Insurance-focused SPAC Revo raises €220mn

Italian special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Revo has raised €220mn ($268mn) from investors ahead of an AIM Italia listing later this week.

Led by Alberto Minali, the former CEO of Italian insurer Cattolica, and Claudio Costamagna, the former chairman of Italy’s state lender CDP, Revo launched earlier this month to target opportunities in the insurance sector.

The blank-cheque company will use the funds to acquire and merge with an insurance company in order to grow in the insurtech space.

The oversubscribed offering raised €220mn, surpassing the €200mn target, with Revo noting strong demand from institutional and professional investors.

As previously reported, Fondazione Cariverona, Scor and Vittoria Assicurazioni had already committed to act as cornerstone investors by investing €15mn each and agreeing a one-year lockup period from listing.

The SPAC will start trading on the AIM segment of Borsa Italiana on 26 May 2021.

Revo chairman Costamagna praised the “very positive” market response, noting orders exceeded the maximum target size with demand from both institutional investors as well as family offices.

“Large international funds have unanimously expressed their strong interest in the innovative features of the initiative and the quality of the team, and will be ready to invest in Revo when listing will be moved to the primary market of Borsa Italiana,” he continued.

Revo CEO Minali said: “The listing of Revo marks the beginning for our business which will now focus on the search of the target, whose acquisition we hope to submit shortly for our shareholders’ approval.”

Intesa Sanpaolo and UBS acted as joint global coordinators with Equita SIM acting as joint bookrunner.

International law firm Gianni & Origoni assisted the promoters and Revo, while Latham & Watkins assisted the banks.

Revo joins a wave of similar listings on Wall Street and more recently in Europe.