chief executive of NWD, is separately in talks with banks about a SPAC listing, the people said. Bloomberg reported on Monday he’s aiming to raise $400 million.

The NWD family office did not immediately respond to a query for comment.

Property tycoon Li Ka-shing has also tapped advisers for a SPAC listing via his family office, other people said.

Li’s investment vehicle Horizons Ventures denied on Monday they are working on a SPAC. His foundation did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Li’s son, Richard Li, set up two SPACs last year with U.S. venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

Funds raised via SPAC IPOs reached $60 billion by end-February, Dealogic data showed, already more than 70% of 2020’s annual deal value.

(Reporting by Kane Wu and Scott Murdoch, additional reporting by Farah Master; editing by Ana Nicolaci and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

This article was written by Kane Wu and Scott Murdoch from Reuters and was legally licensed through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].

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Tags: coronavirus recovery, hong kong, rosewood hotel group

Photo credit: Rosewood Hotel Georgia Lobby.

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