BenevolentAI goes public thanks to SPAC

BenevolentAI, a U.K. startup that uses artificial intelligence to develop drugs, is going public at a 1.5 billion euro $1.7 billion valuation thanks to a SPAC from investment bankers Michael and Yoel Zaoui.

None Of The Hot New Trends For Hedge Funds Is Founders Female

According to a statement on Monday, the Zaoui brothers listed on Euronext Amsterdam in July will be merged with Odyssey Acquisition SA, a 300 million-euro blank check company.

The deal is backed by Temasek, along with investors like Invus, Ally Bridge Group and AstraZeneca Plc.

In 2018, BenevolentAI was valued at $2 billion after an investment from Woodford Investment Management Ltd. run by fund manager Neil Woodford. A year later, BenevolentAI lost half of its value after Woodford struggled with valuations of his own fund.

Blank-check firms listings have cooled off in the U.S. but Europe s smaller market SPAC is ticking on. Things have been moving much quicker in Europe than in 18 months to two years for SPACs to find an acquisition target.

Lakestar, listed in Frankfurt in February, agreed in July to buy home platform HomeToGo in a 1.2 billion-euro $1.4 billion deal. Italy's Revo SpAwent public in May and two months later struck a deal for the insurer Elba Assicurazioni SpA.

More than $150 billion has been raised by 32 SPACs across European exchanges this year, compared to $7.6 billion in the US, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

After the deal is completed, Olivier Brandicourt, former CEO of Sanofi, and Jean Raby, former CEO of Natixis Investment Managers, will join the BenevolentAI board. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised BenevolentAI, while JPMorgan Chase Co. and Zaoui Co. advised Odyssey.

None The Fall of a Russian Cyberexecutive Who Went Against the Kremlin