Sept 18 (Reuters) - Three blank-check companies, backed by venture investor Chamath Palihapitiya, are looking to raise a total of $2 billion through initial public offerings, regulatory filings showed on Friday.
A blank-check company backed by Palihapitiya merged with Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc in October last year, while another one founded by him is set to merge with SoftBank Group backed Opendoor Labs Inc.
The new companies, called Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings IV, V and VI, are looking to raise up to $350 million, $650 million and $1 billion, respectively, by selling units - made up of stocks and warrants - on the New York Stock Exchange.
A blank-check company, also known as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), uses capital raised through an initial public offering to buy a private company, usually within two years. The deal then takes the private company public.
Other high-profile investors such as Bill Ackman and Michael Klein have also raised billions through their SPACs this year. Ackman's SPAC Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd raised $4 billion in its IPO in July, making it the largest SPAC IPO.
SPAC acquisitions in 2020 have jumped to a record $27.4 billion, including debt, with a further $35.2 billion of deals announced and pending completion, according to SPAC Research. SPAC deals last year hit $24.8 billion.
Credit Suisse is the sole book-runner on the offering of Palihapitiya's companies. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Anirban Sen in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)
