Blank Check for Gores Group

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Gores Group plans to buy something – but it hasn’t said what.

Gores Holdings, a special-purpose acquisition company – or “blank check” – formed by the Beverly Hills private equity firm, filed for an initial public offering on Friday. The entity plans to raise $400 million in the IPO by selling 40 million units for $10 each. Those shares account for 80 percent of the company’s equity, with Gores Group holding the remaining 20 percent.

The filing doesn’t indicate what Gores might buy with the blank-check company, saying only that the firm “may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business industry or sector.”

The timing of the offering has not been announced. Gores Holdings has 24 months from the IPO to complete an acquisition, or else it will buy back all of the public shares at the offering price.

Gores, the firm founded by Beverly Hills billionaire Alec Gores, usually invests in companies through one of its private funds and sometimes takes portfolio companies public at a later date, such as its 2013 IPO of Raleigh, N.C., building materials company Stock Building Supply Holdings Inc.

This appears to be the first time Gores has set up a publicly-traded acquisition entity, which has a more transparent ownership structure than is typical for private equity.

A spokesman for Gores did not immediately return a request for comment.

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