Dec 17 (Reuters) - Italian luxury group Ermenegildo Zegna has completed a merger with a U.S. blank-check firm and would start trading on the New York Stock Exchange from Monday under the ticker symbol "ZGN".
The combined company is expected to have an initial enterprise value of $3.1 billion and the initial market capitalization of the firm will be $2.4 billion, Zegna said in a statement on Friday.
The merger with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Investindustrial Acquisition Corp gave the Zegna family a stake of nearly 66% in the combined entity.
The deal is the latest example of an Italian family-owned fashion business luring outside investors to fund expansion, boost marketing spending and compete with bigger players, after the industry was hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. Zegna, founded as a textile company in 1910 and now a leader in luxury menswear, said that the merger delivered gross proceeds of $761 million.
SPACS, or blank-check firms, are shell companies that are raised with the intention of merging with a private entity to take it public by sidestepping a traditional initial public offering. (Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Vishal Vivek in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
