KKR raises $1.2 billion for new SPAC with plans to merge with consumer or retail company

• KKR Acquisition Holdings I Corp on Wednesday said it raised $1.2 billion in an upsized initial public offering at $10 a share, Reuters first reported.
• The SPAC backed by private equity giant KKR sold 120 million shares, higher than the 100 million it marketed earlier.
• KKR Acquisition plans to merge with a consumer or retail company.
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KKR Acquisition Holdings I Corp on Wednesday said it raised $1.2 billion in an upsized initial public offering, selling 120 million units at $10 each, Reuters first reported.

The special purpose acquisition company backed by private equity firm KKR increased the offering from 100 million units it had marketed previously.

KKR Acquisition Holdings, helmed by Glenn Murphy, chairman of yoga apparel maker Lululemon Athletica, said he plans to merge the SPAC with a consumer or retail company.

Shares, traded under the ticker KAHC.U will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Citigroup was the sole underwriter for the offering.

KKR joins the long list of firms riding the SPAC frenzy. SPACs, shell companies seeking to merge with private companies with the intention of taking them public, have boomed over the last year.

In 2020, a total of 248 SPACs raised $83.3 billion according to SPAC Analytics. But in the third month of 2021 alone, data already show 246 SPACs that raised $76.7 billion, comprising 75% of initial public offerings.

Regulators have begun turning their eye to the soaring market. On March 11, acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee said that SPAC returns don't warrant the "hype" they're getting.

KKR is an investor in Insider Inc. parent company Axel Springer.