 "Jewelry distributor Quality Gold to go public via nearly $1 bn SPAC deal")
Quality Gold, a specialty logistics and jewelry distributor, has agreed to go public in the United States through a merger with a blank-check firm in a deal valuing the combined entity at $989 million, the companies said on Friday.
The deal with Tastemaker Acquisition Corp includes proceeds of $279 million from the special purpose acquisition company's (SPAC) trust account, assuming no redemptions.
The merger comes at a challenging time for the SPAC market in the United States, as regulatory scrutiny tightens and rising volatility spooks investors, triggering higher redemptions.
The De-SPAC Index, which tracks some of the companies that took the alternate route to list, is down nearly 66% so far this year.
SPACs are publicly listed companies that are raised with the intention of merging with a private company, which goes public through the merger.
Quality Gold, founded in 1979, operates in the United States, Canada and India serving more than 15,000 retailers.
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The combined company, Quality Gold Holdings Inc, is expected to trade on the Nasdaq under the new ticker "QGLD" after the deal closes.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)